PA - Kenzie Houk, 26, pregnant, murdered, Wampum, 20 Feb 2009

[southcitymom]

The jail says the can't hold him and are asking that he be transferred:

http://www.ajc.com/news/content/shared-gen/ap/National/Pregnant_Woman_Killed.html

One thing in the article - it mentions that this 11-year-old child is 4'8". Definitely smallish - small enough to fend off if you're awake and there's no gun. My 8 year old is 4'11".

His attorneys says he doesn't believe the physical evidence will show this boy did it (no surprise there), but a family member said the boy had made some threats regarding his stepmom.

I do hope they move him to a juvenile facility.

 

[Kat]

I think the boy understood what he was doing. He hid the gun under his bed. He told LE that there was a black truck in the drive, throwing off LE for several hours. He told another person (can't recall) that he wanted to kill his to-be step-mother. I cannot help but wonder if he was aware of what happened to the AZ boy, since it was all over the news for several weeks.

Trino with all due respect may I request that you indicate when you snip a post of mine please? Thank you in advance.

 

[oceanblueeyes]

I think the boy understood what he was doing. He hid the gun under his bed. He told LE that there was a black truck in the drive, throwing off LE for several hours. He told another person (can't recall) that he wanted to kill his to-be step-mother. I cannot help but wonder if he was aware of what happened to the AZ boy, since it was all over the news for several weeks.

I have been wondering the same Trino. Did his father and girl friend discuss the case last week and didn't realize he was listening?

I do see similarities in the crimes.

1. Both murders happened right out of the blue.
2. Both defendants already had stories made up to tell LE about vehicles supposedly seen there in order to try to throw LE off the track.
3. Both seem to show no remorse. The AZ boy chatty, engaging, showing no sadness for the loss of his father. PA boy goes about his business as usual. Gets 7 year old soon to be step sibling and goes to school.
4. Both were either facing or had faced life changing events recently. AZ boy's father remarried two months before the murders happened. Father of PA boy got engaged to be married this past Christmas and had a baby to be born soon.
5. Both children lived with their biological father and not their mothers.
6. Both had voiced to others that they wanted to murder the victims prior to it happening.

Did he learn somehow that the AZ boy wasn't going to be punished for his crimes and would only have to go to a psych doctor?

It does make me wonder if this is copycat murders.

imoo

 

[Lovejac]

The jail says the can't hold him and are asking that he be transferred:

http://www.ajc.com/news/content/shared-gen/ap/National/Pregnant_Woman_Killed.html

One thing in the article - it mentions that this 11-year-old child is 4'8". Definitely smallish - small enough to fend off if you're awake and there's no gun. My 8 year old is 4'11".

His attorneys says he doesn't believe the physical evidence will show this boy did it (no surprise there), but a family member said the boy had made some threats regarding his stepmom.

I do hope they move him to a juvenile facility.

Wow, southcitymom you have an 8 year old that's 4'11". That's huge, what are you feeding him!

I agree, this boy needs to be in a juvenile facility. Is it standard practice that he's not allowed visitors, except for attorney?

 

[southcitymom]

Wow, southcitymom you have an 8 year old that's 4'11". That's huge, what are you feeding him!

I agree, this boy needs to be in a juvenile facility. Is it standard practice that he's not allowed visitors, except for attorney?

Wow, Lovejac, how do you have time to be here - are the three toddlers parenting themselves? Feed them Kibble and Bits and they'll grow as big as mine.

I think the reason he can't have visitors is that he cannot be around the other adult inmates in the visiting area - and, per jail policy, that's the only place where inmates can receive nonattorney visitors.

 

[concernedperson]

Wow, Lovejac, how do you have time to be here - are the three toddlers parenting themselves? Feed them Kibble and Bits and they'll grow as big as mine.

I think the reason he can't have visitors is that he cannot be around the other adult inmates in the visiting area - and, per jail policy, that's the only place where inmates can receive nonattorney visitors.

Oh sister chatter. LOL!

The child needs to be away from adult inmates if at all possible. He has enough on his plate without coaching.

 

[southcitymom]

Oh sister chatter. LOL!

The child needs to be away from adult inmates if at all possible. He has enough on his plate without coaching.

You're right, CP. There are a million different reasons he shouldn't be in an adult prison and learning from the grownups is definitely one of them.

It is very curious to me - this story coming on the tail end of the 8 year old who just recently pled out. Heartbreaking on so many levels.

 

[Openmind]

The child needs to be away from adult inmates if at all possible. He has enough on his plate without coaching.

This article explains some of the reasons for his isolation.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,498165,00.html

I have to say there is some serious denial going on here if they think they can put this boy back in school.

 

[concernedperson]

You're right, CP. There are a million different reasons he shouldn't be in an adult prison and learning from the grownups is definitely one of them.

It is very curious to me - this story coming on the tail end of the 8 year old who just recently pled out. Heartbreaking on so many levels.

Could be some of his sociopathy and early manifestation is because of reading about the Arizona case. In many ways this is heartbreaking but in other ways it is closure. After many years of learning about sociopathy and hearing of more and more nonsensical murders we have to label. It is the profiling that prevents more.

It isn't really that I am cynical but we have to take off our rose colored glasses when there are victims of murder, the most horrendous of crimes. A child, a child whom every parent loves and adores can be and sometimes will be a murderer. What is so shocking is the young age that we are seeing this.

I don't even believe this is a mental health issue that can be remedied. I will refrain from my next thoughts. I don't even know if any of this preventable.

 

[Linda7NJ]

sniped
It isn't really that I am cynical but we have to take off our rose colored glasses when there are victims of murder, the most horrendous of crimes. A child, a child whom every parent loves and adores can be and sometimes will be a murderer. What is so shocking is the young age that we are seeing this.

I don't even believe this is a mental health issue that can be remedied. I will refrain from my next thoughts. I don't even know if any of this preventable.

I totally agree.

Some children are just born "defective" (for the lack of a better word) The same way some children are born with rare diseases.

 

[JaneInOz]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,498165,00.html

WHOA

Whats wrong with him ? Those sunken eyes , black around them and very red cheeks

He does look like a heavy set kid ?

And no he shouldn't be in an adult prison thats ludicrous !

But he needs to be in a Lock up for Juveniles that commit henious crimes. and have very strict jailing standards like adults do, so hopefull he will Never reoffend

 

[JaneInOz]

Can I ask a question....
How long after she was shot was she seen and had paramedics etc ?

How long did the baby inside her have to live ?

 

[SuziQ]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,498165,00.html

WHOA

Whats wrong with him ? Those sunken eyes , black around them and very red cheeks

He does look like a heavy set kid ?

And no he shouldn't be in an adult prison thats ludicrous !

But he needs to be in a Lock up for Juveniles that commit henious crimes. and have very strict jailing standards like adults do, so hopefull he will Never reoffend

I see a kid who's got a round face, isn't obsese, is sleep deprived and has been crying. But that's just me. He definitely can't be in a place with adults. He'd become their Betsy.

I just hope whatever his punishment is, that he's not on an outpatient program. I wouldn't want him going to school with my kids. There is already a problem in the US with how to treat juvinile's who commit adult sex crimes. Par for course is to treat them outpatient and let them live among the community. Where of course they reoffend.

 

[concernedperson]

I see a kid who's got a round face, isn't obsese, is sleep deprived and has been crying. But that's just me. He definitely can't be in a place with adults. He'd become their Betsy.

I just hope whatever his punishment is, that he's not on an outpatient program. I wouldn't want him going to school with my kids. There is already a problem in the US with how to treat juvinile's who commit adult sex crimes. Par for course is to treat them outpatient and let them live among the community. Where of course they reoffend.

Thanks for your frank assessment. And, I agree. This child is not normal and shouldn't br treated as such.

 

[passionflower]

http://www.wpxi.com/news/18760897/detail.html

local 11 pm news.........video

 

[SuziQ]

My feeling on kids like this who kill with guns is, if the will to kill is there, they will find a way. Baseball bat, burning down the house, poisoning. This time it just happened to be a gun.

