By Tom Jackman
Haylea
and Morgan Geer with their dad, John B. Geer, on Father’s Day 2012. They were
in a neighbor’s townhouse when a police officer killed their father in 2013.
(Maura Harrington)
On
Monday, ex-Fairfax County police officer Adam D. Torres pleaded guilty to
involuntary manslaughter for fatally shooting 46-year-old John B. Geer in 2013.
Geer’s daughters, Haylea, 19, and Morgan, 15, spoke publicly for the first time
Monday and released the following statement through their attorney, Michael
Lieberman:
Justice
is rarely a simple matter, and it would be easy to vent our anger, our outrage,
our sorrow, and voice opposition to the plea bargain struck between Adam Torres
and the Commonwealth. Nobody would question the rawness of our emotions and our
response to it; we have lost a father, and there can be no substitute, no
future moment of affection, no further opportunities to be close to the man who
should be present as our greatest supporter. Torres took that away from us, the
Fairfax County Board of Supervisors and Fairfax County Police Department hid
the truth of what happened to our dad for over a year, and there is no going
back.
The
question that concerns us now is not just a matter of a trial and
incarceration. Much like Dad’s murder has repercussions for his family and the
community, locking Torres in a cell will have an effect on others. Whatever his
faults, Torres’ wife and children did not murder our father, and it would be
wrong to hurt them just to allay our own anger and pain. Robbing other children
of time with their father would only make us complicit in another wrong.
We
believe, expect, and demand that Torres’ apology admit wrongdoing both on the
day he ended Dad’s life and in regards to the lack of contrition he displayed
to investigators afterwards. As Torres is pleading guilty to a felony, he will
never again be allowed to own a firearm, and that will help ensure the public
is safe from another incident like this one. The plea bargain promotes Torres’
rehabilitation and re-entry into society after spending nearly a year
incarcerated, without unduly claiming retribution, despite the strength of our
emotions to the contrary.
Local
Headlines newsletter
Daily
headlines about the Washington region.
Sign up
It would
be easier to give in to our personal feelings and cry out for Torres to be
further punished; we are a society of laws, and there can be no doubt that we
are entitled to use this trial as an outlet for our pain, to express our fury
that our father was taken from us. However, we are called and
reminded by that pain to avoid inflicting the same upon other children just to
satisfy our emotions. It is rare that the easy choice is the right choice, and
while we’ve lost our father, we must strive for both justice and mercy. Where
Torres failed to show prudence and mercy, we will show him and his family both.
As for
the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors and the Fairfax County Police
Department, we remain appalled by their actions in covering up the truth and
putting Torres in the position to decide life and death given what they knew
about his background. Until such time that the Ad Hoc Committee’s
recommendations are adopted and the policies of the FCPD are changed, we fear
that these tragic events can occur again with different victims and different
officers. We call upon the Board to immediately adopt and implement
the Committee’s recommendations without delay for the good of the FCPD and the
citizens of Fairfax County. No family should have to suffer the loss of a
mother, a father, or a loved one under circumstances like ours.
Respectfully,
The
Daughters of John Geer
No comments:
Post a Comment