there is no information that she was a bad mother or taught her sons anything criminal or immoral...
I am glad that everybody's kids here on FR turned out so great but I happen to work with lots of people that are morally sound that have horrendous children.....
sometimes there is only so much you can do as a parent, especially a single parent....
our local upstanding supervisor of a large suburban school district had his son pull out a gun and kill someone...so yes, it happens....
Lets not get into a pity party for the woman. She was here 20 years and she can't speak English!! Wouldn't you say that is probably a major factor in the fact that she could not do anything other than a "hard physical job"? People from all over the world come here, don't speak english yet they manage to learn it in less than 20 years and do fine. We seem to forgive this when latinos are involved. With all of the assistance they get through the schools and churches etc., they never seem to take advantage of it. Why? We constantly hear how we are a nation of immigrants and we compare these poor latinos to our ancestors. My grandfather came here ALONE at 15. He did not have a high school education, came here from Italy, learned to speak english by himself and by the time he was 30 owned a business and real estate. English was the ONLY language spoken at home even though my grandmother is also Italian. He is dead now but I would guess he wanted to be an American and appreciated the freedom that America had to offer him and he took advantage of it instead of coming here and expecting America and Americans to take care of him. And one other thing, any mother who is so ignorant to what her 15 year old child is doing is a bad mother.
Thank you for your post, Cherry. From what you said, you seem clearly a decent and compassionate person. Believe it or not, I strive to be that, as well. But I stumble over horrific events and outrageous behavior, not just the behavior of perpetrators of heinous crimes, but the self-serving government establishment that enables such criminal behavior. Perhaps, in the final analysis, Gloria will prove to be legal (although I doubt it), and she will be the one exception to the rule: a hard-working woman battling enormous odds against poverty and the huge demands of parental responsibility (although I doubt that, as well). To the degree that your post suggests moderation on my part, I agree, and I thank you again for calling mercy to the table. Let the case unfold; let us learn what we will learn.