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A MESSAGE FROM CECY'S MOTHER:
Michele Marsha Griffin Mosher Young
what have you done?
You beg the courts for mercy.
You gave my daughter
none.
Kill someone and you are a star. When Ms. Young
pleaded guilty in court to two felony counts in
exchange for sentence concessions, her victim's name
was mentioned only once during the entire hearing.
That in a dry reading of a complaint against the
killer. To date there has been no real opportunity in
court to explain what a remarkable person Cecy was and
what loss her killing is to family, friends, cyclists,
teachers, patients and to society.
Cecy was a joy to me, her mother, from the date of her
birth. She was fun to be around and many times a
surprise. Many of us have "Cecy" stories. To pick one,
when Cecy was in first grade her caretaker Mrs. Murphy
called me at work to say Cecy disappeared after
school. I called police and was told she was there,
"interviewing" the chief. That day, Cecy's teacher had
spoken to her class of postmasters, fire chiefs, and
chiefs of police. Cecy walked to the post office, the
fire station, and police headquarters to see such
persons in real life. They were enchanted with this
child. Cecy was unique and always had a logical
explanation for offbeat activities.
Cecy graduated from high school and college with
honors and did required clinical affiliations prior to
taking her boards for Registered Occupational
Therapist. She worked consecutively in Pasadena, San
Diego and Marin, during 1999 with children of county
schools. Her clients were six, seven, ten year olds.
Some were autistic, others had learning disabilities
or trouble with fine and motor skills. Most of what
Cecy did with children looked like play but was
serious work. It is ironic that, if Cecy's life had
been spared and Ms. Young's son injured during his
mother's alcoholic binge 9/04/99, Cecy could have
worked with the son's impairment.
Another irony is that Cecy took great care of the life
I gave her, exercising and eating a healthful diet,
yogurt, no red meats, etc. (Well, she did have a
weakness for ice cream). To think that Cecy was killed
by a person indulging in hard liquor to excess and
allegedly reaching for cigarettes as she crushed the
life out of Cecy's healthy body with a 2-l/2 ton
assault weapon.
A third irony is Cecy's letter to the Marin IJ editor
printed 5/11/99 "... the next time you encounter a
cyclist on the road or trail, why not try a friendly
wave or greeting?" Michele Young either didn't read
that or didn't care. Her expensive private defense
attorney states Ms. Young "needs to be treated rather
than punished." Treatment for alcoholism is available
in prison. But what about treatment for her anger
management problem? From the accident report, the
killer is remembered by her personalized license plate
of previous incidents running cyclists off the road.
She honked her horn angrily at cyclists prior to
killing Cecy, and a comment from one cyclist to
another was, "this is road rage happening".
Cecy enjoyed the fine arts, museums, theater, Broadway
musicals, books. She was competitive. She took up
cycling after skiing, jogging and triathlons. She
maintained her membership in and wore San Diego
Bicycle colors after moving north. During the last two
weeks of her life, before returning to San Anselmo,
she rode in Seattle with RAW (Ride Around Washington).
There were memorial rides for Cecy simultaneously on
September 11 in Seattle, Marin, and San Diego. A week
later a memorial at Mt. Baldy Village Church was
sponsored by grade school and high school friends with
whom she had an annual reunion three weeks before her
death. Cecy was loyal. She loved cycling and cyclists,
who chose well in depicting her a standard bearer for
road safety.
Christmas 1999. Cecy's Christmas stocking hung empty,
the first time since her birth. The most personal and
most painful of Cecy's story by me, her mother, is of
her final moments and I can only guess when they were.
Cecy is not the first of my children to die. Another
daughter was ill of cancer many months and, just
before breathing her last, came out of her coma and
said "Mom". Did Cecy, at any time as the monster
rolled over her, say or think "Mom, help me"? I
couldn't help my baby. I couldn't. Did I have a right
to something more than sitting by her broken body at a
trauma center after she died? And Michele Young wants
mercy.
The California State Legislature, in enacting Penal
Code 191.5, a section which includes gross vehicular
manslaughter states "... In view of the severe threat
to public safety which is posed by the intoxicated
driver, there is a compelling need to identify and
penalize those who voluntarily consume alcoholic
beverages to the point of legal intoxication and
thereafter operate a motor vehicle, thereby combining
sharply impaired physical and mental faculties with a
vehicle capable of exerting great force and speed and
causing severe damage and death." Note key words in
lawmakers' intent, compelling need to penalize.
To estimate the cost of M. Young's alcoholic 9/04/99
misadventure is mind-boggling. Cecy's medical expenses
alone totaled over $40,000. Granted some was covered
by insurance, but you wonder why insurance costs are
high? And then there was the cost of law enforcement
and court costs. I object strongly to Cecy's killer
being assured of sentence concessions as being
contrary to the intent of the state legislature. Her
past record proves unreliability. Any sentence less
than the maximum allowable by law increases the
probability of recidivism. The only l00% sure
deterrence to Ms. Young driving drunk again is for the
period of time she is incarcerated.
This is another plea for letters to the Marin County
probation officer, Patricia Bonelli. Society deserves
to be protected from the likes of Michele Young. Thank
you for your kindnesses.
- Cecy's Mom
PLEASE WRITE TO:
Patricia Bonelli
Marin County Probation Department
3501 Civic Center Drive
San Rafael, California 94903-4195
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Condolence's can be sent to Cecy's mother:
Adeline Krone
215 Plaza Serena
Ontario, CA 91764
Memorial Fund: This fund has been established to help Cecy's family with the expenses surrounding this tragedy, including funeral costs, traveling and legal expenses. Your donation will help Cecy's family return for the trial next year as well.
Send your contributions to:
Ceci Krone Memorial Fund
Bank of Marin
4460 Redwood Highway
San Rafael, CA 94903
Account Number 03009800
The account was opened by Lionel Lafite.
Please put the account number on the back of the check.
Get Involved: Cecy was active in Marin's cycling community. Your participation is a way of directing your energy towards a safer cycling network in Marin. The Marin County Bicycle Coalition and the San Anselmo Bike Task Force are two such advocacy groups that need your help.