Monday, September 25, 2006
Mother Who Killed Self Mentions Grace in Suicide Note
Source: Orlando Sentinal Before she died, Melinda Duckett wrote a letter addressed to the "public" describing the anguish she felt at being "faced with ridicule and criticism" as rumors swirled about her role in the disappearance of her 2-year-old son, Trenton.
"Your focus came off of my son," the 21-year-old wrote. "I love him and only wanted him safe in my arms. You created rumors and twisted words."
When she finished writing, police said, Duckett placed the neatly written, unsigned, two-page letter on the dashboard of her car and walked into her grandparents' Lady Lake home. After getting her grandfather's shotgun, she went inside a closet, placed the gun under her chin and pulled the trigger.
The letter, Duckett wrote, was "a last minute idea but, I have felt myself sinking after 1 week mark of Trent being gone. I love him dearly and he is all I was breathing for. He was and always will be my essence and as he grows, I want him to know that."
Family members later said Duckett was feeling overwhelming stress from the intense media scrutiny after her son's disappearance Aug. 27.
Duckett killed herself Sept. 8, a day after national talk-show host Nancy Grace grilled the young mother about refusing to take a lie-detector test and where she was in the hours before she reported her son missing. The show aired on CNN Headline News the day Duckett died.
"I only wish you do not push anyone else," Duckett wrote. "I do not bleed my emotions to the public and throughout this situation you did not understand that. There were many more errors you made in understanding me, but time is short and I have more important people to speak to."
"Your focus came off of my son," the 21-year-old wrote. "I love him and only wanted him safe in my arms. You created rumors and twisted words."
When she finished writing, police said, Duckett placed the neatly written, unsigned, two-page letter on the dashboard of her car and walked into her grandparents' Lady Lake home. After getting her grandfather's shotgun, she went inside a closet, placed the gun under her chin and pulled the trigger.
The letter, Duckett wrote, was "a last minute idea but, I have felt myself sinking after 1 week mark of Trent being gone. I love him dearly and he is all I was breathing for. He was and always will be my essence and as he grows, I want him to know that."
Family members later said Duckett was feeling overwhelming stress from the intense media scrutiny after her son's disappearance Aug. 27.
Duckett killed herself Sept. 8, a day after national talk-show host Nancy Grace grilled the young mother about refusing to take a lie-detector test and where she was in the hours before she reported her son missing. The show aired on CNN Headline News the day Duckett died.
"I only wish you do not push anyone else," Duckett wrote. "I do not bleed my emotions to the public and throughout this situation you did not understand that. There were many more errors you made in understanding me, but time is short and I have more important people to speak to."
# posted by ATN @ 11:29 AM 
