Four years and still no justice for Rowan Ford

In a world with justice, Rowan Ford would be in her final year at Triway Junior High anxiously awaiting the transition to becoming an East Newton High School student.

Instead, today we observe the fourth anniversary of the day the nine-year-old Triway fourth grader was brutally raped and murdered, her body discarded in a cave, allegedly by her own stepfather and one of his friends.

As the fourth anniversary arrives, the two men, stepfather David Wesley Spears and Chris Collings are barely closer to trial than they were when they were arrested. THe wheels of justice continue to move at a glacial pace.

Both men have reportedly confessed to the crime, but in the years since they were first charged, their cases have had delays, one motion after another, changes of venue, unsuccessful attempts to seat a jury, and persistent maneuvering to save the men from a richly-deserved execution (something that is not easy for me to say since I have always been opposed to the death penalty, but if this case does not deserve the ultimate punishment, what does?).

Collings’ trial was scheduled for May in a different county, but there were not enough people in the jury pool who were not familiar with the case. Even though Collings had already received one change of venue, his lawyer asked for another. The judge, instead, opted to bring in potential jurors from another county.

Collings’ trial is scheduled for early 2012.

The wait for justice for Rowan Ford’s stepfather will take even longer. His trial, also being held elsewhere on a change of venue, is scheduled to begin Nov. 5, 2012- five years and two days after the fourth grader was murdered, three months into what would have been her freshman year at East Newton.

In the days and weeks after Rowan's lifeless body was found, the media explored her life, at school, at home, and in her community.

The picture that emerged was one of a girl who arrived at school hours before it began, stayed long after the final bell sounded, and rode her bicycle all over Stella, never seeming to want to go home.

As these post-mortems often show, there were clear warning signs that things were not right in the nine-year-old's world. And while it is impossible to turn back the clock, it is not too late to see to it that the system finally does right by Rowan Ford.

As the old saying goes, "Justice delayed is justice denied."

Four long years have passed since Rowan Ford, who provided a ray of sunshine for the Stella community during her far-too-short life, was murdered. Bringing the two men to trial shortly after Rowan's death would have been a rush to vengeance- waiting five years or more is cruel and unusual punishment for those who loved Rowan.

It is time for the legal maneuvering to stop and for these two men to face a jury of their peers.