IL - Child, 9, charged in fire deaths of 5 people, Goodfield, 6 Apr 2019

[katydid23]

If probation is the only possible outcome, why not negotiate a plea, make the kid attend therapy until age 18. I don't understand the point of a murder trial here...

The only value I can see for a trial is to determine if he is actually guilty.

Will this trial bring forth the evidence to make that determination:?

 

[mickey2942]

The only value I can see for a trial is to determine if he is actually guilty.

Will this trial bring forth the evidence to make that determination:?

It seems like that is already a done deal INMO. And honestly, it looks like this kid needs 10 years of intensive therapy.

 

[katydid23]

It seems like that is already a done deal INMO. And honestly, it looks like this kid needs 10 years of intensive therapy.

I am not sure if it is a done deal. Not in my mind anyway. The mother, who is supposedly the only living witness to the crime was not very convincing. Her stories are inconsistent and unrealistic, imo.

I would like to see a more thorough investigation. JMO

 

[mickey2942]

I am not sure if it is a done deal. Not in my mind anyway. The mother, who is supposedly the only living witness to the crime was not very convincing. Her stories are inconsistent and unrealistic, imo.

I would like to see a more thorough investigation. JMO

Agreed. But the Mother has not been charged. And how convenient for her, that she can testify against her own child.

Perhaps, LEO thought that by charging the kid, the Mom would fess up. Not this Mama!

As I stated before, I am absolutely overjoyed that she lost custody of this poor kid. That is the best outcome yet.

 

[casesensitive]

It seems like that is already a done deal INMO. And honestly, it looks like this kid needs 10 years of intensive therapy.

What I can't understand, if it is true, that Kyle has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, and has been charged with intentionally setting a fire to commit multiple murders, why is he allowed to live with his grandparents if he has been deemed that dangerous?

I also don't understand why a State Attorney would actually decide to put a nine year old child through a murder trial. Regardless of the prosecution's reasoning at the time, how could a trial be fair when a kid that age couldn't possibly understand the legal proceedings or his rights. He doesn't even have the vocabulary to understand it FGS.

It breaks my heart to see this boy going through this legal trauma--as if he hasn't had enough trauma in his short life. This is a travesty imo, and I wish the state would find a better way to handle Kyle and his needs.

 

[CSIDreamer]

What I can't understand, if it is true, that Kyle has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, and has been charged with intentionally setting a fire to commit multiple murders, why is he allowed to live with his grandparents if he has been deemed that dangerous?

I also don't understand why a State Attorney would actually decide to put a nine year old child through a murder trial. Regardless of the prosecution's reasoning at the time, how could a trial be fair when a kid that age couldn't possibly understand the legal proceedings or his rights. He doesn't even have the vocabulary to understand it FGS.

It breaks my heart to see this boy going through this legal trauma--as if he hasn't had enough trauma in his short life. This is a travesty imo, and I wish the state would find a better way to handle Kyle and his needs.

Ita. If he's truly suffering from that degree of mental illness, he should have been found unfit to stand trial.

Childhood schizophrenia - Symptoms and causes

 

[prima.facie]

You sound amazing.
However, your story and Kyle's story is day and night. He raised in a home of abuse and chaos.
The more I Look into that family's life - the more sick I become and the more happy I become that he is gone from their lives.
The mom, sister and their lifestyles are sickening, IMO. Not fit for kids.

Just offering another perspective here. I understand the need for us to feel that this childs crimes are a result of abuse, as then it can't happen to us.

I raised 6 bio children and then added 2 bonus children 5 years ago. They are now 12 and 13. Despite my therapeutic parenting techniques, my 12 year old has made no progress except that he can 'mask' better. He has Reactive Attachment Disorder a result of a neglectful and chaotic home. This guy flooded my home twice, bringing down ceilings. he rages for hours and is cold and unemotional, he dissociates, he soils and smears, he is a year into intensive attachment therapy, but I don't hold out much hope for progress at this point. He is not interested in meaningful engagement.
He manipulated a school nurse into reporting to Childrens Services that he was being beaten by my youngest bio daughter. This was quickly proven unfounded since she is smaller than him and in a wheelchair due to cerebral palsy and about the kindest person I know.
He has set fires in my porch and garden - no lighters or matches here so I don't know where he gets them. He has beaten me and punched holes in walls and doors.

