AMARILLO—Young teenager Sally Dickey has been given the death penalty by a Texas judge for taking 8 aspirin with a can of cola in a failed suicide bid. When asked why she wanted to kill herself Sulky said, “Because I saw on a soap opera that it was a good way to get attention.”
Officials believe that administering the death penalty in this case sends a clear message to other depressed and neglected teenagers: rethink suicide, or pay the consequences.
At least one Right to Die advocate believes that state intervention is a step in the right direction. Sheila Snowden, founder of Choose Death Always Inc. said, “Dickey made a choice to die but didn’t have the knowledge and ability to follow through, so the state is helping her fulfill her destiny and die with dignity. They don’t realize what they’re actually doing of course, but that’s typical of any bureaucracy.”
Dickey will be euthanized on May 25, 2015, and remains incarcerated but cheerful at this time. It has been said that jail has renewed her love for life, and while her life is now shortened she has pledged to live each moment of freedom—literally the hour she is allowed out of her cell each day—to make the most of what time she has left.