Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
The mother arrested for allegedly killing her kids in a California hotel room over the weekend now has an identity: Marilyn Edge is the woman charged with two murders. And with her name has come a possible motive for poisoning her 13-year-old autistic son and 9-year-old daughter. But the tragic case reminds us all once again that motive does not mean excuse. It doesn't mean reason.
According to police, Marilyn Edge had been ordered to hand over daughter Faith and son Jaelen to her ex-husband, Mark Edge, after a Georgia judge ordered her to allow for joint custody. Instead, she allegedly moved to Arizona and continued to refuse Dad access to his kids.
Now he'll never see them again.
Faith and Jaelen were found dead in a hotel room in Santa Ana, California on Sunday after cops say Marilyn crashed her car in a suicide attempt. It was while she was allegedly fighting with paramedics that police say Edge alluded to a crime that had happened, leading them to the hotel and the dead children.
If the allegations are true, it appears the mom got what she wanted: to keep her kids from their father.
But what about what the kids wanted?
I'm not even talking about seeing Dad -- although a court seems to see no reason why he shouldn't have been able to see his kids, kids he hadn't seen in a year and a half because of their mother.
I'm talking about living. Growing up. Being who they dreamed of being.
These cases of parents killing their kids rather than allowing an ex-spouse to have custody aren't just punitive to the ex-spouse -- although clearly they are -- they're the height of selfishness. Jaelen and Faith Edge were just kids with no control over what was happening to them. They were just kids who should have had so much ahead of them. Instead, they are dead.
And for what?
So their father could be punished by a vindictive ex?
These kids weren't toys to be thrown in a game. They were real human beings. They deserved so much better.
What do you make of this twisted case?
Image via Santa Ana Police
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