This is the MOST challenging thing I have ever had to face. His school call him an angel, and he is - whilst he is there. {except for pooping his pants there}. He is the only child that is under Social Care, and this is because they can fund his very specialised and very expensive therapy. In the US, other parents have had to sign their children over to the State to fund residential settings, some have been charged with abandonement for not picking their children up when Drs say he is not safe, but insurance refuses to pay as 'no progress is being made'.
There are exhausted parents out here, being abused by young children. where treatment isn't helping, love can't heal all wounds, and professionals have no treatment to suggest except, you are doing a great job, keep doing it, some of it may get through some day.
On the upside, the 13 year old has a bright future ahead, straight A's, a little awkward but catching up nicely. I keep doing what I do because I am this childs best hope...... please don't judge me if his pathway in life is unpalatable. This could be my child.

A last thought - psychopaths don't wake up that way at 18, there is often a chaos creating, stealing, fire obsessed, aggressive childhood before this. I love my littlest guy, but he is quite a dragon to live with.

 

[prima.facie]

What I can't understand, if it is true, that Kyle has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, and has been charged with intentionally setting a fire to commit multiple murders, why is he allowed to live with his grandparents if he has been deemed that dangerous?

I also don't understand why a State Attorney would actually decide to put a nine year old child through a murder trial. Regardless of the prosecution's reasoning at the time, how could a trial be fair when a kid that age couldn't possibly understand the legal proceedings or his rights. He doesn't even have the vocabulary to understand it FGS.

It breaks my heart to see this boy going through this legal trauma--as if he hasn't had enough trauma in his short life. This is a travesty imo, and I wish the state would find a better way to handle Kyle and his needs.

There is zero evidence, except crazy mom's words, that he was diagnosed with anything. I would be shocked if he had ever seen a doctor of any kind. We cannot post some things here - but I have seen enough to form very very solid and sound opinions on things I have seen - out there for public consumption.

Prayers for Kyle.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

The boy’s attorney, Peter Dluski, sought the expert to see if the child understood the charges and the consequences, among other things, according to The Chicago Tribune.

“Based on my interaction and conversations with (the boy), as well as his age, I have a bona fide doubt as to his fitness to stand trial,” Dluski wrote in a Woodford County filing this month.

Dluski said he intends to keep the child out of court as much as possible. At an October hearing, the boy said he understood the charges, but not all the words used to explain them.

Charging such a young child is rare, but not unprecedented.

Earlier this year, a Michigan judge dismissed a murder charge against a 9-year-old accused of fatally shooting his mother in their home near Sturgis. The judge ruled that, under Michigan law, the boy was presumed incompetent for trial because he wasn’t yet 10.

The boy is staying with his father’s relatives. A suspect younger than 10 cannot be detained under state law.

His mother has since lost custody of him and state officials are trying to determine in a separate protective custody case if his father can care for him.
9-year-old boy charged in fatal fire to be evaluated by expert

 

[imstilla.grandma]

In this April 18, 2019, file photo, crosses, flags, flowers and stuffed animals serve as a memorial to five people who died during a late-night fire April 6 at 14 Cypress Court in the Timberline Trailer Court, north of Goodfield.
*Posting as a review and to bring new readers up to speed:

Neighbors reported the fire at 11:19 p.m. April 6 at 14 Cypress Court in the Timberline Trailer Court, just north of Goodfield.

Woodford County Coroner Tim Ruestman determined the fire was intentionally set and later, State’s Attorney Greg Minger filed five counts of murder and two counts of arson, and one count of aggravated arson, against the youth, who escaped from the trailer. The aggravated arson charge indicates the child knew there were people in the home at the time he set the fire.

If convicted, the child could be placed on probation for at least five years, but not beyond the age of 21 and could be eligible to receive therapy and counseling. A youth must be at least 13 years old to be committed to housing with the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice

According to court documents, the boy has been living with foster parents, who are relatives of the father, who was not living at the trailer at the time of the fire.

Top 10: Five die in Goodfield fire; youth charged with murder, arson



A fire claimed the lives of five people in Goodfield. Kathryn Murray, Jason Wall, Rose Alwood, Daemeon Wall, and Ariel Wall were pronounced dead. Rose and Daemeon were two years old, Ariel was only one. It was announced months later on October 8, that a 9-year-old was charged with murder. Samantha Alwood, Rose's mother, says she wants justice for her daughter.

Alwood says the suspect deserves "juve-, someplace until juve-, and then prison for life."
2019 In Review: Crime in Central Illinois - WEEK




Three children and two adults lost their lives during a mobile home fire in Goodfield. Katrina Alwood and Jason Wall live in the home with their kids Damien, Ariel and Kyle.

