GUILTY FL - David Galarriago, 2, beaten to death, Jacksonville, 14 March 2011

[Fairy1]

What a tragic case.

Obviously, it can be argued that this kid is a product of his environment and upbringing. Yet, it's really not possible to say he was born evil, is it? Assuming he was negatively affected by the unfortunate circumstances of his short life, isn't it reasonable to assume he could be positively affected with the proper care and attention? How can he not be given the benefit of the doubt?

He was already written off by those who should have helped him once and we know how that turned out. IMO, it would compound this tragedy to write him off again.

 

[QueenD]

http://www.news4jax.com/news/28186594/detail.html

More here. I believe something is wrong with this boy. I believe in punishment for your crime. But give me a break, he is a 12 year old boy. He does not need to be in jail with grown men.

 

[Fairy1]

http://www.news4jax.com/news/28186594/detail.html

More here. I believe something is wrong with this boy. I believe in punishment for your crime. But give me a break, he is a 12 year old boy. He does not need to be in jail with grown men.

You bring up another good question. Would he actually be incarcerated with grown men? Our prisons are not equipped to house a child.

He is a child, after all.

 

[shadowraiths]

You bring up another good question. Would he actually be incarcerated with grown men? Our prisons are not equipped to house a child.

He is a child, after all.

I could be wrong but I'm pretty sure juveniles who are tried and convicted in an adult court are kept in juvey until they come of age, at which point, they're moved to an adult prison, or are paroled. The primary reason to try them in an adult court has to do with the punishment meted out. For example, one argument they're putting forth is "try him as an adult" to keep him in the system, as opposed to say, keeping him in juvey, then having no means to legally track of him once he ages out of the system.

That aside, one of the many things that bother me, from the other articles, is that the state atty is putting forth the argument, "abuse is no excuse for murder." ( link ) While this is most certainly true when you're talking about adults who regularly put forth the abuse excuse to mitigate their culpability, imho, to apply this to a child is extremely unintuitive and short sighted. Add to this, that they're actually wanting to try him for first degree murder ( link ) boggles the mind. That they're comparing him to Josh Phillips ( link ) makes no sense whatsoever.

All things considered, it will be interesting to see the outcome. Bc, honestly, after reading what's out there so far, the direction the state's atty is wanting to take comes across *to me* as grandstanding as opposed to actually trying to seek justice. Or, for that matter, protect society.

 

[BrownRice]

Shadowraiths - just wanted to say your posts are very enlightening and appreciated. Wanted to call them out more than just a "thanks."

 

[southcitymom]

This reminds me of the 1968 case of Mary Bell. A victim of sexual abuse and having a prostitute as a mother, she killed two small boys at age 11. She served 12 years and apparently is fully rehabilitated. On the other hand, Jon Venables (of the Bulger murder) developed into a paedophile...

How do you know that about Venables, Jacobi?

 

[Melanie]

I just read an aritcle full of information about the neglect and abuse that Christian endured during his short life, it is mind boggling! Sexual abuse, physical abuse, neglect and his step father committed suicide in front of the boy!

None of this is an excuse for what happened, but it seems what this child is is a result of his upbringing, children are not inherently evil.

I agree! The brain isn't even fully formed until around 20, so we're dealing with a child who isn't able to make wise decisions (I have a 14 year old - trust me on this one). Children do what they are shown as they grow. If this young boy was abused, neglected, hurt - what else does he know? Has he ever experienced compassion or love?

He doesn't need nor deserve LWOP - he deserves rehabilitation. If we can let out adult sex criminals, we can certainly give this child a chance. I don't know where to put him (a mental health ward is probably just as bad, and I doubt a foster parent would want him). But there has to be something besides jail.

MOO

Mel

 

[Melanie]

How do you know that about Venables, Jacobi?

I have never read anywhere that Jon Venables grew to be a pedophile. He was arrested in 2010 (see below), but that's about all I found.

Jon Venables, 27, allegedly had to be pulled away as he grappled with a fellow worker who then lodged an official complaint about him, the Daily Mirror said.

Venables is also alleged to have abused cocaine and Ecstasy since he was released in 2001. He was freed on licence after serving less than eight years for the infamous abduction and murder of the two-year-old Liverpool toddler.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article7049248.ece

ETA: Whoops, I did find something - egads.

The court heard how the 27-year-old contacted convicted paedophile Leslie Blanchard from Chelmsford posing as a 35-year-old mother called Dawn, who claimed to abuse her eight-year-old daughter.

He then tried to persuade Blanchard to send images of children being abused to him, even pretending to offer access to the child as bait.

Venables was jailed for two years after admitting downloading and distributing 57 pornographic images featuring children as young as two

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukn...nables-posed-as-paedophile-mother-online.html

Mel

 

[iluvmua]

Nathaniel Abraham was 11 when he was charged with murdering 18 year old Ronnie Green back in 1997.

He has never learned from his mistakes.......

