The trial is over. Ledford received the death penalty. Several people commented throughout the trial that the death penalty would not bring Jenny back. I think that is kind of the point. NOTHING will bring her back to us. We are pleased with the outcome - I just hope my mother lives long enough to see him die. I can't wait until we get close enough to count the days until they put him down. We are all so thankful to the Paulding County District Attorney's Office and sheriff's department. I also really appreciate the brave women who testified against this animal, especially the rape victim that had him put in jail in 1991. She is one of the strongest people I will ever meet. I'm too tired to write more now, but I may revisit this blog later. The following is my Victim Impact Statement - I wrote it over two years ago, then I tried to update it but it kept coming out the same so this is it:
For 54 years there were no words to describe my family. Our bond, joy, love of life and collective sense of humor could not be expressed in words. My nieces and nephews are more like siblings than cousins, and my sister and our brothers were more like best friends that shared the pride of being a Slocumb raised by Christian parents who placed family before everything. Since July of 2006, the words come much easier. We are broken, devastated, lonely, depressed and at times completely empty. I have 4 brothers, 3 sisters in law, a brother in law and 13 nieces and nephews. Our lives have been irrevocably changed. Never in my life have I seen such raw and complete hurt as when I watched each of my brothers come up Jenny's long driveway one at a time after searching for her through the night and embrace my mother. It was one the most horrific things I will ever witness. They came about 5 minutes apart, and the reaction and the scene was identical every time. When one of us is hurt we all hurt - that is just how my family is built. Of course we will keep going, Jenny would have demanded it, but every day is a challenge now. To understand my own loss, it is important to know that Jenny was 15 years old when I was born. She named me, and she took me over. She nurtured me and cared for me just like my mother did. She made me happy when I was sad, and when I got out of line she helped to straighten me out. Our bond was strong. Sometimes I rebelled, but when she left home I cried for weeks. Ultimately, she came home a lot and I always recognized how special the time was when she was at home. Sunday lunches, holidays, birthdays -the family only felt truly complete when she was here to share in the fun and laughter of just being together. We will never have that completeness again. When my father died, Jenny saved me. She spent time in Macon, then when she finally had to leave she called me every day, sometimes more than once. Together we got each other through that terrible time, and a bond I had always felt was incredibly strong became ironclad. Jenny was intelligent, beautiful, talented in art, music and language. She painted incredible pictures and portraits. She taught herself the violin and the hammered dulcimer. She could tear up a piano. She taught herself to knit and was fluent in several languages. And her sense of humor was unmatched. She was in no way ordinary. She lived everyday of her life for Jesus Christ and her family. She was our prayer warrior and our rock. She could have done anything in her life, but she thankfully chose to devote her life to all of us and anyone who she came into contact with that she could help. I have lost my sister, my friend, my second mother, and my family's peace all because of the evil choice one man made. My brother Buster, summed up one of the many ways we will miss her. He noted that her future grandchildren will not know the incredible grandmother that was stolen from them, but we will know that and recognize that loss for the rest of our lives. It is not just that we only hurt individually - we hurt as a whole and we hurt for each other, and this grief will continue. We miss her every day, and we always will.

When I think of Jenny’s place in her community, I immediately think of home schooling.Her leadership and intelligence will be missed by the many parents she counseled on how to effectively implement Home schooling in their children's lives. She was an incredible teacher who felt that traditional education was not the best route for her kids. So she devoted herself to creating an educational program for her own children, but also for anyone interested in improving their children's lives. She was a doer. When she saw an injustice or something she felt could be improved - she took care of it. Her contribution to her community is hard to describe because it was experienced on such a personal level. The people she helped in Cabbage Town or Techwood became her friends. She wasn't fulfilling some goal set up by a committee. She saw a need, and she took care of it on her own. And all of the many other things she did, she did with a heart full of Jesus Christ. Christ lived in her and allowed her to do these things that most people, especially mothers with young and growing children would never think to do. She was a missionary in the best sense of the word. She showed people that were in a bad way, that there was a way out through faith. She lived her life to the fullest using her humor but also her firm Christian beliefs and therefore became an example to those she was helping. The community will truly miss someone who was willing to work for the betterment of others not only because she enjoyed the work, but she did it because she felt it was right. I can't even begin to imagine the numbers of people who won't experience her caring nature and her helping heart, and not through any shortcoming of her own, but because her life was ended too soon.