No, I do not think this man killed his daughter. And if someone killed his daughter in "retaliation," that would be the first time I've heard of such a thing outside of a bad tv show. Where I live, people in the worst street gangs don't do things like that. People who kill or rape children are usually reviled by criminals involved in drugs or robbery. We can't hold Ron responsible for the acts of others.
So far as I know, when he left for work, his daughter was alive. There is no evidence that Haleigh was the object of Ron's rage. Surely Crystal would have raised that at the custody hearing if that were the case. We can only talk of negligence in hindsight. Haleigh was clean, fed and sheltered, getting regular medical care, and left in the care of someone old enough to babysit. I used to watch kids younger and older than Haleigh when I was 14. As I have said time and again, certainly Misty was not an ideal babysitter, given her history. But we still have absolutely no proof that she was the direct or indirect cause of Haleigh's disappearance. If someone came into that trailer and took that child, how is that Ron Cummings's fault? How would he be more "responsible" than Ed Smart, who hired a psychopathic sexual sadist and introduced him into his home environment, where he kidnapped and assaulted and imprisoned his daughter? We absolutely know that the Smart family introduced the kidnapper to their home; we do not yet know that Misty did. Again, I am only responding to the notion that Haleigh would have been safer with her mother--which is just a backdoor way of saying that Ron is responsible. We could say that EVERY abducted child might have been "safer" had they been taken by the courts or sent to live with grandma. As has been pointed out repeatedly, Crystal has had a problem with drugs herself and wasn't a very conscientious mother when pregnant with Junior. She seems almost unconscious on television, at least when I've seen her. But even if Crystal was June Cleaver or Ma Walton and had custody, if a predator had his eye on Haleigh, he could have taken her when she was just visiting her father. Are we going to call for the removal by the state of all the siblings of all the children who disappear? or of all the children living with an alcoholic or drug abuser--including those who are abusing prescription pain killers? Or is it just Ron Cummings who should lose his son? If he is arrested and we are presented with evidence that he has done the unspeakable, then the issue of custody is moot. I am still waiting for the first shred of evidence that he was involved.
In the end, the only person responsible for Haleigh's disappearance is the person who took her out of that trailer. That isn't to say that parents don't have terrible guilt when their children are abducted or killed or hurt in accidents--because what parent wouldn't say, "If only I had" or "If only I hadn't"?
And yes, if someone took Ron and Crystal's child out of her home, you betcha they are victims. And if Misty wasn't involved in any way, she was a victim too. By definition.
arrot:
