i find that ridiculous........they charge 13 year olds and younger with first degree murder, so why not as an accomplice?
She is being held as an accessory.
i find that ridiculous........they charge 13 year olds and younger with first degree murder, so why not as an accomplice?
As far as the SRO - yes there was one - I think. We have cut way back here too but the middle schools have at least one. He obviously wasn't around - maybe attending to something else or on a different part of the campus - not sure. Haven't really heard it addressed - all I've heard is that the school did, in fact, have an SRO.Thanks, Swaggie, for all of the updates.
The 911 caller kept asking for police, which made me wonder if there are SROs at the middle schools down there?
Here, due to budget cuts, they are no longer at the elementary schools, but they are still at the middle and high schools.
As far as the SRO - yes there was one - I think. We have cut way back here too but the middle schools have at least one. He obviously wasn't around - maybe attending to something else or on a different part of the campus - not sure. Haven't really heard it addressed - all I've heard is that the school did, in fact, have an SRO.
This was at / just after dismissal. I've been around alot of middle schools - especially the bigger ones down here (my kids middle school held 1500!). Josie was attacked in the bus turn around - at dismissal - THERE SHOULD HAVE BEEN QUITE A FEW ADULTS THERE! They are assigned morning and afternoon duty - however, thanks to our wonderful B roward T eachers U nion (fondly called the BTUseless) alot of teachers don't follow any duty schedule. And its quite obvious that there were very few adults in this bus loop - which is unexcusable!
Not that I'm blaming the school - but they are negligent in providing security and supervision - especially in this event.
Thankx jjenny - I hadn't read that report.There were at least three teachers in the area but it happened very fast.
"Welsh said there were at least three teachers and staff in the school bus area last Wednesday. He added that teachers often volunteer their time to make sure the process runs smoothly. He said he is always looking out for potential problems between students, but the attack on Ratley came out of nowhere."
http://cbs4.com/local/Josie.Ratley.Wayne.2.1582005.html
There is absolutely no excuse for this type of violence !! Deceased brother or not. For anyone to even try to make excuses for this type of behavior,well I'll just leave that one alone..
That shot of her being wheeled away by paramedics . . . they were bagging her (breathing for her) . . . she is indeed critically injured. He stomped her so badly she stopped breathing.
At the same time, I can imagine the agony of a boy finding his brother hanging, and the nasty meanness of middle school kids who really go for the jugular. NOTHING justifies stomping another person practically to death. But I can see how this boy was ready to blow. I can see how he completely lost it and went blind with rage. What a tragedy for the families, a tragedy that seems to me more about the age of the kids, their lack of understanding of consequences, dealing with horrors they have no coping skills for![]()
I don't think anyone is trying to excuse his behavior. Have you been the parent of a child who is bullied? Who is to say that this girl was not bullying and making fun of him and his deceased brother? Add to the mix what he was dealing with after finding his own brother hanging and the stress of school.. it is not surprising he snapped. I'm sure there were signs ahead of time. Why didn't someone reach out to him? None of that excuses what he did and even if the girl did "bully" him, she did NOT deserve this treatment. However, I don't believe anyone should jump to ANY conclusion until we know the whole story. I'm thinking he was in need of help and for whatever reason, no one saw. As a result, this girl paid the price. If I have learned one thing from WS, it is that so many crimes could have been prevented if someone had just paid attention!!
ITA you know really horrible things happen to people who do not go on and try to stomp someone to death. I am sorry his brother killed himself but much worse things have happened to people . Something is obviously very wrong with this guy that he could plan all this out get on his steel toes and bike 3 miles in attempt to kill this girl over a text message. I am not even convinced that it was Josie who sent the disparaging message and not the 13 year old. I honestly think that this would have been hard to prevent and admire the teacher who was able to stop the beating probably saving Josie's life. We live in a small town and my son's middle school has a SRO as did his last middle school that was in an even smaller town. We are very lucky to have the SRO and many teachers making sure everyone gets where they need to go safely but even at my sons school which consist of about 700 things are wild in the afternoons with all the students waiting on their rides.The fact that this was so premeditated, the fact that he rode his bike for 3 miles to beat this girl, the fact that he had NO REMORSE whatsoever, makes me think that no amount of "reaching out" would have helped. Some people are just born psychopaths.
I don't think anyone is trying to excuse his behavior. Have you been the parent of a child who is bullied? Who is to say that this girl was not bullying and making fun of him and his deceased brother? Add to the mix what he was dealing with after finding his own brother hanging and the stress of school.. it is not surprising he snapped. I'm sure there were signs ahead of time. Why didn't someone reach out to him? None of that excuses what he did and even if the girl did "bully" him, she did NOT deserve this treatment. However, I don't believe anyone should jump to ANY conclusion until we know the whole story. I'm thinking he was in need of help and for whatever reason, no one saw. As a result, this girl paid the price. If I have learned one thing from WS, it is that so many crimes could have been prevented if someone had just paid attention!!