TX - 10 year old boy confesses to murdering man 2 years ago - April 19, 2024

[Notascreenname]

Oh wow.

My daughter is 6 and a half and the thought wouldn't even enter her head.

What has this child been exposed to I wonder?

 

[translator]

Okay, so be less than 10 years old and you can effectively murder another human in Texas and score a Get Out of Jail Free card? Texas, I'm not a genius but maybe we can workshop that one

This is the case in South Korea. There is the Juvenile Act whereby those under either 13 or 14 (can’t recall) are essentially not criminally liable. There have been children who have intentionally committed heinous crimes knowing they will not be punished. I believe punishment up until 18 tends to be quite light, too.

 

[maamager]

The case of the six-year-old shooting the teacher in Virginia did not go to jail. He got to go to a new school, live with this great grandfather, while his mother serves 2 years. Grandfather says he's doing great.
Moo

The US prison system is focused on punitive punishment and not rehabilitation. I def do not think a child should go to prison.

 

[GoBuckeyes]

Okay, so be less than 10 years old and you can effectively murder another human in Texas and score a Get Out of Jail Free card? Texas, I'm not a genius but maybe we can workshop that one

I can't think of any state that will prosecute a child who kills at age 7.

 

[SleutherGirl]

I can't think of any state that will prosecute a child who kills at age 7.

So here's my question. What do you do with the kid? Do you just say, oh well, better luck next time and leave the kid for the parents to deal with? And how would you even deal with that?

 

[abyquinn]

The article above says he was 7 when he murdered the man.7 or 8, either is just mind-boggling.

He was 1 week shy of turning 8. I figured he was close enough.

 

[mewmew]

Just two nights ago, my husband and I watched the Lifetime movie “8-year-old Assassin”. We were talking about how we would have no idea where to even begin if our 7 year old did something like murder. And here, this kid really did! Wow. He definitely needs mental health services, at the very least. Very sad for the victim who certainly didn’t deserve such a death.

All JMO

 

[abyquinn]

So here's my question. What do you do with the kid? Do you just say, oh well, better luck next time and leave the kid for the parents to deal with? And how would you even deal with that?

They are charging him with terroristic threats, I’m guessing/hoping that’s the harshest charge they could make stick. Is this when they start some heavy duty therapy? Find out what makes a 7/8 yr old shoot a stranger in the head? I sincerely hope they are able to fix whatever happened in this little guys mind that made him murder a stranger and that he is able to live a productive life. I cannot imagine how I would ever trust my child to safely live in society, how could you be sure he would never kill again?

 

[lonewanderer]

To what end? To railroad a ten-year-old into jail? Or to cover for someone else? I would find that unlikely.

Not impossible: There is a case where a man allegedly coaxed kids into false testimony to set someone up. Charles and Marilyn Friedlander in Oslo, Minnesota. The families of both Charles and Marilyn accused each other of the murders, and one man, Jerome Johnson, was accused of coaching his children into confessing to the crime.

The crime was later proven to be a random fact of violence.

 

[investikater]

Wtf

 

[investikater]

Okay, so be less than 10 years old and you can effectively murder another human in Texas and score a Get Out of Jail Free card? Texas, I'm not a genius but maybe we can workshop that one

That's pretty much the same everywhere.
including probably wherever you are.

The current understanding of the psychology and neurology of children is that they are not capable enough of understanding a crime to be responsible for committing one.

 

[azure]

Certainly the person who left the gun where the child had access to it should be charged, right? Or is "in the glove box" considered a childproof place to keep a gun?

If children didn't have access to deadly weapons, it would be a lot harder for them to kill and maim people. I'd say JMO but it's more of a JCS: just common sense.

 

[airportwoman]

A six year old threaten and physically assaulted teachers and students PRIOR to taking his moms gun to school and shooting the b****, his first grade teacher. The school covered up the violent behavior, destroyed records, doors were locked, LE couldn't get into school, while a teacher lay unconscious and bleeding to death, in front of principal's door. She did open the door and see the teacher and locked yourself in.

This is happening more frequently with very young children. Schools need to pay close attention to children and threats at any age
Moo

VA - Boy, 6, in custody after shooting teacher, Newport News, Jan 2023 *mom charged* #3

Newport News Police Chief Steve Drew says the shooting was NOT accidental, this was intentional. https://www.wtkr.com/news/shooting-reported-at-richneck-elementary-school-in-newport-news-police https://www.wavy.com/news/local-news/shooting-reported-at-newport-news-elementary-school/ Thread #1...

www.websleuths.com

I was going to suggest "Send him to school in Newport News" but figured my post would be deleted. I see someone beat me to it.

 

[lonewanderer]

This is very hard to digest.

