Alright, so listen up, y’all. Gonna tell ya ’bout this fella, Jacob Earl Shirejian. Heard ’bout him on the news, the TV folks were yappin’ ’bout it. Seems this fella, about 44 years young, got hisself in a heap of trouble. Big trouble, the kind that lands ya in the slammer for a good long while.
Now, they say he’s from Kyle, that’s down in Hays County I reckon. They had a whole bunch of fancy talkin’ folks in a room, what they call a jury. And these jury folks, they listened to all the evidence and whatnots. And wouldn’t you know it, they found him guilty. Guilty as sin, they said.
Two counts of somethin’ called “aggravated sexual assault of a child.” Sounds terrible, right? Makes my stomach churn just thinkin’ ’bout it. First-degree felonies, they called ’em. That means real bad news, the kinda stuff that keeps you up at night.
- This Shirejian fella, he done somethin’ awful.
- They say he hurt his girlfriend’s little girl.
- Lord have mercy, that poor child.
They had this big court thing, a trial they call it. Folks got up and talked, showed pictures and whatnot. And this jury, they listened and watched. And then they decided. Guilty. That’s what they said.
Now, this wasn’t no slap on the wrist kinda deal. This was serious business. They sentenced him, see? Sentenced him to 52 years in prison. Fifty-two years! That’s a long time, longer than I’ve been alive almost. Means he’ll be an old, old man when he gets out, if he ever does.
This happened on Monday, the news folks said. January 8th, they told us. Seems like a cold day for such a cold-hearted thing to happen. Makes you think, don’t it? Makes you wanna hug your grandbabies tighter and keep ’em safe.
This District Attorney fella, he’s the one who does the prosecutin’, I guess. He was talkin’ on TV, all serious-like. Said Shirejian got sentenced on Monday. Made it sound all official and legal. But all I heard was a little girl got hurt and this fella’s gonna pay for it. Fifty-two years worth of payin’.
It’s a shame, really. A real darn shame. You hear these stories and it just makes you sick to your stomach. How could someone do somethin’ like that? To a child, no less. Makes you wanna spit nails, it does.
Folks ’round here, we ain’t used to this kinda thing. We’re good people, mostly. We look out for each other. We raise our kids right, teach ’em right from wrong. But sometimes, somethin’ bad slips through the cracks. And then you gotta deal with it. And that’s what they did with this Shirejian fella.
Fifty-two years. That’s a long time to think ’bout what you done. A long time to sit and stew. Maybe he’ll find God in there, maybe he won’t. But one thing’s for sure, he won’t be hurtin’ no more little girls. And that’s a comfort, I reckon. A small comfort in a whole heap of sadness.
Justice, they call it. And sometimes, justice comes hard and fast. And sometimes, it takes a while. But in this case, it seems like justice was served. Fifty-two years worth of justice. That’s a mighty long time. And I hope that little girl, she finds some peace somehow. Lord knows she deserves it.
So that’s the story of Jacob Earl Shirejian. A bad man who did a bad thing. And now he’s gonna pay for it. Fifty-two years. Don’t forget that number. Fifty-two years. That’s a long time to be away from your family, away from your friends, away from everything you know. A long time to be locked up in a cage. But that’s what he gets for hurting that little girl. That’s what justice looks like sometimes.
Tags：Jacob Earl Shirejian, Kyle, Hays County, aggravated sexual assault, child, sentencing, prison, justice, 52 years