These are the words I said to Larry's killers in court. A copy was ordered given to each of them.

Friday, January 20, 2006

My name is Ralph Green.

I have been Larry’s Uncle by marriage for twenty-four years.

His Mother is my wife’s sister.

I’d like to say that for what you have done, I forgive you. I forgive you because I will not allow hate, anger and irrational emotions to rule my life, because of your actions.

Having said that, even though I forgive you, I will not forget it. None of us can stop, that which you have set into motion.

I love Larry Stefhon. I worked with him, tried to give him advice on how to change his life for the better and debated with him about his plans for the future. I’ve had Thanks Giving, Christmas’s, Birthdays and many other family functions and holidays with him over the years, at his parent’s house.

I; We; his family, will dearly miss him, during those times in the future.

I’m a retired Firefighter. I retired from the City Of Roswell Fire Department in 1999, after twenty years with the department.

During that time, it was my job to intervene on other people’s tragedy. I came to realize very quickly, that I couldn’t always make things better, but I could, at times, keep them from getting any worse.

That same realization is punctuated by Larry’s death. It is never going to feel any better, but we are all trying, as a family, to keep it from getting any worse.

I have been on scenes, such as the one you set at Larry’s house, many times.

The circumstances that brought them about, made no sense to me then, and what you have done, makes no sense to me now.

I know the violence and the trauma of Larry’s last moments on earth, as I have lived it each time I went on such scenes, when my best efforts and those of my crew, could not undo, what had been done in a senseless moment of violence.

At this point, even though I and the rest of the family think you’re sentence is too light, I would like to thank the court for working toward a plea agreement with you, because in doing so, the family has been spared the agony, the waiting and the pain of enduring a trial, which would only have served making them relive Larry’s death, all over again.

I know this court to be honorable and I have faith that the agreement it has made was the best that could have been made, given the evidence presented to it. I trust that the sentence set forth, was in the best interest of all parties involved.

As for the defendants in this case, I hope they take this time and the rest of their sentences, to think of what they have done, not only to Larry and his family, but also to their own families.

You have sentenced Larry’s parents and family to a life time of grief.

Every family function, Christmas, Thanks Giving, Birthdays and all of the other functions, will have an empty chair at them. The joy of these events, will be dampened by the absence of our beloved Larry.

You will have time to make changes in your lives. Larry’s stopped where it was and no changes can be made.

He wasn’t perfect. But he was loved by his entire family.

He was about to get his drivers license back, just in time to drive his daughter to and from her high school graduation, which now, he’ll never see.

He has a new nephew, his brother’s son, which he’ll never get to know.

His children are left to grow up without a father. His Mother and Father no longer have the pleasure of his visits.

His brothers and sisters have only a place in the cemetery to visit with a cold stone to talk to while they’re there.

Your own family’s lives will be forever changed also, because of your actions and your reckless disregard for the lives of those around you.

You don’t know how many weddings, funerals, or other family functions you’ll miss while in prison.

Larry will miss all of them, from now on.

What you did was the act of a coward. It was no accident. You planned it, you came at night, with weapons, the way all cowards do.

Your family will have to live with the knowledge that because of your cowardly acts, they too must suffer along with our family.

You destroyed your own lives along with Larry’s. The difference is, that you still have a life to try to salvage.

You have forever changed the lives of so many people you don’t know, in such a way we’ll never fully recover from the loss.

There is little satisfaction in knowing, you won’t either.

You have limited your future by your own actions, but you have ended Larry’s future and any hopes his family had for him.

Take time to think of what value you place on a human life and of at what your lack of any real human values have cost you, your family and the family and loved ones of Larry.

You’re going to have plenty of time to think.

I truly hope you make good use of it and use it for good.

That’s all I have to say,

I thank the court for it’s time

Ralph Green (AKA: jafff)