After testifying this Wednesday at the sentencing hearing for her son’s killer, a North Carolina mother has begged the jury not to sentence him to death, forgiving her ex for taking her child’s life and stunning everyone with her surprising act of kindness
In November of 2008, North Carolina mother Lashinna Burger’s two year old son Elijah was brutally bludgeoned to death by his father, Lashinna’s ex-boyfriend Andre Hampton. This horrific tragedy was unfortunately the culmination of a lifetime of abuse to the poor boy. Hampton evidently used to beat Elijah frequently, whipping him with belts and even dislocating his shoulder on one occasion. Eventually, on that fateful November day, Hampton beat the little boy to death with hairbrush, toothbrush, and belt for apparently not finishing his soup, according to his confession.
After Hampton’s conviction in just the last couple of weeks (first degree murder, of course), Burger told reporters that she had made peace with the man who savagely beat her son to death, stating, “I want him to live. He needs to get himself together… He needs to seek God so when he passes away, maybe he’ll still reach others. That’s why I want him to live, to get himself together with God.” She later added that if she had asked them to sentencing him to death, then that would mean that she was judging him, something she said she has no right to do, no matter what he did.
This sense of forgiving and acceptance is also surprising because for years, Burger had lived in hatred of Hampton. She said that it had killed something inside of her, but she has finally come to peace with it all and forgives him
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I am amazed that this lady has shown such an amazing act of forgiveness to a man who, frankly, deserves none at all. How could anyone be allowed to live if he beat a small boy (who wasn’t even two years old yet) to death, especially if that boy was his own son? Is there any crime worse than viciously murdering those whom you ought to have the strongest obligation to protect with your very life?
I can now add Lashinna Burger to my list of heroes because she is truly an inspiration and a wonderful role model, a modern day saint in my book. She has shown some great moral strength by choosing new life and forgiveness over death and vengeance. It takes a lot more courage and strength to forgive a wrong (especially such a massive one too) than it does to act spitefully and hatefully on it, trying to right a wrong with another wrong.
And really, who are we to judge one another? Who are we to say whether someone lives or dies? Is that really our job? I think Lashinna Burger has it pegged: our job is to forgive those who have wronged us because isn’t that what God would want us to do? And no matter what faith you practice or what God you do or do not believe in, I think we can all agree (or at least SHOULD agree) that the road of anger and hate can only lead to pain and suffering, whereas the road of love and forgiveness leads to happiness and harmony.
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Look at the original article here. If you want to, of course.
