I'm a parent- and a pretty naive one at that (my daughter is only 2) but I know what my relationship with my parents is, and a week doesn't pass that we don't talk. I can't imagine a circumstance where my relationship with my daughter would be different.
I'm not trying to insinuate the father is after something other than justice for his son- but the fact that his son was homeless tells me that his life was tragic well before he was beaten to death. It just seems like the time for action was before the boy became indigent.
It's a sad story. Perhaps it could have been prevented.
P
I was going to remain silent on this thread, but I now feel that recent replies have warranted a response from me.
I consider Ron Thomas (the father) a friend, although I have not seen or talked with him for some time.....
In 1999 I was getting out of an ugly divorce that left my 6 year old daughter somehat shy and withdrawn. I have always liked Martial Arts and I had recently started taking a Juijitsu class at a local community center. Ron Thomas was one of the instructors. The center opened up a concurrent kid's class, so I signed my daughter up for it so we could go to the classes together.
I started to get to know Ron and shared with him that my daughter was going through a tough time. Although he barely knew us, he invited us both to go on a nighttime Christmas cruise with him on his boat at a local harbor where his boat was docked.
Needless to say, my daughter had a great time and if I recall Ron even let her sit in the Captain's chair and steer.
When news of the tragedy first broke, I had lunch with my daughter (who's now 18) and told her the details. I asked her if she remembered Ron and her first words were "Y'mean the guy with the boat ?"
Yes, she still remembered.
The last time I saw Ron was 2003. I stopped by to visit a dojo where he was teaching.
Ron was always the strong, silent type with a heart of gold. I always knew him to be very pro military, pro law enforcement. In fact, there was a young man in the dojo who had recently become a local police officer. Ron always acted like this kid's big brother and would give him special one on one training in arrest tactics. The irony of this is now sickening.
Ron has a great relationship with his other kids, and apart from physically restraining someone in a locked room, how do you keep a 37 year old adult off the streets if that's where they want to be ?
The news seems to be full of absentee parents who suddenly appear to cash in on wrongdoings of others, but I can tell you that Ron Thomas is not that type of person.
