We Lost More Than Katie

Every parent mourns what was. We mourn everything that would have been—a future stolen by a preventable tragedy.

This is my second Father’s Day without Katie.

Last year, we were still trying to understand how drastically our world has changed. This year brings a different kind of heartbreak.

On the night of January 19^th, 2025, Katie and her friends had ventured out for a late-night snack while visiting friends at the University of Illinois.

While she was stopped at a red light, an SUV driven by a drunk illegal alien plowed into the back of their car, injuring all five inside.

Katie would succumb to her injuries at the scene of the crash.

The monster that killed my daughter was a Guatemalan national using a Mexican national alias.

This should not have happened.

Like thousands of other families, we should have been celebrating our daughter’s graduation from Ohio University.

We should have been excited about her future; starting a career, chasing new opportunities, and figuring out the life she wanted to build. Instead, we visit a grave.

As a parent, you spend your life helping your children become who they are meant to be.

You teach them to work hard, to be kind, to care for others, and to leave the world a little better than they found it; Katie was the embodiment of those lessons.

She was curious, thoughtful, and compassionate. She had a quick smile, a generous heart, and a future full of possibilities.

She had a sharp wit, an infectious sense of humor, and a thoughtfulness that made people feel seen and valued. She had a remarkable ability to adapt to any situation and connect effortlessly with people from every walk of life.

She was defined by the life she was building and the future she should have had. I think often about who she would have become. What friendships would she have built? I know this much: Katie would have made a difference.

EVERY parent raises their child to contribute to the world in their own ways, to care about others, and to leave their communities better than they found them.

Katie was already doing that. She would have continued to do it for the rest of her life. That is part of what makes this loss so difficult to accept. We didn’t just lose the Katie we knew. We lost everything she was becoming.

People often talk about grief as the loss of what was. But there is another kind of grief,

the loss of everything that would have been.

Father’s Day has a very different meaning for us now.

While Democratic politicians around the country celebrate this year’s Father’s Day with their loved ones, my family and countless other Angel Families are forced to suffer the deadly decision of these politician’s immigration policies.

My daughter’s murderer was known by federal authorities. Had the state of Illinois done its proper due diligence and instituted a minimal audit before granting him a driver’s license, two lives could have been saved

Had Democratic politicians not allowed sanctuary policies or instituted stronger border policies or better policies for policing criminal illegal alien crimes, my daughter would still be here, and we’d be spending 2026’s Father’s Day much differently.

Instead, we are left with a gaping hole in our heart, while Democrats continue to gaslight individuals like us for simply wanting stronger immigration security to prevent crimes such as these.

And instead, we are left carrying Katie’s memory forward. I hold on to the hope that this separation is not forever.

I pray that, by the grace of God, we will be together again.

“The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.” — Psalm 34:18

I love you.

Always.