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06th Jun 2016

Heartbroken father makes lunge for daughter’s grinning murderer in court

This is tough to watch

Nooruddean Choudry

In all honesty, who can blame him?

We are told to turn the other cheek, and to let the legal system deal with those who have committed crimes against us. Of course that is the right and proper thing to do, but if you are parent who has lost a child to a callous murderer, it is hard to maintain that perspective.

We cannot imagine what was going through the mind of Van Terry as he stood in a Cleveland courtroom, just a few yards away from the man who had brutally murdered his 18-year-old daughter. That convicted killer, Michael Madison, was smiling must have been unbearable.

Madison was to be sentenced for the murder of three women, including Terry’s daughter Shirellda. The distraught father looked over at the smirking felon as he told the court: “Right now, I guess in our hearts we’re supposed to forgive this clown, who has touched our families, taken my child.”

All the while, the cruel grin didn’t leave Madison’s face. Terry took a moment to try and maintain his composure, but it was clearly too much provocation. He leapt across the courtroom and made a lunge for his daughter’s killer. Shrieks of “No, no, no!” filled the Cuyahoga County Justice Center.

Terry was restrained as Madison was shielded away, nonchalant smile intact. The serial killer was eventually sentenced to the death penalty, but it will be of scant consolation to a grieving father who has lost everything.