Saturday, May 28, 2016 a mother, Michelle Gregg, took her 4 children to enjoy a day out at the Cincinnati Zoo. She took them on what she probably expected to be a rather uneventful day that would give her a little break while they had fun. As an administrator at a local preschool I can only imagine that she also expected it to be a great opportunity at expanding their knowledge as well. Unfortunately the events of the day played out tragically differently than she had planned. According to eye witness accounts, Michelle's 4 year old son was eager to get into the gorilla exhibit; to which she responded no multiple times. Soon after, she was heard frantically calling her sons name because he had slipped from eyesight. Once he was found it was already too late. After breaching the barriers he quickly fell 10-12 feet into the moat of the enclosure.  Panic ensued and moments later Harambe had the child in tow. Zoo officials quickly tried to separate the two with a special call used by zookeepers to bring the gorillas in but it was unsuccessful. Harambe used behavior typical of a gorilla to their young but with a 4 year old human child. Eventually it was decided, by Cincinnati Zoo officials, to put down Harambe which allowed them to successfully rescue Michelle's 4 year old son with only a concussion and bruises. As if this weekend hasn't been hard enough for this family they are now experiencing an unwarranted attack on their character and parenting abilities. I, as a mother to 4, can completely understand how quickly a child can slip from eyesight and the potential consequences of that slip. Michelle Gregg didn't go to the zoo with the intention of her precocious 4 year old being a victim to his own curiosity. Nor did she go with the intention of one of the precious animals being killed to protect her child. It's not fair to threaten this family because of something all parents are guilty of. We as a community need to rally around this family and say that we stand with them. We stand with the quick thinking of Cincinnati Zoo officials that saved this young boys life. And we applaud the zoo's proactive review of their current barriers as well as the closing of the exhibit until further notice. We as mothers, fathers, uncles, aunts, friends, sisters, brothers will not allow this family to be persecuted for anyone's personal agenda. We will not allow our officials to be bullied into prosecution due to public pressure. Please sign below to let Chairmen & Director of the Cincinnati Zoo, Cincinnati Police Chief, & Hamilton County CPS know that this was an accident all parents are capable of that ended as perfectly as it could have given the circumstances and that Michelle's humanity is not a reason to criminalize her. Please don't let Michelle's children and family be further traumatized. They need our voices!