From Deseret News archives:
Addiction drains life out of body and soul
Young mom's sudden death devastates family
Snapshot: A young Monica and her mother schussing down a ski hill.
Snapshot: Monica wearing a high school graduation gown and an I-did-it grin.
Snapshot: A thoughtful Monica reading a storybook to her young son and niece.
The disc doesn't include pictures of the decrepit Monica. The one with hollow cheeks and wrinkles unbecoming her age. The one with ugly sores. The one whose bones protrude from her sallow skin. The one her family could hardly recognize. The one they don't want to remember. The one they can't forget.
Families don't put those kinds of images on a funeral DVD.
Despite some struggles her parents' divorce, pregnant at 16, bouts of depression, weight gain Monica Baird seemingly had it all together.
The 22-year-old single mother was sarcastically witty and full of laughter. She doted on her preschool-age son. She wrote in a poem, "I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much before I was a mom."
That was before methamphetamine.
Addiction drained the life out of her body and soul. She carried a scant 100 pounds on her 5-foot-6-inch frame. She turned irritable, angry and mean. She sent her son out to play alone so he could learn "more responsibility." She harshly scolded and grounded him when he wandered too far. He was 4.
She lost her job as a scrub tech at a hospital. She was evicted from her apartment. She jacked cars for meth money.
Her family didn't know her anymore. The daughter, the sister, the mom they knew wasn't capable of so much unfeeling.
In late October, Monica's druggie boyfriend nearly strangled her to death in a sleepless rage. She fled and desperately tried to check herself into a women's detox center at 3 a.m. on a Sunday but was turned away for lack of a bed.
A week later, on Halloween night, she died of heart failure, three days shy of her 23rd birthday. She left behind a 5-year-old son. She had used meth for about a year.
Recent comments
I recently found out that Monica died. This came as a complete shock...
Stacy | May 18, 2008 at 11:41 p.m.
I married Monica's father in 1997 and we live in Texas. I first met...
Jolene Baird | May 16, 2008 at 2:25 p.m.
Monica Baird was my aunt. I Love her with all my heart. I think of my...
Jasmine baird | April 29, 2008 at 10:28 a.m.
- NFL: Week 12 recap 12:50 a.m.
- '12 Days' bill would top $87K 12:35 a.m.
- Study finds autism therapy works 12:35 a.m.
- Boy shot following traffic stop 12:35 a.m.
- Sports on the air 12:24 a.m.
- Herbert builds his team of rivals 12:21 a.m.
- Corroon a step closer to governor 12:21 a.m.
- Monday on TV 12:18 a.m.
- Editorial: East, West and religion 12:17 a.m.
- A deficit commission? 12:17 a.m.
- Hall mouths off about hate of Utah
- BYU is champion of the state
- Cougars beat Utes in overtime
- Credit Coug defense for win
- Marriage definitions vary widely
- Field goals, penalties doomed Utes
- Cougar defense rose to occasion
- Banged up Jazz get best of Blazers
- Jones' joy for life remembered
- Fantasy is reality for BYU professor
- Hall mouths off about hate of Utah
869 - Cougars beat Utes in overtime
473 - Max Hall issues apology
145 - BYU is champion of the state
137 - Man trapped in Nutty Putty cave dies
117 - Cave to be sealed with body inside
116 - Rivalry Week is highly profane
90 - Hall's legacy measured today
79 - Hall's pain reflects self-betrayal
68 - Utes fall to Seattle U. at home
65
I wanted to tell them not to go. I dropped subtle hints. "My money is on...
When I was a kid, I worshipped my grandpa. He was undoubtedly my hero....
I find it interesting that many of the same people who say that we can't...
None of these teams is going to be easy. They all have fine football...
Max, no apology was necessary, but the apology was polically correct. If...
Very good piece of writing, Amy. You summarized what many of us have been...
How is a top 25 finish make Utah a top twenty team? I think what the poster...
90% of the BYU & Utah fans have class, and Hall knows it. If you don't...
This might be my favorite article I've ever read from the Deseret News. Kudos.
Thank you for not giving up and don't give up now brother and sister...
Dr. Lois Lee's work with children who are victims of child sexual...
Look at the preview for Pixar's "Up". The whole move is summarized in...



