FL - Stephen Lee Rodda, 16, killed with an angle grinder by father, Lake Wales, Polk County, Sept 4, 2023

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nao said:
Moo..that is so incredibly sad. An angle grinder! It is a small tool, you would have to be up close and determined to kill someone with that. Poor kid , poor grand dad....moo
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Actually, I own an angle grinder and it is a substantial and heavy power tool. I used mine to cut out mortar joints on some outdoor tile. It can also cut bolts and metals. It is very dangerous, and if it slips while it’s being used it can cause very serious injuries. Better models have more safety features. There are different types of blades that can be mounted, and they rotate at high speed. I’ve never heard of one used as a weapon, but it would be devastating and powerful. I can’t imagine a father using one on a son.
 
nao said:
Moo..that is so incredibly sad. An angle grinder! It is a small tool, you would have to be up close and determined to kill someone with that. Poor kid , poor grand dad....moo
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The boy would have had to be restrained and drugged as well, unless he was hit in the head with it first (which is possible).

I don't want to know the details on this, believe me.
 
Why would he say "I killed someone" when it was his son? I find that so odd.
Sorry if this has been said - i am catching up

www.lakewalesnews.net

First-Degree Murder Charge Brought Against Father Who Killed Son

Stephen Thomas Rodda has been charged with first-degree murder after apparently killing his own 16-year-old son on Monday. Rodda, 37, was booked into the Polk County Jail Monday after he was arrested by Polk County Deputies and charged with killing the teen with an angle-grinder, a power tool...
www.lakewalesnews.net
According to the Sheriff's office, the victim's grandfather returned to their shared home about 1:00 am Monday after a visit to his wife, who is undergoing a medical treatment. He found his son sitting outside the home, who reportedly told him "I wouldn't go in there if I was you, I killed someone. You may need to call the police," according to Polk Sheriff Grady Judd.
 
airportwoman said:
The boy would have had to be restrained and drugged as well, unless he was hit in the head with it first (which is possible).

I don't want to know the details on this, believe me.
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he was not restrained and drugged, afaik. there were 3 deep lacerations to the back of the head, so he might have gotten him there first. victim had defensive wounds, he fought back. i cannot imagine what his last moments were like. this life is so brutally unfair sometimes in the worst ways possible.

i don't understand why this man was allowed to be alone with children. he reminds me of a family member of mine who is in jail awaiting a trial and prison time.
 
nao said:
Moo....I do not think he had it plugged in (thankfully) he just hitting him with it. But they are still heavy(just bought one) and there was a blade on it, so it would be blunt and sharp force trauma. It would of made a mess... Moo
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Now that I’ve read the affidavit and more media reports, I think it was blunt force. The father hit blows to the sons left side, as the father was facing him. So that would mean the father was left handed? Defensive wounds would be from the sons right hand?
 
airportwoman said:
The boy would have had to be restrained and drugged as well, unless he was hit in the head with it first (which is possible).

I don't want to know the details on this, believe me.
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All he would need to do is come up behind him and hit the unsuspecting teen and keep hitting him :( no drugs needed. simple element of surprise. RIP young man. Seems like he had a rough go in life, was still managing to thrive and that future he was striving for was stolen from him just when it was coming into view.
 
PayrollNerd said:
Now that I’ve read the affidavit and more media reports, I think it was blunt force. The father hit blows to the sons left side, as the father was facing him. So that would mean the father was left handed? Defensive wounds would be from the sons right hand?
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Moo..yea I was trying to figure it out. I would think the son would of turned and tried to retreat. The angle grinder is a tool you hold in one hand with a strong round blade on one end. So he would be hitting him with bladed end, so blunt and sharp.... :(
 
NeverPersonal said:
he was not restrained and drugged, afaik. there were 3 deep lacerations to the back of the head, so he might have gotten him there first. victim had defensive wounds, he fought back. i cannot imagine what his last moments were like. this life is so brutally unfair sometimes in the worst ways possible.

i don't understand why this man was allowed to be alone with children. he reminds me of a family member of mine who is in jail awaiting a trial and prison time.
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I wonder if he just showed up at his parent’s place that night and his parent’s were both gone. He sounded pretty transient.
 
