Charlottesville speaks up: Letters to the editor for the week of Mar. 17, 2023
- Updated
Our weekly round-up of letters published in the Daily Progress.
Editor's Note: This letter originally was written as a Facebook post in response to the shooting death of Nicklous Pendleton on Feb. 22. The writer authorized publication in The Daily Progress.
Heartbroken. Completely and utterly. We are broken. I didn't physically give birth to Nicklous, but he was one of ours. A bonus son, chosen by our daughter. We gained an entire family when Nick joined ours. They are in so much pain. In April, he and Katy would've been together three years, and in those three years, we saw him every day (except a couple vacations they took).
Nick loved our Katy so well. He showed her love. They were far more mature than their ages. Just babies! 19 and 20. Nick was the best boyfriend, the best brother, the best son, the best grandson, the best uncle, the best friend. He showed the utmost kindness to children, and the utmost respect to the elderly. He was just all that is good.
Nick and Katy were students at PVCC; they planned to transfer next year to UVa or JMU. He was going to major in business. He would've owned a successful business one day. You just knew that. He was smart, driven, funny, and so handsome. A smile that could light up a room.
Nick wasn't a kid that ran in the streets. He stayed home, he went to school and went to work. He and Katy were joined at the hip. Sometimes we thought they were too attached lol. We couldn't have chosen a better man to love our daughter if we had hand picked him ourselves.
Our babies adored him, his little siblings adored him, especially Meena. He was loved by so many people. He and Trey had become so close over the last year.
Nick and Katy talked about everything. EVERYTHING. When they first started dating, we could hear them talking for hours in her room, broken up by giggles and outright laughter. They had big dreams. They had plans to graduate college, get married, have kids. Nick talked about what kind of father he wanted to be. I know he would've been the best.
I am so angry that all of that was stolen from him.
Katy has had so many messages with wonderful stories and memories sent to her from Nick's friends. He impacted so many people.
Nick saw the best in people, and always wanted to see people do well for themselves. He didn't get involved in drama, and he didn't like to argue. He would do for others anytime they asked.
Please pray for our Katy, who is convinced her life ended at the same time as his, even though she continues to be here with us. Please pray for his family, who are dealing with the absolute unimaginable. And pray for us as well. We loved him oh so much. We will always love him.
And to the COWARD that chose to end the life of an innocent, bright light in this world, you will be found. You will be prosecuted. Nick's life will have meaning. We will fight for that justice until it is served.
DANA CHERRY
Gordonsville
A GoFundMe page has been established to help the family. https://gofund.me/7ad4829d
The following reporting is from page A4 of the Sunday, March 12, 2023 Daily Progress:
"Albemarle County Police Chief Sean Reeves said the root cause is gangs. . . . Multiple requests to Reeves for further detail on this assessment went unanswered. When the Daily Progress approached Reeves for comment at a county meeting this past week, he declined to respond, saying he had another meeting to attend.”
With all due respect to Chief Reeves, his unwillingness to help Albemarle taxpayers — who pay for his compensation, benefits, and service — better understand what’s going on with all the shootings in our area is unacceptable to this Albemarle taxpayer.
I have sent a similar email already to Chief Reeves through a form on the ACPD website. That email should be available to you through the VA FOIA.
GARY GRANT
Earlysville
This is the progressive mind at work. Do you even hear yourselves?
Your Sunday front page 3/12/23, in boldface print: GUNS OUT OF CONTROL. Not people out of control. Not individuals out of control. Not young-men-never-raised-properly deciding to shoot people. No, it's the guns themselves.
And then you add: "Shootings are up. Officials can't explain why." You don't mean "can't explain why." Officials know exactly why. What you mean is "Officials not allowed to explain why."
JAMES BREWER
Lovingston
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Editor's Note: This letter originally was written as a Facebook post in response to the shooting death of Nicklous Pendleton on Feb. 22. The writer authorized publication in The Daily Progress.
Heartbroken. Completely and utterly. We are broken. I didn't physically give birth to Nicklous, but he was one of ours. A bonus son, chosen by our daughter. We gained an entire family when Nick joined ours. They are in so much pain. In April, he and Katy would've been together three years, and in those three years, we saw him every day (except a couple vacations they took).
Nick loved our Katy so well. He showed her love. They were far more mature than their ages. Just babies! 19 and 20. Nick was the best boyfriend, the best brother, the best son, the best grandson, the best uncle, the best friend. He showed the utmost kindness to children, and the utmost respect to the elderly. He was just all that is good.
Nick and Katy were students at PVCC; they planned to transfer next year to UVa or JMU. He was going to major in business. He would've owned a successful business one day. You just knew that. He was smart, driven, funny, and so handsome. A smile that could light up a room.
Nick wasn't a kid that ran in the streets. He stayed home, he went to school and went to work. He and Katy were joined at the hip. Sometimes we thought they were too attached lol. We couldn't have chosen a better man to love our daughter if we had hand picked him ourselves.
Our babies adored him, his little siblings adored him, especially Meena. He was loved by so many people. He and Trey had become so close over the last year.
Nick and Katy talked about everything. EVERYTHING. When they first started dating, we could hear them talking for hours in her room, broken up by giggles and outright laughter. They had big dreams. They had plans to graduate college, get married, have kids. Nick talked about what kind of father he wanted to be. I know he would've been the best.
I am so angry that all of that was stolen from him.
Katy has had so many messages with wonderful stories and memories sent to her from Nick's friends. He impacted so many people.
Nick saw the best in people, and always wanted to see people do well for themselves. He didn't get involved in drama, and he didn't like to argue. He would do for others anytime they asked.
Please pray for our Katy, who is convinced her life ended at the same time as his, even though she continues to be here with us. Please pray for his family, who are dealing with the absolute unimaginable. And pray for us as well. We loved him oh so much. We will always love him.
And to the COWARD that chose to end the life of an innocent, bright light in this world, you will be found. You will be prosecuted. Nick's life will have meaning. We will fight for that justice until it is served.
DANA CHERRY
Gordonsville
A GoFundMe page has been established to help the family. https://gofund.me/7ad4829d
The following reporting is from page A4 of the Sunday, March 12, 2023 Daily Progress:
"Albemarle County Police Chief Sean Reeves said the root cause is gangs. . . . Multiple requests to Reeves for further detail on this assessment went unanswered. When the Daily Progress approached Reeves for comment at a county meeting this past week, he declined to respond, saying he had another meeting to attend.”
With all due respect to Chief Reeves, his unwillingness to help Albemarle taxpayers — who pay for his compensation, benefits, and service — better understand what’s going on with all the shootings in our area is unacceptable to this Albemarle taxpayer.
I have sent a similar email already to Chief Reeves through a form on the ACPD website. That email should be available to you through the VA FOIA.
GARY GRANT
Earlysville
This is the progressive mind at work. Do you even hear yourselves?
Your Sunday front page 3/12/23, in boldface print: GUNS OUT OF CONTROL. Not people out of control. Not individuals out of control. Not young-men-never-raised-properly deciding to shoot people. No, it's the guns themselves.
And then you add: "Shootings are up. Officials can't explain why." You don't mean "can't explain why." Officials know exactly why. What you mean is "Officials not allowed to explain why."
JAMES BREWER
Lovingston
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