The tragic deaths of Paul Wayment and his son Gage have hit a nerve with the public.
Phone calls, letters and e-mails poured into the news media across the Wasatch Front Thursday, including the Deseret News, from people expressing sympathy, support, anger and sadness over Wayment's suicide.
"Paul Wayment never should have been prosecuted. He had suffered enough. The judge made a mistake in sentencing him to jail," one e-mail said.
At least one national television crew flew into Utah to cover the Wayment story. The story made the front page of the Boston Globe. The radio waves were full of callers pointing fingers at who was to blame for the double tragedy.
Like the death of 2-year-old Gage in October, Paul Wayment's death has the public asking what happened and why.
The Wayment story has captured the public's attention, because it's a situation to which almost every parent can relate, said Dr. Ted Wander, medical director of adult services for Valley Mental Health.
"As parents we all have made mistakes. We all have made judgment calls that are incorrect. It does bring up questions of what kind of decisions have I made about my child that could have lead to something tragic and dangerous like this. And I think people wonder how they would deal with it," Wander said.
Thursday afternoon the Deseret News asked readers of its Web site whether Wayment should have been sentenced to 30 days in jail.
Sixty-three percent of the respondents to the unscientific survey said Wayment should not have been sentenced to jail, while 2 percent said he deserved a lighter sentence. However, 28 percent said a 30-day sentence was appropriate and 7 percent said it should have been longer.
The Deseret News also asked readers to e-mail their comments on the week's events. Most expressed sorrow for Wayment. Others were angered by the decision to sentence him to jail.
"I, for one, cannot imagine a sentence or punishment any more severe than one that a parent would live with in his heart & mind for the rest of his life knowing his actions had brought about such a horrific tragedy," one e-mail said.
"I find it increasingly disturbing that parents are being held criminally responsible for accidents and lapses of judgment that bring injury to their children," another reader said.
One person wrote, "When I heard of Paul's loss I cried for Gage and I cried for Paul. When Summit County elected to prosecute Paul, I was outraged."
The person went on to call Wayment's conviction a "witch hunt," demanding the resignations of the prosecution, the defense and the judge in the case.
Another reader, while calling the situation very sad, did not believe the judge was at fault. "It is the law. The judge went easy on him considering the outcome of his mistake. Many other people have received a harsher sentence. After all, it was only 30 days."
Several people felt the media should share in the blame for Wayment's suicide, saying some went "overboard" in their coverage.
Callers filled the phone lines of the Doug Wright Show on KSL Radio Thursday, offering support and sympathy for Wayment.
"I've known people who have left their kids in cars," a caller said. "We've all made that mistake and left them in situations where they should have never been."
Another caller, nearly in tears, said, "I cried yesterday when I heard about this . . . I don't know anything that's hit me quite this hard."
Helen Post, executive director of the Utah Parent Center, said everybody is part of a family so there is a natural connection to this story.
Post said she had mixed feelings over whether Wayment should have been charged. But she later realized it's not productive for her to judge others, because sometimes a story is too connected to one's feelings to make rational judgments, she said.
As for Wayment's suicide, the public is mixed over how long they believed he had planned to do it and what was the final factor in his decision.
People are talking about it because they want to know, "Why?" Wander said. "The very thing that is so provocative about this is we're left with questions and not answers."
E-MAIL: preavy@desnews.com