Dear Young Eric, I Feel Bad For You

A little bit about Eric Smith

Eric Smith was born on January 22, 1980 in the secluded village of Savona, New York. By the time Eric was an infant until he was a pre-teen, he’d been exhibiting disturbing behaviours like head-banging, yelling, punching, smoking, burning objects, killing and torturing small animals, etc. His mother, Tammy Smith (née Wilson), took Tridione, a medication to help control epileptic seizures, which negatively impacted Eric’s development. She took it while she was pregnant with him, and while she was pregnant with two of her other children.

Eric did not have an easy childhood. Eric’s biological father, Randy Hevner, abandoned Eric and his mother when he was an infant, and favoured Eric’s older sister, Stacey Hevner, over Eric. Besides being abandoned by his biological father, he was repeatedly bullied, because of his small figure, low-set ears, speech impediment, bright red hair, aviator-style glasses, freckles, and his learning disability. Older kids at school would purposefully make him trip on the bus, yell at him, mock his ears and hair, take his belongings, slap his glasses off his face, and pull his hair. He had very few friends, and spent most of his time alone or with his family. Ted Smith, his adoptive father, was known to be loving and supportive, but also intimidating, manipulative, and abusive towards him and his siblings.

All of these complications Eric had during his childhood led to a horrible tragedy that happened on August 2, 1993. He killed and sodomized an innocent, sweet, joyful, sociable, affectionate, and athletic little boy named Derrick Robie.

He was arrested and charged with second-degree murder on August 8, 1993. He was convicted on August 16, 1994. He spent 27 years in prison for the brutal murder of four-year-old Derrick Robie. He was granted parole in October 2021, but was not officially released from prison until February 1, 2022.

He’s been living in Queens, New York since he was released from Woodbourne Correctional Facility in Woodbourne, New York. I wish him all the best in the future endeavours!

The poem

Dear Eric Smith,

If I was your friend back in the day:

I’d cry for you,

I’d scream for you,

I’d swear for you,

I’d have a pity party with you,

I’d walk in the dark tunnel with you,

I’d hold your hand as I’m helping you fight your battles,

I’d bulletproof you from all the foes who’ve attacked you,

I’d hug you until you stop shedding tears,

I’d convince you to quit smoking a pack of cigarettes at such a young age,

I’d play with you every day, every weekend, and every holiday,

I’d watch you play the drums,

I’d sing your favourite songs with you,

I’d read books and go to the library with you,

I’d go on fishing trips with you,

I’d swim in the pool with you,

I’d go on strolls with you,

I’d let you touch and style my fluffy, thick, soft, wavy, and gorgeous golden tresses,

I’d listen to music with you,

I’d visit the local diner with you,

and I’d go out for pizza and ice cream with you every summer!

You weren’t a monster;

you were bleeding inside,

you were lonely,

you were struggling in school,

your voice went missing,

you were tiny,

you were emotionally fragile,

you were discombobulated,

and you had difficulty

finding your way out of the woods.

If you had a friend like me,

this horrible tragedy

wouldn’t have spooked you,

your neighbours, your family, your friends, your community, and the world.

Alas, it happened,

and you weren’t the child

I wish you were

and became.

Conclusion

This story relates to me, because Eric and I have lots in common: we both have learning and developmental disabilities, we were bullied as kids, we wear glasses, we love to read books, we love music, we’ve had anger management problems, we’ve gotten along better with adults than children our age when we were younger, and we are both naturally intelligent and sensitive!

Although Eric displayed worse behaviours than myself as a child, we’ve both had issues that negatively impacted us in school and in the community. We were both vulnerable, because of our disabilities and inability to understand the complex world around us. The positive thing is, we’ve gotten better at grasping the complexities of life as we’ve matured. We both have great insight, natural poetry writing abilities, we are able to effectively communicate, and we are both motivated to better ourselves.

To see what he’s like as an adult, check out a couple of videos I found on YouTube!

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References