12-24-2005
THE NIGHT FOUR LADY
EAGLES TURNED TO ANGELS
The
views and opinions expressed in this letter
are not the views of the Weatherford Police Department or the
City of Weatherford, and are solely the
personal views and opinions of Larry Price.
Well, It has taken me this long
to be able to speak this freely about the tragic event
that occurred on December 19 1998. Although I am a man
that grew up around the old “boys don’t cry
thing”, I can tell you this now, if crying
bothers you, It’s time for you to go!!. My name is
Larry Price and I am a Corporal for the Weatherford
Police Department and until now I have only expressed
my feelings in a song that I wrote for the unfair
deaths of four Brock Lady Eagles:
Mandi McWhorter, 15,
Lacey Osina, 17, and Staci Lee 16 and Whitney Welch,
16
I often turn to God and my wife
for help and support when I need to talk about the
incident and let some of the pain, anger, and hurt
out. Every time I speak about the girls It touches a
part of my heart that Ricky Carter took away from me
and can never give back. I still sometimes weep and
cry uncontrollably, this is why it’s so hard for me to
talk to people about this, This is why I decided to
write about what I saw on December 19, 1998 and open
my heart to you!! I feel in order for you to see
exactly what I saw that night, and how I truly feel
and see exactly how this has effected me, “one of
thousands if not more effected ”, I will place
this symbol ©©©©
when this consumes my heart and I have to stop and
gather myself.
I remember early on December
19,1998 I was a part of a full contact football game
that the Police and Fire Department played for
charity, It was very cold and lightly
misting/raining. I remember this because I was
soooo sore after the game. I was trying to patrol
around the City and at the same time I felt like a
horse had just kicked me several times. Well, It
didn’t take long for me to quit whining about my
physical pain when a call came out over the radio.
“ Weatherford P.D. all
units, Parker County is needing assistance at Ranger
Hwy and Greenwood Road with a Major Accident
Involving a small passenger car and a pick up truck,
subjects are trapped and one vehicle is overturned
respond code 3”. I responded code 3
immediately, I was driving as fast as I safely could
without putting anyone or myself in danger. As I
arrived, I was the second Officer to arrive, I
remember looking at the first Officers face ( Sgt.
Ronnie Corder ) and seeing him standing in front of
this unbelievable horrible accident and seeing a look
on his face that I had never seen before
©©©©. He
looked at me and said Larry It’s bad, It’s real bad
and they are trapped
©©©©.
At that time I could here the
Ambulance and Fire trucks getting near so I knew that
the jaws of life were only seconds away to help . As
I went back into cop mode I knew I needed to stop any
traffic on the west side of the accident scene to
protect the victims and the emergency personnel as
they assisted. As I walked by the small car I could
only see three girls in this unbelievable mangled pile
of steel. The two on the right front and rear side,
and the driver who was crushed into the windshield
in-between the wreckage and the drivers seat. It was
only later that I observed the fourth victim who was
laying in the rear floorboard as I observed that the
back seats had been basically ripped away from the
metal backing. At that time I could not recognize
anyone. I did not know that a car with friends were
following and had witnessed the wreck and called the
families of the victim’s. This is when I started
noticing people that I know from my community rushing
to the location and screaming with fear and terror
screaming out ©©©©
Lacey, Staci, Whitney, and Mandi’s names. At that time
It all became terribly clear to me, I know these
girls and all of their parents. I then noticed the
Pastor of the Brock Baptist Church “ Cary Killough ”
arrive. He asked what he could do to help? I noticed
that he had rushed to the scene as everyone else had
and was dressed in short sleeves and was visibly very
cold. I gave him my police coat so he could try to
stay warm and counsel the family’s as they arrived.
