To begin with I think I need to tell this the way it came to me today. About a week ago two prisoners broke out of the Daggett county jail one of them who is pictured below is named Juan Carlos Diaz-Arevalo. I have to admit when I saw his pic there was something that looked familiar.
A couple days passed and I was sitting in our Asst. Prinicpal's office-Jared Reynolds, he was highly intruiged and said to me while showing me the pic, "Minus the goatee who does this look like?" I thought about it, and then I realized what the familarity was all about, he looked like a student of mine Rogelio Diaz.
Note: I had Rogelio last year and liked him although the kid seems to get into trouble as often as Britney Spears. He has a short guy complex, we'll get to that in a minute. He can be a real hothead and doesn't seem to able to deal with any sort of pressure or criticism. I don't actually have him this year.
Reynolds proceeded to add a few more things up; in the pic you can figure out how tall he really is, so we did, 5'2"or3" short just like Rogelio. Then we looked up Rogelio to check on the Arevalo, sure enough there it was. Later in the day our prinicipal, Marijean called him and talked to him about it, and yes he is the younger brother. Wow! Here was a convicted killer's younger brother in our school.
We are at half circle.
Our other Asst. Aaron Ichimura came in as we were talking about it. He asked if we knew why Juan Carlos was in jail. It wasn't really ringing a bell. He proceeded to tell us that about two years ago he shot his girlfriend and killed her. That was familiar. And I knew there was more to it, something else there, that I couldn't remember.
I went home and decided to read a few stories about this whole event. That's when I saw it."Diaz-Arevalo shot and killed his girlfriend, 22-year-old Lindsey Fawson, in May 2005 as she sat in her car. Her young son was in the backseat."
There it was. Lindsey Fawson. My second cousin. My grandpa's brother Roland's granddaughter. Juan Carlos Diaz-Arevalo had killed my blood relative. That is why he was in jail. I taught his younger brother in my class last year and see him all the time. We get along real good. He always makes a point to say hi. He has this little head bob he does when he sees me.
Full Circle
Even as I type this I am not sure how I feel about all this. I never knew my cousin Lindsey, but I did hear about it. To be fair I have included the original story to help remember this tragedy:
"Fawson's life was cut short Monday when her ex-boyfriend of four months, Juan Carlos Diaz-Arevalo, allegedly shot her once in the head in front of her older sister and 3-year-old son.
Fawson, 22, broke up with Diaz-Arevalo twice, said her mother, Tessie Seneca. The first time he threatened to harm her.
"He wasn't able to let her go," she said. "She was a good, caring, loving person and didn't deserve this at all - not that anyone deserves this - but she was my little girl. He [Diaz-Arevalo] is an evil creature."
Just 15 hours after the Monday shooting, Diaz-Arevalo was in a police interview room for questioning. By evening, he was arrested and booked into Salt Lake County jail on suspicion of murder.
Diaz-Arevalo, whom police initially identified as Juan Garcia, was spotted by South Jordan police walking on 1300 West around 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, said Draper Sgt. Scott Peck.
Diaz-Arevalo ran from police and hid in the back yard of a home in the 9300 South block of 1300 West, Peck said.
Police from five agencies established a perimeter and closed in on the suspect, sending in a Midvale police dog to confront Diaz-Arevalo. The dog struggled with Diaz-Arevalo, biting him in the arms and prompting him to fire a round from a sawed-off, 18-inch Winchester 1400 shotgun. The dog was not hit by the gunfire.
The shotgun - the same one police believe was used Monday night - was loaded with two rounds, one of which was expended. Police also found an unused round in Diaz-Arevalo's pocket.
The 25-year-old man was arrested and his hands covered in paper bags to preserve any evidence of gunpowder, Draper Sgt. Gerald Allred said. Through chemical analysis, investigators can detect abnormal levels of nitrates on a person's hands, indicating whether the person has recently fired a weapon."
When you read the story it is appalling and sad that this happened. I am sickened that this happened at all let alone to family. But the full circle part is where I can actually do something. Certainly I can't force anyone to live a certain way, but I can be an example and hopefully a good influence to Rogelio. I am still debating whether to talk to Rogelio about this. Before I do that though I want to know how he feels about the whole thing just to see if it would even be worthwhile to discuss. Regardless of whether we speak about it I am going to keep a closer eye on him, to see if maybe I can't help steer him away from the life his brother has chosen. The term used by my cousin "evil creature" haunts me. I don't want him to turn out anything like his brother. And maybe, just maybe I can help out. I'd like to think I can. I'd like to think that full circle means I can help this young man out. So that this circle doesn't get destroyed, but becomes whole.
1 comment:
this is amazing and very sad. it reminds me of the 3 degrees of separation.
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