Look up “compassion” in the dictionary and next to it you’ll find Ady Guzman-DeJesus’ name.
In 2012 her 13-year-old daughter, Lourdes “Jina” Guzman-DeJesus, was accidentally shot while riding a school bus. Two years after the incident at the killer’s sentencing, Guzman-DeJesus got up in front of the court and did something that stunned everyone.
She hugged her daughter’s killer.
Initially Guzman-DeJesus demanded a harsh sentence for 15-year-old, Jordyn Howe, the teen responsible for her daughter’s death. However after meeting with Howe and the judge, the devastated mother suggested that Howe’s plea be reduced to something less severe than a 22 month prison sentence.
Instead, the teen was sentenced to one year in a juvenile detention center and ordered to spend time touring Florida with Guzman-DeJesus, speaking about the dangers of guns.
The heartbroken mother says that she was able to forgive the teen because she had found peace and felt that her daughter was also at peace.
Not everyone is capable of doing what this forgiving mother did, but we could all learn a lesson from her.