I will be curious as to what this kid was like before he picked up that shotgun. Alot of parents are either in denial or hope they can fix their kid in the months or years that lead up to an event like this. The sad truth is, a kid with violent mental issues, especially a boy, will get bigger, meaner and more dangerous as they get older.

 

[JaneInOz]

I see a kid who's got a round face, isn't obsese, is sleep deprived and has been crying. But that's just me. He definitely can't be in a place with adults. He'd become their Betsy.

I just hope whatever his punishment is, that he's not on an outpatient program. I wouldn't want him going to school with my kids. There is already a problem in the US with how to treat juvinile's who commit adult sex crimes. Par for course is to treat them outpatient and let them live among the community. Where of course they reoffend.

I never said he was I said he was heavy set. look at his neck shoulder area.

 

[Bobbisangel]

This isn't just about the kid getting himself off the school. In the bigger picture, that might not matter one tinker darn. The reasons for this murder are much bigger than a single issue.

I do wonder if it is that easy to get kids ready for the day, why can't a parent/parents give up the thirty minutes it takes to do so? Schools started providing breakfast because parents were sending their kids to school hungry. In the beginning, the breakfast program was designed only for the economically disadvantaged.

My point was thirty years ago children had more adult supervision -- more interplay with adults. Country kids had guns in their homes, but they were seldom left to handle them without some adult acknowledgment. Sure some kids can manage getting themselves off to school and can take care of themselves after school. I still think some adult should get a child off to school and be there when they return. It is a part of parenting that shows you are willing to get up, talk with them, make sure they have breakfast, lunch money, and a word of encouragement before they go to school. And coming home, kids, especially older children, need someone to see how their day went. And I do know how hectic it is to get kids out the door in the morning and come home and try to manage all the things a household requires in the very slim hours left after work.

When I was growing up my mom was there when I left for school and she was there when I got home. I loved having my mom to come home to.
Times have changed though and a lot of times mom and dad both have to work. There are a lot of single parent familys now and the mother has to work. As a result kids get themselves ready for school and come home to an empty house. Sometimes it can't be avoided and sometimes it can. Daycare is so expensive and so there are a lot of latchkey kids. Single moms have a really rough time paying daycare and everything else. A lot of dads don't pay child support.

I think a lot of moms would like to stay home with the kids and be stay-at-home moms but they can't afford to. Maybe we should talk to our grandparents and see how they made it financially with gramma staying home instead of working. Wages weren't as high then but neither was the cost of living. Now days the cost of living is higher but so are wages. I think our wants are much larger now days then they were back then. People are up to their ears in debt to have the things that they want and can't afford to stay home with the kids. It's to bad but that is the way it is now days.

 

[Openmind]

When I was growing up my mom was there when I left for school and she was there when I got home. I loved having my mom to come home to.
Times have changed though and a lot of times mom and dad both have to work. There are a lot of single parent familys now and the mother has to work. As a result kids get themselves ready for school and come home to an empty house. Sometimes it can't be avoided and sometimes it can. Daycare is so expensive and so there are a lot of latchkey kids. Single moms have a really rough time paying daycare and everything else. A lot of dads don't pay child support.

I think a lot of moms would like to stay home with the kids and be stay-at-home moms but they can't afford to. Maybe we should talk to our grandparents and see how they made it financially with gramma staying home instead of working. Wages weren't as high then but neither was the cost of living. Now days the cost of living is higher but so are wages. I think our wants are much larger now days then they were back then. People are up to their ears in debt to have the things that they want and can't afford to stay home with the kids. It's to bad but that is the way it is now days.

Absolutely. Sadly, there doesn't seem to be the support of extended family there used to be.

In the end, the things we often feel are so important to own will too soon be long gone but the time spent with your children can never be erased or undervalued. An entire different issue is the number of single parents. I think we sometimes forget the kids didn't create the situation but they live the the outcome every much as the parent. It is a very difficult situation for everyone.

 

[Openmind]

I never said he was I said he was heavy set. look at his neck shoulder area.

Boys at this age can look a little stout before they hit puberty and stretch out. He just looks miserable to me.