July 8, 2004 6:10 AM

There ought to be an HOV lane to Hell for people like this

Body of missing girl found in Oregon: Mother, boyfriend to face charges in death

We are bombarded daily with tales of murder, rape, and atrocities of various flavors and colors. It's difficult not to become rather inured to the constant drumbeat of death, depravity, and mayhem. There is one thing I have never become used to, however: parents who murder their own children. How anyone could see their way clear to destroying their own flesh and blood is something I cannot even begin to comprehend.

The body of a 4-year-old girl reported missing at a California flea market has been found in a shallow grave in Winema National Forest in Oregon, a prosecutor said.

Amanda Hodges, the mother of Cassandra Hodges, and boyfriend Erik Sanchez Guillermo likely buried the girl last week before traveling to California to fake the child's disappearance, according to Ed Caleb, the Klamath County, Oregon, district attorney.

They had reported Cassandra missing while shopping at a flea market in Selma, California, Caleb said.

He said the mother led police to the grave site Monday.

"She led them directly to the spot where we found the body," Caleb said.

"The body was buried a little over a foot deep. It was wrapped in a plastic trash can bag."

Hodges, 20, and Guillermo, 37, both from Klamath Falls, were arrested Monday and were expected to face charges in the case, according to Caleb.

Hodges is expected to be formally charged with murder by abuse, which alleges that she did not intend to kill her daughter but that the death was the result of her reckless conduct, Caleb said. The charge carries a minimum sentence of 25 years in prison and a maximum life sentence, he said.

One can only hope that there is a front-row seat in Hell for monsters such as this. What sort of depraved indifference is necessary for one to murder one's own child?

Though I realize that neither Hodges nor Guillermo will likely face the death penalty, this is a case in which I could be persuaded to get behind executing the guilty. Perhaps, though, we should go a step farther and make certain that these two die in the manner that Cassandra did- no doubt slowly, painfully, and horribly. Perhaps then we could reasonably say that justice has been done.

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This page contains a single entry by Jack Cluth published on July 8, 2004 6:10 AM.

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