System failed accused man
Published: July 10, 2008
Editor:
This letter is in regards to an article [“Man charged in concrete block beatings of two”], that was in last week’s paper.
We hope that in writing this that maybe someone will hear our plea for David Campbell.
We have known David and his family for many years. We were there when David’s parents tried to get him the help that he has needed. We watched him go from mental clinics to boys homes to prisons, never receiving the mental help that he needed. This started in elementary school, where he could not read or spell, but was pushed through the school system anyway, where he was picked on by the students and the teachers.
When he was 21, he shot himself. If that isn’t a plea for help, then we don’t know what is! But once again, he was ignored and pushed through the system.
David has had a lot of bad things happen to him in his life, things that we couldn’t imagine or even want to imagine. These things have left deep scars that will never go away and that are hard to forget.
We have seen the gentle, loving and caring side of David. We know that he would give the shirt off his back to anyone less fortunate than him if it would help them. David lived with me for three years in my home and not once did I ever feel threatened by him. We can honestly say that we know he is regretting what he has done and that there is nothing he can do to change it. We can say these things with assurance because David Campbell is our brother and we love him very much.
We hope that David will receive the proper help that he needs and not just be pushed through the system again. Please hear our plea for our brother!
Dean Campbell and Kathy Croteau
Madison County
Advertisement
Reader Reactions
I would like to shed some more light on the subject of my brother in law David Campbell.It is impossible to help someone who will not help himself.This individual has turned on everyone who has tried to help him,including his own family.Police records from prince william va ,fauquier va and wyoming county,west va,where he hit his own elderly father in the head from behind should prove his violent streak.As for the three years he spent with kathy she was constantly tormented and threatened by David.Kathy put David out and Elva took him in because no one else in his own family would including myself for fear of my families safety and his parents who live with me!I agree that David is mentally ill and needs help but lets not sugarcoat it,he is 45 years old,he made a 1 family members that he was going to do and told his mother to forget about him(Friday,prior to Sundays attack).I sincerely hope that he is confined to a structured environment Because that is where is functions best.
Robert Jett, Jr
Advertisement