Parents of murdered Breda girl, 15, facing "unbearable sadness, anger"
"As a human being, you really cannot bear so much sadness, anger, emotion and disbelief", the parents of 15-year-old Megan, who was stabbed to death in her mother's Breda home last week, said in a letter published by Omroep Brabant. In the letter they thank everyone for the support and sympathy they received, and said they hope the perpetrator will get the maximum punishment.
Megan was stabbed to death in her mother's home on Bilderdijkstraat in Breda on Monday, August 19th. A 16-year-old boy turned himself in to the police a short time later. He was in the same class as Megan and the two were in a relationship, according to other students.
"No parent can comprehend such an event. The moment that you hear, your world collapses. Your only child, in the prime of her life, with so many beautiful plans for the future, suddenly disappears", her parents wrote. "Totally unexpected and without the possibility of saying goodbye. And then also killed by a friend."
The boy suspected of Megan's murder was remanded into custody for another three months by the court in Breda on Thursday. He is facing charges of murder or manslaughter. A proforma hearing in this case is scheduled for November 22nd.
Read the full letter below, translated from Dutch:
On Monday 19 August our daughter Megan (15) was torn from our lives in a terrible and bizarre way. As has become known, Megan was stabbed to death in our own house by, it turned out later, a friend and classmate. No parent can comprehend such an event. The moment you hear, your world collapses. Your only child, in the prime of her life, with so many beautiful plans for the future, suddenly disappears. Totally unexpected and without the possibility of saying goodbye.And then also killed by a friend. As a human being, you really cannot bear so much sadness, anger, emotion and disbelief.
This crime affects everyone. Not only us, but also grandparents, uncles and aunts, friends and acquaintances, classmates and teammates. It later dawned on us that the whole Breda was occupied with Megan's death. People get goosebumps when they hear the terrible news. And not only Breda, not only Noord-Brabant, but the whole of the Netherlands is in shock. The death of our Megan is national news on radio, TV, internet and on social media. During the first few days this partly passed us by. It was so surreal to see pictures of our own house on news sites with police tape and men in white suits. Both your house and your child were 'evidence' then, while we ourselves had to wait powerlessly on the sidelines.
We resolutely reject requests from the press for information: we do not want publicity at all.The press respects our choices, without exception, and stays at a good distance. Although they crave news in this high-profile case, they don't dig. Nor do they visit the commemorations and funeral. We are grateful to the press for this. However, we also understand the need from the Breda community to know whether the perpetrator has been arrested so that people can safely take to the street again. The reporting on this was done in a respectful way. We also noticed that society needed to be able to share emotions around this drama, with each other and with us.
We naturally experience the compassion from many other people. Both from acquaintances and strangers. A sea of flowers has been created in front of our house, sweet and personal letters and cards are pouring in. People sympathize en masse, also on social media. Despite our intense sorrow, we draw strength from all the support we receive. We would like to thank everyone for this. The sympathy is enormous, we are all very grateful for that. We also want to thank all the institutions that assist us, such as Victim Support, but also mayor Paul Depla from whom we receive personal support and who was also prepared to speak on behalf of the family during the school commemoration.
THANK YOU ALL!
Let's hope the perpetrator of this cowardly crime gets a maximum punishment. We fervently hope that the Public Prosecution Service (and the judiciary s a whole) will make very effort to achieve this.
So far our first and only response. We seek comfort and rest from our loved ones and furthermore avoid publicity. The criminal case that is going to happen in the coming period will also cost us a lot of energy with many emotions. Picking up our lives is now almost impossible, hence our request for privacy. We count on understanding from you, the press.
With warm regards,
Father and mother of Megan