As The Family of Lacey Osina
arrived I saw them walking from the opposite side of
Pastor Killough and toward the accident scene. I saw
them ©©©©
living out every parents nightmare. Mark Osina GOD
bless his heart was trying sooo hard to be strong for
Liz, but it was evident that his heart was being
shattered in front of my eyes.©©©©
He continued to try and stay strong for Liz holding
her as much as he could while trying to gather himself
as he continued telling her to stay calm and to wait
to see what we could tell them. Liz
©©©© began to
scream and beg me to tell her what was going on and
Lacey’s condition. Although I am not a EMT or a
Doctor, I knew from my experience that Lacey was in
extremely bad condition and I told the Osina’s that
Lacey was Injured very badly but was still alive. I
remember Liz screaming “ my baby, my baby tell me
Larry is she ok, is she ok”
©©©© as she
collapsed to her knees and stood back up several
times. I continued to tell Lis and Mark to stay on
the side of the road where they were standing, because
the EMT’s needed all of the room they could get which
was to give Lacey the best chance for survival. Liz
continued to scream my baby, tell me Larry is she ok,
is she ok, please god is she ok
©©©©. As I
tried to console her by walking to the scene to check
the progress of the Firemen cutting Lacey out of the
wreckage with the Jaws of Life, I remember losing
control and crying, not believing what I was seeing. I
then tried to gain control and be strong for them and
go back and speak to the Osina’s, letting them know
that she was almost in the Ambulance.
As I repeated this several times
I noticed something very different, very real. As I
walked into the accident scene which was
approximately 30 ft. in a circle I remember stepping
over a wire or fire hose and just as I did, it became
very peaceful almost silent even though the loud
equipment was being used, even a gas powered metal
cutting saw . It was also very cold and foggy with
very little visibility ( approx. 15-20 Ft.) that
night. When I stepped into that area, it became very
clear, bright and almost silent. I remember looking
around to see if this was a dream due to the extreme
difference in the sound and sight, but sadly it was
still real.
I then looked up and notice a
long time family friend David Lee and his wife Vicki
©©©© . They
were standing approx. 10 ft. in front of the girls
badly wrecked car and appeared to be in shock. The
hood was pressed up and blocking the view into the
vehicle where their daughter Staci laid dead
©©©© less
than 10 ft. away from them. They noticed me walking
towards them and patiently waited for me. As I
reached them I told them “ David, Vicki its bad” David
and Vicki asked me if Staci was ok/alive
©©©© , I knew
that Staci didn’t make it
©©©© but I
didn’t have the heart to tell them
©©©© , and I
told them that they needed to go to the Hospital and
wait there, that everyone was going to be transported
there. Whether it was right or wrong I told them that
so they did not see their precious baby
©©©© pressed
up against that windshield
©©©©
unrecognizable. I will live the rest of my life
guessing and worrying if I did the right thing for
them and if it was even my place to choose for them
©©©© if they
should see Staci in that condition. Taking my
advice David and Vicki quickly left the scene and
headed toward the hospital .
I then walked back into the
quiet/clear area and noticed that all of the emergency
vehicles had the red and blue lights flashing and the
spotlights pointed toward the wreckage to better their
visibility, this is when I looked out West towards
Ranger Hwy and realized that I could see an over cast
fog approximately 10-15 feet above everyone and I
could only see about 20-30 feet in front of me. As I
looked up in the quiet area just above the small car,
I could see as far as I could see and as bright as if
it was near daylight. This Is when I saw four Eagle
Wings turn to Angel Wings. This is where the peace and
quiet came from, this is where I continued to walk to
gather myself.
I have only shared this with a
few God fearing believers due to the way anyone could
make this sound. But now as an even stronger believer
in God and the Word, I could care less if any non
believer has any negative words or what they think
about what I saw that night. I since then have
learned that one of the witnesses to the accident
immediately ran up to the car to check on the girls
and later made mention to her mother that she noticed
the bright area and perfect visibility compared to the
fog in the surrounding area that night, just as I did.
Approximately one week after the
tragic deaths of these four innocent young women,
something different happened to me. You see all of my
family had been professional song writers and singers
all of our lives. It had been approximately 1984 since
I had really performed or composed any song. As you
can see this was really effecting me, words just came
to me and would not stop. I composed a song called Fly
High. I felt compelled to give it to the family of the
girls, but ©©©©
I was soooo afraid it would bring their healing
process to a stop or even set it back a little.
