Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

I love you uncle Gary and you will be missed and never forgotten

Joe - Deeply saddened to hear about the passing of your father. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family at this difficult time. Ann - Prism of Praise Community Gospel Choir.

I don't know what to say...! But this didn't have to go this far it could have been a resolved issue...! R.I.P GARY MITCHELL he will always be missed...!

This is what an individual can resort to after being the victim for years and years of vicious child abuse which left her scarred, damaged and forever tormented.

Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.We all will be judged by the same meause that we judge.

wow Gary used to go to my church . i still can't believe he's gone . he's gone but he'll never be forgotten . today in church me & the youth choir sang a song that he had teached us. it was really hard to sing it but we still did. R.I.P Gary :(

I was very good friends with the defendant, Lakesha, in the early - mid-nineties when we were teenagers. While I can in no way defend what she did and have not spoken to her in 13 years, I will say that she had a horrible early life. Her parents were extremely abusive and she was driven to a suicide attempt at the age of 16. Lakesha spent years in and out of mental institutions. It is sad because she was a brilliant girl who had straight As at Classical High School and had 3 scholarships lined up back in 1995. This is after she had missed out on her junior year due to time in a mental hospital and had to repeat 11th grade. Lakesha was a good but troubled person. I stuck by her side as long as I could. Unfortunately, her life began to spiral out of control and I lost touch with her completely. I had heard rumors of the life she had come to live but wanted to not believe them. I know she had spent some time living down south in Georgia and had hoped her family down south was helping her to get her life back on track. This case is a double tradegy. Two lives have been lost.

I have to second the comment left from an old friend. I also had the privilege to meet Lekesha in the 90's. I by no means defend what has happened, but it IS definetly a tragedy what has happened. Although rather cliche, she was a good person trying to do right with the cards that life dealt her. My thoughts and prayers go out to the Mitchell family for their lose as well as to Lakesha.

I am so sorry and so sad to learn about this tragedy. I am so sorry for the Mitchell family. I knew and loved Lakesha when she was a child and already far too personally aware of the dire effects of sexual abuse and family violence coupled with poverty. What she endured then is almost unthinkable and yet was all too common among the people with whom she was closest. She was a wise youth, extremely intelligent about so many things, and a bright spirit as was her sister whom she lost back then to a suicide that seemed almost logical given the challenges she faced. Yet Lakesha survived. Miraculously and at great cost to herself and to those around her. It is all too much for anyone, anyone. That we live in a culture where this can happen, and does happen, to children is the gravest sin of all. With unending sadness for what Lakesha and now the Mitchell family must bear.

It was really heartbreaking when I received the news about what transpired the evening of Oct. 15, 2009. I prayed something like this would never befall the Garrett children, but I guess what they have endured since the day they left the womb this was inevitable. It was so uplifting to read what An Old Friend wrote, because so many have always turned away from what happened. Did anyone know there is a Garrett Law in Rhode Island?? However, if you attempt to research it, nothing can be found. Why is that?? I'll tell you my opinion why, DCYF failed the Garrett children, because they were the first severe case and they handled their situation wrong to the fullest extent. So the kids were brushed under the carpet and kept a well kept secret. Someone said who cares about Lakesha's past. Someone has to care, because there's reasons why things like this happen. If we don't get to the bottom or the root of the problem, there's no chance for the next person. The system failed her once and I just hope and pray that it doesn't fail her again. She needs help they all do, the cycle needs to be broken.
Yes, Lakesha was/is very smart and if she were dealt a different hand I always wondered all the things she would have accomplished. It's important how you are raised, because that is what molds you into the person you will become. Of course life is what you make it, but if you don't have a strong foundation everything just starts to crumble around you. That is exactly what happened here.
You can only help those that truly want to be helped. There's only so much anyone can do, because ultimately the hard work is needed from the other person. She struggled, but desperately wanted to get there and she had goals and dreams. This is just truly a sad and unbelievable thing and I just want to wake up from this. But this is not a dream it's reality and we will support her now more than ever. Those ignorant comments mean nothing to her or us so whatever to the people who don't have anything better to do.