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Don’t look back and say ‘What if’ This letter is in response to the article printed 6/17/2009, in regards to Kathy Tidmore pleading guilty to the murder of Alfred Holston Sr. First I would like to say my sympathy to the Holston family. I regret my actions on July 30, 2007, were too little too late for their loved one. My name is Clayton Garrison. When I first met Kathy Tidmore, we were both attending a meeting for DOC inmates on the community corrections program. These meetings were being held to help inmates with any problems they might be experiencing adjusting back into society. I was attending these meetings with my cousin who had recently been assigned to community corrections. I myself am currently on probation with the state because of drugs. “PROBLEMS!” Well, there are numerous problems inmates can have trying to assimilate back into society, the most common being the basic necessities in life – food, shelter, clothing, employment, etc. And most often we return to our old way of dealing with these things – drugs or other criminal behavior. Mrs. Tidmore was no exception to the rule. At several of the meetings I attended, she voiced some of the things she was having difficulty with. This included drug use, difficulty finding work, abusive relationships, and suicidal depression. Asking for help somehow some way. It’s sad to say this was about three months before Mr. Holston’s murder. And help did not come till too little too late. The day of the incident Brandi Stokes (who facilitated the community corrections meetings) and I were looking for Kathy, posting and handing out flyers with her picture on it, driving all over Oneonta asking others if they had seen her. Our goal was to get her to a hospital for detox, and it was my understanding Mrs. Stokes had found her an available bed in a rehab facility. Brandi and I did not just wander aimlessly. That day we started out visiting two different county offices. One refused to help because a crime had not been committed. (Yet they did offer advice on where to look because they knew of Mrs. Tidmore and her daughter and where they tended to hang out.) The other agency could not see us because they were trying to help someone else. (The lady who couldn’t talk to me that day later apologized.) As we searched through the morning and early afternoon, it seemed we were only 15 to 30 minutes behind Mrs. Tidmore at one point. A lady told us we had just missed her and pointed to a house two doors up and said, “She was just sitting on that porch 10 minutes ago.” We searched for Mrs. Tidmore from 7:00 a.m. till around 2:30 - 3:00 p.m. At that point we did not know where else to look. Sadly later that afternoon I received a phone call informing me of the murder. I guess the main reason I’m writing this letter is to put out a plea to the community that if you know of someone experiencing difficulties in life, ask them if you can help. Try to help! So often in this day and age when we see others struggling, we say to ourselves and them, “Not my problem they got themselves into it; they can get themselves out!” Well, I want to remind you of what God’s word says. James 5:19- 20: “Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth and one convert him. Let him know that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death and shall hide a multitude of sin.”
So once again I plea with you to help those you can. Trust me, you don’t want to look back on the past wondering “What if?” A survivor of a lifetime of drug abuse saved by the grace of God and the ones who cared enough to help. |
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