Parents place cross where daughter died Posted On: Thursday, Feb. 19 2009 05:36 AM By Victor O'Brien
Killeen Daily Herald

The dirt was dry and obstinate in a grass patch off U.S. Highway 190 Thursday. Andy Spear, fighting back tears, kept digging.

He pounded the shovel's point into the ground, digging the hole for a cross at the spot where his daughter, Leslie Ann Spear, 23, was killed by a drunken driver on June 29.

Andy stopped digging for a moment. His wife, Mary, clenched a clump of dirt and threw it away from the spot to make it easier for Andy to dig. Moments later, she looked in his eyes signaling the hole was almost deep enough.

Thursday was the last day of digging for Andy and Mary, something they have been doing since their only child's death. An initial investigation stated Leslie drove the wrong way in the westbound lanes of U.S. 190 near Clear Creek Road at 3:45 a.m. June 29 and killed herself, a passenger in Leslie's 2005 Ford Mustang and a Fort Hood soldier driving a 2003 Cadillac DeVille.

They dug for six months and 12 days after Leslie's death, until the accident report was reversed on Jan. 9. Leslie was vindicated after the driver of the DeVille was found to have a 0.12 blood alcohol content and an accident reconstruction specialist determined the accident couldn't have been Leslie's fault.

When the cross was planted Thursday, Andy and Mary placed a bouquet of white roses and lilacs, the closest flower they could find to Leslie's favorite color, blue.

"In loving memory of Leslie Ann Spear, born on Oct. 2, 1984, and killed at this location June 29, 2008, by a drunk driver," reads the placard on the cross provided by Mothers Against Drunk Drivers.

Mary wore her daughter's blue shirt, blue jeans and a strand of black Majorcan pearls Leslie purchased on a trip to Spain where she studied abroad during her senior year at Southwestern University in Georgetown.

Leslie was living a life to be admired when she was killed. She had worked with the U.S. Secret Service since she graduated from Southwestern in December 2006, and she had an interview lined up with the FBI.

Done digging, all Andy could do Thursday was cradle Mary in his arms. She told him, "I want her to come home now."

Mary told him the moment was what American poet Emily Dickinson described as the "hour of lead," a time when a heart's memories are so heavy, the body can't keep moving to see the hopes and joys in life.

"This never gets easier. What do you say to a mom who lost her only child? There's no words. We hope this memorial cross here brings comfort to them in some small way," MADD victim's advocate Claudia Daniels said.

Kneeling in front of the cross, Andy and Mary each grabbed grassy dirt clumps, which they shaped around the cross, making sure it stands straight and never falls over, Andy said.

"Nothing helps," Mary said. "It makes me mad and it seems more horrific when you see the words 'killed by a drunk driver'".

Andy said the cross is a small comfort. It could remind others of the consequences of drinking and driving before they get on the highway and kill someone else's daughter.

Contact Victor O'Brien at vobrien@kdhnews.com or (254) 501-7468.