Discussion: 10-Year-Old Boy Charged As An Adult In Beating Woman To Death

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Discussion for article #228803

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Son of a teaBagger?

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That’s why you should always carry a gun. If he’d shot her, it would have been an accidental death.

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The crime is awful, of course, but trying a 10yr old as an adult? That’s crazy.

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This is obviously a very disturbed child, but trying a 10 year old as an adult is beyond the pale.

Bear in mind that if convicted, this means a 10 year old could go to an adult prison.

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I think this kid needs some psychiatric intervention more than what could be life in prison.

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That’s stretching to make everything a political attack IMO.

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Agreed. This line caught my attention too.

“Advised of his rights and interviewed by a trooper”

I’m sure the 10 year old understood his rights fully and completely.

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Why don’t we just cut the bullshit and say we don’t give a damn if you’re six or sixty. Either we have a juvenile code for juvenile offenders or we don’t give a shit. We’ll charge children as adults if the penalty isn’t harsh enough if it’s a child? Maybe we could have a cutoff for, say age, or height, or weight, or number of permanent teeth.

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Society of violence spawns children inured to the sight, feel, and impact of a bit of ultra violence?

-this is my shocked face- :expressionless:

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I was going to write the exact same thing. If only this boy had killed her with an assault rifle, he would be walking free and clear today. But you know, rather than ‘responsibly’ using a safe gun, he used a dangerous weapon (a cane) and thus the full weight of the GOP-law-and-order campaign will come down on him.

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Of all the 10 year old boys I have known in my life, I am trying to imagine one of them beating an old woman to death – I can’t.

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We have different standards for children because their brains are not fully developed. So I guess this 10yo had an adult brain?

Ridiculous.

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yeah-----OK.

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So here’s a real-life problem: a 10 year old isn’t an adult and really shouldn’t be tried as one; however, as a juvenile he’ll be out by 21 or 25 (or whatever the age is) regardless. This 10 year old brutalized and killed a 90 year old woman because she yelled at him. Visualize him choking with her cane and smashing his fist into her mouth over and over. Grandpa and Mom suspected that the minute they understood she was injured, which suggests this kid has a history. Yes, he needs some psychiatric evaluation. My concern would be that this child is a sociopath who can feel no remorse and who will be a menace for the rest of his life, likely to kill wantonly as the mood strikes him. That child should not be out of custody ever, if he is indeed that child. Trial as an adult sort of solves that problem. Better to have psychiatric evaluation with the option of never letting him out if my fears are correct, but is that even an option in this state? Probably not. If he could be “cured” with psychiatric support, that would be perfect, but given the circumstances, I’m not hopeful.

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I hope you didn’t hurt yourself making those leaps. It says he held the cane to her neck, not that he choked her with it, that may have been the result but it doesn’t say that. It doesn’t actually say he “smashed” his fist into her mouth either, she was bleeding from the mouth. Then you leap to your fear that the kid might be “likely to kill wantonly” and that locking him up in a state prison for life would be preferable to getting him psychiatric care. Here’s a hint our prison system has just about Zero money for psychiatric care. Lock him in prison and say good bye. That’s the reality. I like the last part best though, after building yourself in to a frenzy with your lovely strawman argument you convince yourself that there is no hope for the kid. You and he may have a very similar problem with reality. Let’s try the kid on the facts in the case not our over blown fantasies.

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It says,

An autopsy found blunt force trauma to the woman’s neck, leading to the homicide finding

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the boy said he had punched her…

It’s pretty plain. Holding a cane to her neck causing blunt force trauma that she later dies from sounds like choking in my book. If you don’t care for the verb smashed, you can go with punched, but the result is the same, that for being yelled at he knocked her down and killed her. You can try him on the facts of the case, which are that for very little provocation the kid violently murdered a 90 year old woman. Tried and found guilty in a juvenile court, the kid will be locked up until 21 or 25 or whatever. The chance of serious psychiatric help is minimal. Tried and found guilty in an adult court, he’ll be locked up for longer. The chance of psychiatric help there is negligible.

I never suggested that locking him up is preferable to getting him psychiatric care, as if this is an either/or situation. I suggested that locking him up for a good long time is preferable to letting him run loose IF the kid is actually a sociopath. Unfortunately, sociopathy isn’t one of those things that one recovers from. His behavior to date suggests, perhaps even strongly, that that is the case. Maybe you’re right, that he’s just a wayward child who can be “fixed” with the right help. That would be a good thing. The degree of violence of his act following such a minor cause makes me suspect otherwise. If I were the state, I’d be looking at his past behaviors to decide if the more appropriate venue was a juvenile proceeding where he could get out in a few years or an adult court to keep society safe from him for as long as possible. I’d be checking on the well being of the neighborhood pets, children, and classmates before making that decision. Do you think these things don’t happen?