Lane’s Sister: I Love My Brother
Prior to his sentencing, Chardon High School shooter T.J. Lane asked his defense counsel not to present any mitigation, including statements from any family members, his lawyers said.
Prior to his sentencing, Chardon High School shooter T.J. Lane asked his defense counsel not to present any mitigation, including statements from any family members, his lawyers said.
However, defense attorney Ian Friedman and Lane’s sister, Sadie, did make statements after Lane was sentenced to life in prison without parole for shooting six classmates on Feb. 27, 2012, killing three of them.
“Many have felt this pain. That includes those who have done their very best to raise T.J.,” Friedman said. “That also includes his younger sibling … Sadie Lane. I just want to be very clear that the family, his family … did not have anything to do with this. As the judge said in there today and the evidence makes clear as you all heard, T.J. did act on his own. There was no notice, there was no discussion, there was no help, there was no encouragement.”
He asked that Lane’s family also be seen “as the victims they are” and that Sadie be seen “as the victim that she is.”
“The defense is deeply sorry for the families, all of the families’ pain,” he said. “All of the families who have been affected by this, there is nothing that we can say that is going to lessen that.”
When asked how Friedman felt about Lane’s profane statement to family members before his sentencing, he said it was a “very difficult statement to hear and to see its affect on the families.”
“I don’t think anyone could say anything different,” he said.
Friedman also mentioned Geauga County Common Pleas Court Judge David Fuhry talking to Lane about his appellate rights.
“T.J. does have his appellate rights. He opted to exercise those today, if only to scrutinize and look over everything that was done in this case,” Friedman said. “He has requested that the court appoint him a lawyer to do that. However, this community and the families that have been affected can at least begin to seek closure as this case here today has finally reached its conclusion.”
As Sadie took the podium outside the courthouse amidst the snow, she said she believes it is important her message is heard.
“I was not only a victim that day, but I also lost my brother,” she said, as her parents and grandparents stood solemnly behind her. “Throughout the past year, I have tried to come to terms with what has happened. There’s not a lot I can say that others haven’t already said at this point, but I want to offer my deepest sympathy to all the victims’ families and anyone involved,” Sadie said. “My family and I have kept you all in our thoughts and prayers from the start. I ask that you also keep my family in your prayers as well. Many families were damaged that day and ours was too. Then even further in November when I lost Adam, my other brother.”
Sadie said many people don’t realize she was in the cafeteria along with all the other students the day Lane opened fire.
“I heard the gunshots and screams, ran for my life, ducked under tables, hid in the teachers’ lounge, not knowing who the shooter was,” she said. “Sitting in that room in shock as we all comforted one another, I heard a police officer outside the window say that they suspected T.J. Lane. When those words hit me, I shook my head and denied that all this could be true.”
She said a teacher then brought her into the hallway while she waited to be questioned.
“I witnessed my peers being rolled out on stretchers right past me, something no one should ever have to see,” Sadie said. “To this day, those images haunt me and keep me from being able to go to school, even movie theaters and social events. Not until around 2 (p.m.) that day was it confirmed that the shooter was my brother.”
She added, “It may be hard for some to understand, but I love my brother and hope that wherever the sentencing in life takes him in the future, that he can touch others lives in a positive way from a point of view that only he can give.”
Sadie said she hopes her message of peace, forgiveness and understanding “carries with T.J. to a place where those traits are scarce.
“And I hope that we call could towards peace and compassion in the future. Words have a powerful impact. Positive and negative. We all need to keep that in mind,” she said. “As a child growing up in this house along with my little sister, Sierra, things have been said about my family that are very hurtful and untrue. It’s painful to see how these words affect my family. In contrast, we are very thankful for the prayers that go out to us and the positive encouragement that will get us through this difficult time.”
Geauga County Prosecutor Jim Flaiz said they do have a theory on Lane’s motive, but he will not release that information to the media until he talks to the victims’ families. (Watch video of Flaiz’s full address to the media at geaugamapleleaf.com).
Sadie said as she continues trying to come to terms with Lane’s actions and consequences, she keeps coming back to her belief that “hate will only generate more hate.
“But forgiveness and compassion with bring peace and understanding,” she said. “The brother in the courtroom who did this is not the brother I knew.”
