To say grieving mother Andrea was down on her luck would be an understatement. When she entered Judge Frank Caprio’s courtroom in early 2017, she learned she’d racked up parking tickets for more than a decade that she didn’t even know about. Her tickets totaled approximately $400.
As the judge began asking questions, Andrea began to share about her last year and Judge Caprio learned some information that changed the tone of their conversation.
Andrea told the judge that her son had been murdered less than a year prior. Andrea subsequently lost income in her social security check as the result of money her son owed to the state. Following the cut check, Andrea was evicted. This was where her most recent parking tickets had begun to compile.
After the hearing regarding the eviction, Andrea returned to her vehicle to find another parking ticket. Knowing she needed helped, she’d visited another office to discuss legal aid. Upon leaving, she saw yet another parking ticket on her car.
Opening up further, she shared that she was currently taking antidepressants, but still felt “empty and lost.”
“It’s like I can’t win,” Andrea confessed to Judge Caprio on Caught in Providence’s YouTube video. “I don’t know where this money is supposed to come from.”
Still making payments towards her son’s funeral expenses, she was trying to pay off her tickets and simultaneously move into new housing.
Upon hearing Andrea’s story and predicament, the judge’s response was one Andrea never could have anticipated. Judge Caprio said “I think we can all express a sympathy to you and understand the trauma that you have experienced.”
He then told Andrea he was reducing her fines to $50. When he asked her how long it would take her to pay the amount, she said she had it on her. However, Judge Caprio pressed further.
When he found out paying would leave her with only $5, he said, “I’m not going to leave you with $5.” What he did next had this mother weeping tears of gratitude.
Check it out in the emotional video below, and share:
