Timeline photos
The man who raped 13-year-old Melanie Elkins was sentenced to life in prison Tuesday. He admitted to having sex with Melanie three times. The man who dumped her body after she overdosed was sentenced to 9 months in jail in December. But that still leaves one open case: who gave Melanie the fentanyl and methamphetamine that were found in her system during a toxicology test? And was she intentionally doing a speedball or was she given a dose of fentanyl against her wishes? This story is VERY close to my community of friends. Several people I know were questioned over Melanie's death. One woman I know just kept saying, "I can't believe she was only 13." Malanie didn't walk around Middlebury like the picture in the paper. I'm CERTAINLY not blaming her. And any woman should be able to walk around wearing anything they want without being afraid of being raped or murdered. That said, I don't think Melanie was spending time with these people against her wishes. A variety of people knew her because she spent time with them. THAT SAID... a 13-year-old is well out of their depth once they start doing drugs and having sex with homeless drug addicts. I don't know what the moral of this story is: Talk to your kids. Check your girlfriend's ID. Carry Narcan. The entire community bears some responsibility for letting Melanie slip through the cracks. Melanie is not to blame. She was just a lost little kid. Do I want to know who "gave" her the drugs? I guess. I suspect she was just with a bunch of friends doing a bunch of different drugs and she died. There is a lot of passing the bubble around the circle that goes on in this community. When I'm offered a quick hit of meth from the pipe that is going around my first response is to take a hit because it would be rude not to. And I want to look cool. I want to be accepted. But I stop myself and politely refuse, even though it's hard for me. I can do that because I'm a 52-year-old adult with previous addiction issues. I've walked that walk before. Melanie has all the insecurities and lack of life skills that every 13-year-old has. How do you turn down drugs being offered to you when you are 13? I don't know what the lesson is here. That makes it all the more tragic. I'm just so sorry it happened. I'm so sorry.