Christmas without Katie — and without accountability

One of my daughter’s favorite parts of the holidays was being together with our entire family. She had a way of drawing everyone in, captivating us with her stories and adventures. She loved the lights, the sounds, and the energy of the season — the warmth and joy that made the holidays feel alive.

This Christmas will my family’s first without her joy and her warmth. Her life was taken too soon by someone who shouldn’t have been here to begin with. It didn’t have to be this way, and those responsible should be held accountable.

Christmas is a time for mercy. Katie was a merciful person and was quick to forgive. But we need more than mercy to move forward.

My daughter Katie Abraham was just 20 years old on January 19, when she was killed on the streets of Urbana, Illinois, by an illegal alien. Every day since has been marked by a void that cannot be filled — a pain that deepens as we approach the first anniversary of her death.

Her life was stolen by Julio Cucul-Bol, an illegal alien using an alias, who fled on foot after slamming into the vehicle she was riding in at nearly 80 miles per hour.

Bol was driving drunk and had previously been deported. In federal court, through an interpreter, he stated that he had no formal education, could not read or write in any language, and did not speak English — even after years in this country.

I refuse to accept that what happened to my little girl was accidental. The factors that caused her death were deliberate, reckless, and completely avoidable. They are the direct result of extreme sanctuary policies championed by Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) and his political allies. Illinois leaders deliberately ignore the harm these policies cause families like mine because acknowledging it would expose their recklessness.

Compassion, in Illinois, seems reserved exclusively for illegal aliens — while victims and citizens are forgotten.

Bol was eventually apprehended by U.S. marshals two days after President Trump took office, caught in south Texas while heading for the border. I am grateful to the president, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Department of Homeland Security, and ICE for securing the border immediately. Had Joe Biden and Alejandro Mayorkas remained in charge, I firmly believe Bol would have escaped into Mexico and would never have been held accountable.

Bol accepted a plea deal of 30 years, of which he will serve 85%. Still, he killed two women and injured three others. No matter how it is framed, justice feels incomplete.

My daughter’s killer shouldn’t have been here in the first place, but Pritzker and the other sanctuary politicians in Springfield did everything they could to protect him from federal law enforcement. No accountability. No protection for law-abiding citizens. They call it compassion. These officials pretend to care about everyone while actually caring about no one.

Which brings me to the question that will not leave my mind: Where is the responsibility of the state of Illinois?

Does Illinois bear no responsibility for policies that allowed someone so dangerous to live freely among us? Who in state government will step up and challenge these policies? Who will speak for Katie?

So far, not a single Illinois politician has. Our governor is silent when it comes to my daughter, even as he loudly defends those who entered our state illegally and without vetting.

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Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

As parents, we do everything we can to protect our children — only to watch radical leaders advance policies that put them in harm’s way. It is infuriating to have no recourse against the destructive one-party rule of what was once a great state. Politicians shield themselves with immunity while families like mine live with irreversible consequences.

I have lived in Illinois my entire life. I remember when this state had guardrails — when it would have intervened to protect its citizens, especially its children. That Illinois no longer exists.

Another word defines our current reality: exemption.

Why do some groups receive exemptions from personal responsibility while others do not? Why are repeated violations of federal and state law rewarded rather than punished? Illinois leadership seems to believe that those who break countless laws will somehow transform into model citizens once released without consequence. History tells us the opposite.

Christmas is indeed a time for mercy. Katie was a merciful person and was quick to forgive. But we need more than mercy to move forward. The theologian Thomas Aquinas famously said that “mercy without justice is the mother of dissolution,” and he was right. Forgiveness without accountability is not compassion — it is negligence.

Without that accountability and the acknowledgment of wrongdoing, the people of Illinois will continue to suffer, and sanctuary policies will just create more victims.

So I ask again: Where is Pritzker’s responsibility? Where is the responsibility of the state of Illinois?

Because families like mine are paying the price.