Could this boy have been coached and/or threatened into saying these things.....?

To what end? To railroad a ten-year-old into jail? Or to cover for someone else? I would find that unlikely.

Not impossible: There is a case where a man allegedly coaxed kids into false testimony to set someone up. Charles and Marilyn Friedlander in Oslo, Minnesota. The families of both Charles and Marilyn accused each other of the murders, and one man, Jerome Johnson, was accused of coaching his children into confessing to the crime.

The crime was later proven to be a random fact of violence.

Sadly, this isn't the only case of attempting to frame or coerce a child under 10.

There is a case of a 2 year old boy named Tommy Gibson. Tommy went missing and his father, Larry, claimed to be jogging at the time he vanished. A LOT of Larry's actions were extremely questionable. At one point, a witness claimed to have seen a specific truck in the area of Larry's home. Larry's daughter (who was 7 at time IIRC) initially told the police one story, but after the truck story came from the witness, Larry's daughter suddenly remembered seeing the exact same thing. It is believed that Larry likely coached her into this story. Eventually she said that Larry attacked the boy and she witnessed the murder.

Keith Johansen, 39, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for killing his wife, Brandi Celenz. Keith tried to say her 6 year old son was the one who attacked and killed her.

 

[OrangeCash]

I wonder what the child's environment has been like since he was born. To do that at 7-8 years old is extreme, even if he's living with serious MH issues.

I agree with comments I've seen about what do you do with a child like that? I don't think prison is right for a child that age, they need education and to grow into teenage and adulthood like every other person on earth. But they aren't a safe person to have around everyone else. I don't think the current caregivers and environment can be trusted to raise the child safely or to raise the alarm when things are going wrong. Maybe they're not well-adjusted and appropriate themselves. So what do you do? Can the child be removed? What legal standing does the state have? So many questions here

MOO

 

[investikater]

I wonder what the child's environment has been like since he was born. To do that at 7-8 years old is extreme, even if he's living with serious MH issues.

I agree with comments I've seen about what do you do with a child like that? I don't think prison is right for a child that age, they need education and to grow into teenage and adulthood like every other person on earth. But they aren't a safe person to have around everyone else. I don't think the current caregivers and environment can be trusted to raise the child safely or to raise the alarm when things are going wrong. Maybe they're not well-adjusted and appropriate themselves. So what do you do? Can the child be removed? What legal standing does the state have? So many questions here

MOO

Jon Venables has been in prison or something akin to witness protection most of his life

Murder of James Bulger - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[MarziPanda]

Jon Venables has been in prison or something akin to witness protection most of his life

Murder of James Bulger - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

The age of criminal responsibility in the UK is ten, though, which these two were. This boy was under the age of criminal responsibility when he committed this murder. I think the most they can do for this boy is charge him with what they can (for the threats he's made now that he's at the age of responsibility) and try to rehabilitate him. They can probably put him in a children's home/offenders institution and only release him once he's no longer an active threat. Which may be years down the line.

I think someone who would kill someone at the age of 7 has something seriously mentally wrong but also probably has a questionable home life. As the Bulger murderers did, as do most (but not all) children who kill. Rehabilitation is a necessary step. By all accounts one of the Bulger killers has led a productive and good life since being released, the other has not. So it doesn't always work. But I think it's better than locking a child up for 70 years.

 

[translator]

I wonder what the child's environment has been like since he was born. To do that at 7-8 years old is extreme, even if he's living with serious MH issues.

I agree with comments I've seen about what do you do with a child like that? I don't think prison is right for a child that age, they need education and to grow into teenage and adulthood like every other person on earth. But they aren't a safe person to have around everyone else. I don't think the current caregivers and environment can be trusted to raise the child safely or to raise the alarm when things are going wrong. Maybe they're not well-adjusted and appropriate themselves. So what do you do? Can the child be removed? What legal standing does the state have? So many questions here

MOO

Agreed with this. Like, I can understand that some children have mental health issues that, especially left unchecked or gone unnoticed, can absolutely result in antisocial and/or aggressive behaviours. But to take a gun, shoot someone, put the gun back away and then hold onto that secret for two years—only revealing it after threatening to kill someone else… It would be hard to believe that nothing was going on at home or in his circle.

Ultimately it’s just really sad for the poor man who was murdered and the child in question too, whether this is a result in nature, nurture or both.

 

[Mimimom]

So here's my question. What do you do with the kid? Do you just say, oh well, better luck next time and leave the kid for the parents to deal with? And how would you even deal with that?

A child this age needs extensive therapy for years

 

[investikater]

If he acted entirely on his own volition and impetus,
then i think that would mean he would be a psychopath,
in which case there aren't any therapies that can help him.
Maybe they could reduce his danger to society a little.