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I like to share something with you all that happened in my town one year ago |
| Name: |
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Sue New Member |
| Date Posted: |
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Aug 11, 06 - 10:02 PM |
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71.67.104.157 |
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nomail@woh.rr.com |
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 Angel_Brat_1976 |
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Hi all i'm a new member i like to shares something that happened in my town in Ohio one year ago..
A mother remembers
By MARIAH MERCER
Staff Writer
This week the summer sun shone down through the willow tree branches as the wind carried faint sounds of laughter from a nearby day care to Rachael Kleinmark's ears. The sounds of late summer -- cicadas singing, the tinkle of wind chimes in the warm air -- were all around her.
But for the young mother, this summer was unlike any that came before. This week one year since she lost her 10-month-old twin babies, Bryn and Drew Kleinmark, in a drowning incident on Aug. 7, 2005.
An investigation by Fostoria police and the county prosecutor's office found that Gregg Kleinmark, father of the twins, had left the infants unattended in the bathtub, which was filled with water, for more than 30 minutes while he played a video game on his computer.
The computer was in a room more than 30 feet from the babies.
The night the babies died, Kleinmark claimed he had placed the youngsters in the tub and left them unattended for just a few minutes.
Rachael was at work at the time of the incident. She had left for a 12-hour shift at the nursing home where she worked at 6 a.m. and hadn't seen any of her children that day. She received the call at work around 6:15 p.m.
Hancock County Coroner Dr. Leroy L. Schroeder ruled on Sept. 17, 2005 that the deaths of Bryn and Drew Kleinmark were accidental "due to gross negligence."
Their father was sent to Mansfield Correctional Institute in February for eight years for his role in their death.
Kleinmark must serve five years before he will be eligible for judicial release. After he is released, he faces three years of community control sanctions.
Seneca County Common Pleas Judge Michael Kelbley also ordered him to pay $6,207.95 restitution -- most of which represents funeral expenses and lost wages of the children's mother -- plus court costs.
Now, instead of taking her twins to their own day care or watching them toddle toward her in the living room, Rachael spent the hazy summer day visiting their graves. The family marked the anniversary of their deaths with a trip to the African Safari Wildlife Park in Port Clinton and then a trip to the cemetery and their newly-erected gravestones for a gathering.
"(Bryn and Drew) were really good babies, always happy. They weren't ever sick, just really calm and content," recalled Rachael. "They never whined or misbehaved much. Bryn loved to bounce in her Johnny Jumper -- she would bounce until she fell asleep. And Drew was a total mommy's boy -- Mom was his favorite toy."
The death of the twins was also the death of the Kleinmark family as they knew it. When the facts of the evening came to light, Gregg was no longer welcome in the house. He tried to break in, said Rachael, so she filed a civil protection order, which is still in place.
Over the last year, she divorced Gregg and is in the process of trying to sever his parental rights. According to Rachael, Gregg's family is fighting this.
Her daughters, Paige, 5, and Brooke, 4, have also felt the ripples from the tragedy. Both were home at the time of the twins' deaths. According to Rachael, the EMTs found Brooke unconscious at the scene. She had collapsed in shock after witnessing her siblings drown. The girls suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder and Rachael takes them to a Toledo-area psychiatrist once or twice a week.
She had to pull both girls from preschool last year.
"They saw the whole thing. We tried last year, but I had to pull Brooke out -- it was just too hard," Rachael explained.
This year Paige will enter kindergarten at St. Wendelin School and Rachael hopes to enroll Brooke in preschool again.
Rachael tried Empty Arms, a support group for anyone who has been touched by the death of an infant or child, and they were some help. But the group meets in Ottawa -- too far away for her to attend regularly.
"I go to school and work full-time, so I just try to stay busy," Rachael explained. A licensed practical nurse, she is working to become a registered nurse.
The family recently moved from their Maple Street residence where Bryn and Drew died.
"(The new place) is a good thing. There were too many memories at our old house. It was OK, but (Brooke and Paige) love the new place," said Rachael. She moved several memorial markers for the twins to the front yard of the new house.
Rachael has been working with Seneca County Prosecutor Ken Egbert, Jr. to change Ohio sentencing laws. Under current law, involuntary manslaughter of a children age 10 and under -- the law under which Gregg was convicted -- requires a sentence of one to five years.
"Back in January of this year, I sent correspondence to (Senator Larry) Mumper and (Representative Jeff) Wagner, suggesting they change the penalties with involuntary manslaughter, specifically look
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