 

[wildTrose]

Children learn violence from observing and their environment, We are creating violent children, we have a 5 year old who killed a toddler, we have 8 and 9 year old kids who are robbing people with guns, we have 10 year olds molesting younger children, and here is this 12 year old who killed his younger brother....
Since this is happening more and more every day we need to have new laws made and or adjusted to adhere to these young children....We need to have fascillities just for these young offenders, so they can get the help they need and possibly become law abiding citizens...there are some who will not be able to be rehabilitated, each case needs to be dealt with on a case by case situation not group them together cause whats right for one may not work for another.... sentencing a 12 year old to life in prison when he hasnt even had a life yet!!
there is still hope for our children and future leaders IF we start dealing with these young crimes now

 

[Fairy1]

Children learn violence from observing and their environment, We are creating violent children, we have a 5 year old who killed a toddler, we have 8 and 9 year old kids who are robbing people with guns, we have 10 year olds molesting younger children, and here is this 12 year old who killed his younger brother....
Since this is happening more and more every day we need to have new laws made and or adjusted to adhere to these young children....We need to have fascillities just for these young offenders, so they can get the help they need and possibly become law abiding citizens...there are some who will not be able to be rehabilitated, each case needs to be dealt with on a case by case situation not group them together cause whats right for one may not work for another.... sentencing a 12 year old to life in prison when he hasnt even had a life yet!!
there is still hope for our children and future leaders IF we start dealing with these young crimes now

Facilities and laws, yes. But I think our time would be better spent determining where the breakdown is occurring.

This boy was born to a 12-year-old mother and a drug-addicted grandmother, subjected to physical and sexual abuse, What can possibly be done to ensure babies are born into circumstances that don't put them behind the eight-ball from the time they take their first breath?

 

[Kat]

What ever happened to juvenile detention for crimes commited by a child? I do not agree with trying and sentencing children like adults. I firmly and resolutely do not. JMHO.

 

[Melanie]

Children learn violence from observing and their environment, We are creating violent children, we have a 5 year old who killed a toddler, we have 8 and 9 year old kids who are robbing people with guns, we have 10 year olds molesting younger children, and here is this 12 year old who killed his younger brother....
Since this is happening more and more every day we need to have new laws made and or adjusted to adhere to these young children....We need to have fascillities just for these young offenders, so they can get the help they need and possibly become law abiding citizens...there are some who will not be able to be rehabilitated, each case needs to be dealt with on a case by case situation not group them together cause whats right for one may not work for another.... sentencing a 12 year old to life in prison when he hasnt even had a life yet!!
there is still hope for our children and future leaders IF we start dealing with these young crimes now

This is why it is SO important for us to mold our children with love, caring, and guidance. My mom was a SAHM and the 4 of us were never in jail and turned out fine (ie, we didn't kill anyone). I'm a SAHM since my son was 11 and I can't begin to tell you the difference since I took him out of after-care. Yes, he's run into same bad apples along the way, and I can only continue to guide him down the right path. Keeping all toes and fingers crossed.

There may still be hope for this 12 year old, and I hope he gets the opportunity to rehabilitate properly and not just thrown into the system.

MOO

Mel

 

[Nova]

I agree there are advantages to children in having a stay-at-home-mom and I think it's great for women who are able to do it. But it doesn't work for every mother.

My mother was a SAHM until I was 9. She was still in bed every day when I got home from school because she was too depressed to get up. My siblings and I were all better off when she went back to work.

But we had a loving support structure from our extended family. So a few hours of "aftercare" didn't really hurt us.

 

[Linda7NJ]

I usually follow these cases very closely. I have no real opinion yet as I think there simply isn't enough information about him.

 

[Kat]

http://jacksonville.com/news/crime/...nned-murder-charge-against-cristian-fernandez

Some very interesting (for lack of better word) details about the adults in this 12 yr old boys life in the article above.

Mom was 12 when she gave birth to him. Bio Father was arrested and convicted in 1999 and is now a RSO.

The boy was punched in the face by his man his mother was living with last fall and it resulted in being transported to hospital to examine for retinal damage.

That man commited suicide in home that same day. Was discovered when LE went to the home to arrest the stepfather for hitting the child.

More details at link---these poor kids all of them.

ETA: Man that Mother lived with was stepfather. Sorry if all of this is already known, just posting for those that don't know these details yet.

 

[Kat]

http://jacksonville.com/news/crime/...ged-toddlers-death-was-abused-neglected-child

<SIGH> This makes me so sad.

Susana and Fernandez went to foster care together when Fernandez was 2 and she was 14, Mason said, because authorities found the toddler walking around dirty and naked outside a South Florida motel while his grandmother, who would have been about 34 at the time, nursed a drug habit inside.

 

[joe jones]

http://www.change.org/petitions/reverse-decision-to-try-12-yo-cristian-fernandez-as-an-adult

petition to get him tried as a juvenile, I am horrified as to what has happened to this child and what is not happening, if he is responsible for the injuries his brother received then he does need charging and having a trial, but for there mother to not take her son to the hospital for hours post his injuries where he could have been saved shows just what kind of parent she was, but then she was very young when she had her first child and seems to have not been coping very well

 

[Jenni979]

It's a vicious circle, isn't it?

The 12 year old is a murderer and his best case scenario is that he will be in juvie until he is 21 & even if he makes great strides, he will always be "that boy who killed his brohter."

His mother had him at 12 and seem to have had a terrible childhood (if you even want to call it a "childhood"), too. I doubt whether the mother had the emotional maturity needed to even understand the gravity of her baby's injuries.

I do think that both the mother & the 12 year old deserve to be punished. I don't know if the kid needs LWOP, but I think that just deciding that at 21 he needs to be cut loose & records sealed is not right, either.

 

[louisy42445]

Does the evidence positively say he did it? The mother puts herself away when the child is hurt and tries to cover it up each time the baby is hurt. Just suspicious and not saying I believe she did it but looking at all posibilities. JMO