PayrollNerd said:
www.theledger.com

Frostproof High School student killed by father in grandfather's home, Polk sheriff says

The teenager was living with his grandfather to help out. The father had drifted from state to state and had a history with drugs, the sheriff said.
www.theledger.com

Thomas Rodda went into the home and found his grandson dead in the dining room. An arrest affidavit, released Tuesday morning, said the father hit his son repeatedly in the body and head with an angle grinder, at one point breaking the blade.

Judd said investigators were still trying to determine the motive. In an interview after his arrest, Stephen Thomas Rodda told detectives at one point that his son, Stephen, had died years ago when he was little, then made claims about sexual abuse in the home. Judd said the family told detectives the suspect had used methamphetamine since at least high school and had a history of psychotic episodes.
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"Psychotic" episodes. I know there's drug-induced psychosis, but I can't quite see my way clear to using the term unqualified, since people who have endogenous mental health issues become psychotic...without meth. Long term meth use = "meth psychosis."
 
10ofRods said:
"Psychotic" episodes. I know there's drug-induced psychosis, but I can't quite see my way clear to using the term unqualified, since people who have endogenous mental health issues become psychotic...without meth. Long term meth use = "meth psychosis."
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Lots of teens have a mental crisis and are able to overcome it with help, i.e, a supportive family, healthcare treatment or maturity.

It makes me wonder who introduced him to meth. How bad was the mental health situation that he chose to essentially self medicate. Maybe he tried another drug prior to the meth addiction, such as weed, but it escalated.

I saw a lot of his cases online and his meth case from last year did not seem to earn much penalty at all.
 
PayrollNerd said:
www.lakewalesnews.net

First-Degree Murder Charge Brought Against Father Who Killed Son

Stephen Thomas Rodda has been charged with first-degree murder after apparently killing his own 16-year-old son on Monday. Rodda, 37, was booked into the Polk County Jail Monday after he was arrested by Polk County Deputies and charged with killing the teen with an angle-grinder, a power tool...
www.lakewalesnews.net

Stephen Thomas Rodda has been charged with first-degree murder after apparently killing his own 16-year-old son on Monday. Rodda, 37, was booked into the Polk County Jail Monday after he was arrested by Polk County Deputies and charged with killing the teen with an angle-grinder, a power tool normally used to cut metal. He will have a first appearance hearing at 1:00 p.m. today, Tuesday, September 5, 2023.

"Rodda has a lengthy criminal history, with arrests in Florida, Louisiana, Ohio, and South Carolina," Judd said, along with a long history of methamphetamine abuse. Several of those arrests were in Polk County, he added.
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Brings to mind that meth head Shabusiness woman who decapitated and dismembered her boyfriend.
 
A bit about Lake Wales, FL - -
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Lake Wales is a city in Polk County, Florida. The population was 14,225 at the 2010 census. As of 2019, the population estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau is 16,759. It is part of the Lakeland–Winter Haven Metropolitan Statistical Area. Wikipedia
 
Psychotic persons very often do understand right from wrong, but they have poor impulse control. Plus they don't understand the severe consequences they will face if they do act out. They are used to going to the psych facility every time they act out, and getting released after a month or so. It's a band-aid approach to confine people with severe mental illness, get them on meds, then turn them back out. This is not helping anybody, it's a ridiculous system and it needs to stop. Long term court ordered treatment, medication management, with appropriate therapy and the opportunity to be a productive member of society is desperately needed. The hard cases, the noncompliant and violent, antisocial individuals keep winding up on the street, because there is nowhere for them to go and stay until they can get stabilized enough to function within a solid support system. Yet, all we have to offer is a week or two of crisis management, then out the door they go.
 
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