Their niece Rose Alwood and grandmother, Kathryn Murray was also in the home as it went up in flames. Only Katrina and her son, 9-year-old Kyle Alwood, made it out alive.

Neighbors who witnessed the fire said it was traumatizing.

“It was surreal, it was just a fireball when we got over here,” Annamarie Sibert of Goodfield said. “Flames were shooting out from the center of the home and from this end … I’ve been hearing it over my head all night long just children crying and moms crying for their babies. It’s horrible.”
Top Stories of 2019




During an October court hearing, the judge had to explain to Kyle Alwood the meaning of “alleged” and repeat the charges against him so he understood each term, according to the Tribune.

The defense attorney wrote in a December 20 motion that Kyle Alwood lacks the “knowledge and understanding of the charge, the proceedings, the consequences of a plea; … (his) ability to observe, recollect and relate occurrences; … (and his) social behavior and abilities, orientation as to time and place” — all which possibly affect his capacity to stand trial.

The boy’s mother told CBS News in October that her son was diagnosed with schizophrenia, ADHD, and bipolar disorder shortly before the fire.

Kyle Alwood is currently living with foster guardians related to his father. The 9-year-old cannot be held in custody on any charge due to his young age.

The Woodford County Journal reported that the next hearing is scheduled for February 27, presumably enough time to determine if Kyle Alwood is fit to stand trial.
Mental evaluation underway: 9-year-old sobs in court after charged with 5 murders

 

[mickey2942]

Mental evaluation underway: 9-year-old sobs in court after charged with 5 murders

This sounds terribly abusive to me, for this child. Geez, declare him "Incompetent" for trial, give court ordered therapy.

 

[katydid23]

Hearing that he was sitting in court, sobbing, breAks my heart. I feel like he is more of a victim that a murderer. JMO

 

[Luckyzmom]

Unfortunately that could be true :'( it's heartbreaking

 

[Lusitana]

Mental evaluation underway: 9-year-old sobs in court after charged with 5 murders

The news outlet reported that Kyle Alwood’s mother lost her parental rights in an unrelated protective custody case. Officials are reportedly deciding whether the boy’s father can care for him.

I wonder what happened for her to lose custody of Kyle. If it's truly unrelated to the fire.

 

[Kiranerys]

Mental evaluation underway: 9-year-old sobs in court after charged with 5 murders

I wonder what happened for her to lose custody of Kyle. If it's truly unrelated to the fire.

After watching his YouTube videos I would say take your pick!,there were enough reasons right there in full technicolour. Such a sorry excuse for a mother!

 

[Lusitana]

After watching his YouTube videos I would say take your pick!,there were enough reasons right there in full technicolour. Such a sorry excuse for a mother!

I know, poor kid(s). It's just that, looking back on this thread, it appears that this "home" was visited several times by CPS, it's sad that it took something like this to happen for something to be finally done.

 

[Kiranerys]

I know, poor kid(s). It's just that, looking back on this thread, it appears that this "home" was visited several times by CPS, it's sad that it took something like this to happen for something to be finally done.

It really is,poor Kyle never really stood a chance did he?, neither did the little ones. Just looking at her makes me feel sad.

 

[mickey2942]

It really is,poor Kyle never really stood a chance did he?, neither did the little ones. Just looking at her makes me feel sad.

Doesn't it? She is literally a hot mess. I am not even sure that this woman would have been able to adequately take care of a cat, let alone three children.

Again, the focus of CPS to help the parents, is ridiculous. The focus should be on what is best for the children.

 

[Lusitana]

Doesn't it? She is literally a hot mess. I am not even sure that this woman would have been able to adequately take care of a cat, let alone three children.

Again, the focus of CPS to help the parents, is ridiculous. The focus should be on what is best for the children.

Right? It's really sad because she (and her boyfriend/husband) were offered help and actual resources to make things better, and they didn't change anything. It doesn't matter how much help you offer someone if they don't really want to do the work. Poor kids.

 

[katydid23]

I just can't get past Mom's different versions of what happened during the fire. Her story makes no sense, the way she originally told it. Her husband taking time while the fire first began, to 'escort her' outside, while THREE BABIES and a GRANDMOTHER were asleep in their rooms. In a trailer...just feet away from them.

If a fire started in my home my husband and I would each go to different bedrooms, like we did during the Northridge quake. He wouldn't 'escort me out' and then run back in for our babies. Who does that?

And her story that she was talking to the family through the window as they were trapped and burning to death? Really:? She didnt get a hose and try to save anyone, she just talked to them to say goodbye?