There Is So Much Wrong With This Story, Darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                         For all the grizzly crime stuff I often watch on Investigation Discovery, girls, few stories truly get to me, in an upsetting way.  Well, last night's story on "Fatal Encounters" did, because it was a tragedy that could have been avoided in so many ways, and at its center was a young man who desperately needed help, but never really got it.

                                           As with many of these programs, sometimes the background information is sketchy.  Adam Ward, from early childhood, was in serious need of help; he was violent and disruptive in the classroom, from the elementary stage.  Though I am not a mental health professional, it is my opinion, from what was presented, that Adam was/is a paranoid schizophrenic, whose parents jointly made the mistake of protecting him through parental isolation and love, rather than the health care he needed.

                                             And I had to wonder about the Wards' marriage.  Dr. Ralph Ward, Adam's father, was a Ph.D in Industrial Mechanics, from whom Adam inherited an affinity for same.  Something went awry with the parents, because, by the time Adam is a young man, the parents are separated (but live close by), with the understanding that the mother will support the family, while the father stays home, and cares for Adam.  By the time Adam is 22, when things happened, he was slight, but, nevertheless, a full grown man, capable of violent and adult rages.  All of which Dr. Ward took responsibility for placating. But he also, unintentionally, but with consequences, had a hand in fueling some of Adam's  issues; the father felt negatively about the City Council, Code Board, School District, and did not hesitate to voice all this in front of Adam!!!!!!!!  And guess what, darlings??????????  Adam picked up on it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                             Now, just six blocks away lived another family, the Walkers. Consisting of Michael, father of two children, whose marriage had fallen apart. He and the kids moved in with Michael's father, who not only ran a funeral home, but served on the town's (Commerce, Texas) rescue squad. Son Michael had worked in construction for awhile, had no interest in being a mortician, so ended up becoming the town's Code Enforcement Officer.

                                               The Wards, father and son, were antique and decoration collectors, and a pile of debris had amassed on their front porch and on the lawn.  Neighbors had complained and called the authorities, and warnings were issued, but never heeded, because of Dr. Ward's blatantly anti-authoritarian stance. Which he passed on to his son.

                                                  On June 13, 2005, things exploded.  Michael Walker, in his official capacity, went to settle things with the Wards, not knowing what he was walking into.  Adam was out, washing the car, when Walker pulled up, parking his vehicle the wrong way. When Adam tried to correct him, and Walker, not understanding why he was making such a fuss, having no ongoing knowledge of Adam's problems, this caused things to escalate, to the point where Adam became hostile and violent, his father ran outdoors to cool things down, but Adam went in the house to get his gun, as he genuinely felt (with his mental disturbances) he and his father were being threatened.  This led to a confrontation between Adam and Michael Walker, with Michael being shot several times, knocked down, and then at point blank range. By the time Michael's father, on assignment for the squad, showed up, it was too late.  So both fathers lost their sons---Mr. Walker to death, and Dr. Ward to the prison system.

                                                      What I want to know is--why didn't Adam's parents act constructively???  If they had gotten help for their child when younger, or put on meds, or treatment, or something, perhaps Michael Walker would be alive today.  As is, I think Dr. Ward should have been charged, along with his son, but that wasn't how it played out.

                                                          Such a waste of lives lost, where there did not need to be.  Not only does society need to start re-examining its treatment of the mentally ill, so do parents and/or kinfolk of those who are mentally ill.  They need to take some responsibility for their loved ones who just may not be able to handle themselves in society.

                                                             It was a sobering hour, girls!  Nowhere near as fun as "Deadly Women!!!!!!!!!"