Knowing David Lee personally I felt comfortable enough
to ask him if he would take the song as a gift from my
family to his . David immediately asked me to drive to
his home and perform the song. My family drove to his
home, I sang the song for him and Vicki. After we all
regained our composure he immediately called the other
family’s and requested that we meet at the Osina’s
home. We then met with the Osina’s , Lee’s and
McWhorter’s and I sang the song for them.
Again we all had a chore to
regain our composure. Later I recorded Fly High at
Blue Stem Studios in Weatherford Texas and they were
gracious enough to donate the studio time and labor.
I then donated the song ( CD ) to all of the family’s
to use and sell at the presentations that Doug
McWhorter presents at hundreds of public schools every
year and 100% of the proceeds go to the Scholarship
fund in the names of the four girls.
Quickly after the wreck I was
contacted by various members of the family’s, asking
me questions about the accident in an attempt to find
some type of peace and try to deal with the constant
grief and pain they were going through. I remember
often when I went to Brock Elementary to pick up my
children and the Principal Liz Osina would ask me
into her office to ask me specific questions about the
accident. She knew if she asked me I would tell her
the truth. There were many times we talked and I could
tell she was very hesitant about the questions because
I felt she was afraid of what the answers might be. We
always ended up crying uncontrollably and sometimes
hugged each other goodbye as we spoke of our faith in
God and the wonderful place that Lacey was, and trying
to convince each other that everything was going to be
ok.
I also remember times when Vicki
Lee would see me in the Brock Café and ask me
questions. Vicki sometimes called me on my cell phone
and said she needed to ask me something about the
accident but seemed concerned that she would upset me
by asking, so she said she would call me back.
Sometimes she called back and sometimes she didn’t.
I also remember speaking to the
McWhorter’s while working out the details of the CD
and looking at the video material that Doug was using
for the school programs. I watched them trying sooo
hard to stay sooo strong, but I could still see the
pain and undescribable hurt every time that we spoke.
I remember seeing many of the
parents and relatives here and there and noticed as
they saw and recognized me
©©©© , seeing
me seemed to remind them of that terrible night, and
they became teary eyed. They sometimes spoke and then
sometimes acted as if they didn’t see me and walked
away ©©©©.
I can’t tell you how that has torn my heart completely
out of my chest
©©©© , and to this day it still is not the
same when I see them, I feel like I am a constant
negative reminder of the horrific night that each and
everyone of them have gone through because of Ricky
Carter, ©©©©
and I’m afraid I will take that to the grave with
me!!! ©©©©
I will never understand how I
could file two drug charges on a person at a different
time in my career and a jury gave them two life
sentences. Then a person can kill 4 innocent girls and
only receive a maximum sentence of 20 years? You tell
me and we will both know!!!!!!!!!
Well, I’m not here to lobby for
or against any law nor point fingers at any one person
for the 20 year sentence received by Carter but to let
you see just how one more heart was effected by
Ricky Carter’s actions. Although many have
forgiven Mr. Carter including myself, it does not
excuse him nor mean that he should be set free as
quickly as possible. Ricky Carter is still responsible
for his actions and should serve the maximum amount of
time set fourth by the jury of his peers.
Whitney Welch,
Lacey Osina, Mandi
McWhorter and Staci Lee
are still innocent
and
they do not have the opportunity to ask for less than
the death sentence that Ricky Carter imposed on them
on December 19th 1998.
I only ask each of
you this. If you have children, those precious loving
creatures that have half of your blood running through
their veins, try to picture them in the position of
these four wonderful precious human beings that were
unjustly taken from their families, and try,
just try to see if you could only imagine the pain and
hurt that only you would feel as a parent if your
precious baby was unjustly taken from you, and you
knew that you could never, never, never get them back,
speak to them, hold them, be a part of their lives
!!!!!
Your consideration
in this matter is greatly appreciated.
Sincerely,
Larry Price