The Community Reaches Out - A Letter from Jim McGuire

Jim McGuire & Todd Strader, 6 Grade Class, 1974 - 1975

Our home was always warm and welcoming. With both parents as teachers and four kids in the house - three of them boys- our house had one large open door policy. Well, the guys all came and went through the garage mostly.  All of our friends have been so supporting and have kindly shared Mother's impact on the community.  Many have written to the Judge as part of the pre-sentencing package that may influence the sentencing to be more commensurate with the crime.  

I’ve extracted a bit from the letter of one of Todd’s childhood friends. Jim has most recently reconnected with us Strader kids, and we have reacquainted via Facebook. Funny how the age gap of little brother and his friends is no longer relevant! Thanks Jim McGuire for the kind words and reflections from childhood to present;  Mother’s impact and significance from our home to her dedication to youth and Schlagle High School students; and the memories she helped create in all of us. 

In Jim’s words “her family reached way beyond blood or DNA. This lady was a beacon among many very good people in her own right. “

“her family reached way beyond blood or DNA.
This lady was a beacon among many
very good people in her own right.”

As with many of your notes Jim shared special moments, thoughts, and the confusion that remains caused by “this senseless crime.” Why he took time to write is clear in his correspondence to the Judge:

Mrs. Strader (and her family) were very likely robbed of no less than 15 to 20 years of shared time, love and enrichment. That’s 15 to 20 precious years of shared experiences, not the least of which was growing old gracefully and naturally. The cost to her family, friends and the greater community of Kansas City, Kansas was every bit as high as if a very active retired member of law enforcement or military or civic leadership had been recklessly killed that fateful day.

With permission we are sharing the first and last paragraph of Jim’s heartfelt letter.

Wyandotte County Court Probation Department Victim Impact Statement James McGuireRE: Case # 2014-CR-000818Defendant: Joshua Jay Brazeal Your Honor, I appreciate the opportunity to convey my perception of the impact this senseless crime has had on both me and our community.  While I was not a personal close friend of Geraldine Strader, I remember her quite clearly as a young child.  I attended Parker Elementary School from Kindergarten through sixth grade with her son Todd. I remember on occasion being in their house after school and the air of both discipline and kindness I felt from Todd's Mom.  “She was kind but you behaved in her house”.  As I grew older I knew her as our Librarian at Schlagle High School. Again, the same feelings of discipline and kindness come to mind.  She was always challenging us kids to aspire to something deeper.  Reach for something greater.  I lost touch with Todd over the years and had only reconnected via Facebook shortly before his Mother's death.  I had felt lucky to catch up with another "old friend" who had done well for himself and as well to learn of his sister and brother and their successes.  Now I would say that there was obviously something remarkable in the way they were raised given the caliber of adults they had become.

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"Joshua Jay Brazeal didn't have to steal that car.  But he chose to do so.  He didn't have to drive at recklessly high speeds in a densely populated neighborhood in order to evade (either real or perceived) police pursuit. But by his choice he did. And when he hit Geraldine Strader’s car so hard that it ejected her into the street, and then without knowing if he could help her, (or the young woman with him in the stolen car) he decided to flee on foot and seek medical help only for himself.  Though not premeditated, his intentionally reckless decisions are precisely why Geraldine Strader was brutally killed that day. It is why her close family, her larger family and the greater community of Kansas City, Kansas once again was victimized by senseless criminal action."

I am baffled after comparing the similarities between the cases of Joshua Jay Brazeal and Christopher B. Stewart as to why the District Attorney is only asking for 41 months of a possible 154 month sentence for Mr. Brazeal.  I cannot reconcile the discrepancies in sentences.  There is only one difference I see at face value and I pray to God we are better than that kind of measure.  I also recognize there may be circumstances that are not public knowledge. But when I set all of these thoughts aside, I am left with the unambiguous thought that that three and one-half years’ sentence doesn’t seem nearly long enough to neither punish nor potentially rehabilitate anyone who has made such serious criminal choices and moral mistakes.  Mr. Brazeal needs sufficient time to contemplate the wrong choices he has made in their totality and how they led him to the place where he could recklessly kill and selfishly disregard an innocent person.  If he is addicted to methamphetamine or other strong drugs (as I have heard may be the case) 3 and one half years is barely enough time for him to get his head unscrewed from his addictions, let alone accept responsibility for his actions and contemplate how he must change himself to atone for, and never repeat  those narcissistic, addictive and criminal ways.  My concern is not with vengeance.  And from knowing Mrs. Strader’s children, I do not believe that vengeance would bring any peace.  My concern is that any plea agreement made with Mr. Brazeal to reduce the sentence is truly not in his nor society’s best interest.  I firmly believe that he will need every bit of 10 or 12 years to straighten out his thinking, given that he has probably spent about that long descending down the path that has brought him to this point.  It will take years just for him to honestly own up to himself for his predicament and quit blaming others.  And that’s just the first step on a long road.  I fear if he re-enters society too soon he will likely be his own next victim, and possibly will rob us of another innocent bystander like Geraldine Strader.  If we are to make some sense out of this senseless act, Joshua Jay Brazeal’s sentence must be the basis of a plan for both protection of the public, (until he can be trusted to make better choices) and ultimately for his redemption beyond his next arrest.

Sincerely, JMM 

Thanks so much Jim for your support.

The Children of Geraldine Strader

justice4strader@gmail.com