I’ve seen it mentioned numerous times that JS was 7 years old and living on the streets. Does that mean his family brought him to the Lancaster area and abandoned him? Or does that mean he was living on the streets in DR and brought here to be adopted? He was not born in the US?
I have not seen this in an official news report, but I have heard from several people that this is true.
So, to give you an idea of what this might look like, I’ll tell you about a boy I knew who was adopted from Central America at elementary school age and was considered a street kid in his country. He wasn’t technically an orphan, but no one took consistent care of him. His parents were very poor even for a developing country, had substance abuse issues, were abusive, and tried to get him to earn money for them. So he roamed the streets with other kids, eating what he could find, beg, or steal, doing things to get money from tourists. He stole. He slept wherever. He was abused at home and by strangers and did all the daring things kids do without adult supervision. He was fearless, physically strong, and an incredible athlete.
So even though he wasn’t an actual orphan, he was rounded up off the streets, put in an orphanage, and eventually cleared for adoption to the US. His family loved him and gave him all the advantages, he was a storied athlete, and he was popular with other kids. Despite being handed what many people would consider the perfect American life, he wasn’t happy. He didn’t like rules, and he was uncomfortable with people trying to love him. It seems like he was also conflicted because he already had a mom and dad, no matter how awful, and felt guilty about “replacing” them. He acted out in his family and neighborhood in ways that became more harmful and criminal the older he got. He self-destructed at an early age.
I’m pretty sure this is the kind of “living on the streets” JS’s parents meant in that article about his sentencing for armed robbery.