Reading of the fate of Robert C. Richardson III, who is accused of killing his father, was deeply painful ("Community rallies around teen", Jan. 18). The 16-year-old's father is dead, and what is to come in a court trial can only be wrenching tragedy.

I am someone who, like many people, was the child of parents who probably did not have the strength nor character to love and care for my brother and me as we deserved. Most of my life has been a quest to stay alive and to escape the legacy of depression and hopelessness that I inherited.

But I was blessed to have been recognized as a human being who needed a lot of help — and I was given it.

When Mr. Richardson goes to trial, let us not forget his humanity, nor the prayer which many of us deeply understand: "There but for the grace of God, go I."

Leslie Robin Kassal, Baltimore