WA - 3 children, ages 13, 9 and 7, among 5 killed inside Fall City home, 15 y.o. in custody - 21 October 2024

[mickey2942]

@Gemmie interesting. Many teens show an interest in P-xxN. It is normal. It becomes pathological when it is made "bad". Then, the drive is intense. These parents create their own problems.

Sure, my teens did it. I ignored it. And then, it wasn't "fun". It was boring. They moved on to other activities, you have to keep teen boys busy. Otherwise, they make their own mischief. Unfortunately.

 

[Sundog]

I'm thinking the backstory is overcontrolling parents, down to being told who he could be friends with, and possibly in trouble for watching p o r n. I think the p o r n comment was actually about him, and not his brother. All MOO
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It's sounds like they were very controlling parents from various things I've read. Upthread there's been discussion that he had "gotten into “a lot of trouble” for failing some tests", and now this...

family insiders told DailyMail.com that their idyllic existence had a dark side, with the ultra-religious parents imposing a strict schedule on their five children and having extremely 'high expectations' of them.

The source described how the family maintained a small tight-knit circle and had caused some bad feeling in the community over the summer after ordering their eldest sons to stay away from the children of LGBTQ families living nearby.

'Mark found out that the boys had made friends with those kids and insisted they didn't see them again. Everyone was quite upset about it.'

Son who 'shot parents and three siblings dead' framed younger brother

Sources close to the investigation told DailyMail.com that they believe the teen had been part of what appears to be a murder-suicide plot with his 13-year-old brother who died in the bloodbath.

www.dailymail.co.uk

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Interesting that he had "gotten into a lot of trouble" recently when his lie to the 911 Operator was this:

He told 911 operators his younger brother shot his family and himself after "he had been caught looking at p o r n o graphy the night before, and that he was about to get in a lot of trouble," according to court docs.

Why even tell 911 that? I just find it interesting that the surviving sibling said he'd gotten into "a lot of trouble" recently... then the same words are used with 911, only about "P", and not failing school tests. And getting into a lot of trouble is NO reason to take out the entire family. Sounds like he went for them all, and not their pets, since they are looking for foster their pets out (saw it stated upthread).​

Docs: Fall City teen gunned down family, staged ‘murder-suicide’​

There is a lot of strict parenting and parents who intervene with their childrens' choice of friends, but there are very few children who turn out to be family annihilators because of this. From what we know so far, I see no reason to blame the victims for anything that has been reported, it may be simply that he is a bad kid. And maybe needs to be locked up for the rest of his life to protect the rest of his family and society.

Edited to add:
By "bad kid," I mean dangerously anti-social.

 

[Knox]

There is a lot of strict parenting and parents who intervene with their childrens' choices of friends, but there are very few children who turn out to be family annihilators because of this. From what we know so far, I see no reason to blame the victims for anything that has been reported, it may be simply that he is a bad kid. And maybe needs to be locked up for the rest of his life to protect the rest of his family and society.

Edited to add:
By "bad kid," I mean dangerously anti-social.

It will be interesting to follow this case and learn what motivated the 15 year old to murder his family. I suspect you'll be right in the end. But most of all, there is certainly no reason based on what little we know to blame anyone but him. He pulled the trigger over 10 times, that was a choice he made over and over.

 

[Gemmie]

There is a lot of strict parenting and parents who intervene with their childrens' choice of friends, but there are very few children who turn out to be family annihilators because of this. From what we know so far, I see no reason to blame the victims for anything that has been reported, it may be simply that he is a bad kid. And maybe needs to be locked up for the rest of his life to protect the rest of his family and society.

Edited to add:
By "bad kid," I mean dangerously anti-social.

I totally agree that not all kids grow up to be annihilators because of how they were raised. Hopefully my post wasn't taken as victim shaming. I was answering a post about what the backstory could be, and that's part of the backstory that I've read about. It was an insight into some of the family dynamics.

 

[Knox]

I totally agree that not all kids grow up to be annihilators because of how they were raised. Hopefully my post wasn't taken as victim shaming. I was answering a post about what the backstory could be, and that's part of the backstory that I've read about. It was an insight into some of the family dynamics.

Thank you for clarifying Gemmie.

 

[Sundog]

duplicate

 

[Sundog]

Man found guilty of Indy mass shooting that left six of his family members dead in 2021

After a week-long jury trial, Raymond Ronald Lee Childs III was found guilty of a 2021 mass shooting that left six of his family members dead.

www.indystar.com

Here is another case of a juvenile killing all members of his family, except for his younger brother (15 years old) who survived being shot several times by his older brother (17 years old).

Looks like there was a thread for this family annhilation by a juvenile here on WS, and he was sentenced recently to life without parole.

 

[airportwoman]

There is a lot of strict parenting and parents who intervene with their childrens' choice of friends, but there are very few children who turn out to be family annihilators because of this. From what we know so far, I see no reason to blame the victims for anything that has been reported, it may be simply that he is a bad kid. And maybe needs to be locked up for the rest of his life to protect the rest of his family and society.

Edited to add:
By "bad kid," I mean dangerously anti-social.

Any good parent will intervene in a child's choice of friends, if they're headed down the wrong path.

 

[doublestop]

Any good parent will intervene in a child's choice of friends, if they're headed down the wrong path.

Yes, but this was forbidding the kids to hang out with their friends because the friends' parents were gay. Not that they were stealing cars and doing drugs.

 

[Seattle1]

Man found guilty of Indy mass shooting that left six of his family members dead in 2021

After a week-long jury trial, Raymond Ronald Lee Childs III was found guilty of a 2021 mass shooting that left six of his family members dead.

www.indystar.com

Here is another case of a juvenile killing all members of his family, except for his younger brother (15 years old) who survived being shot several times by his older brother (17 years old).

Looks like there was a thread for this family annhilation by a juvenile here on WS, and he was sentenced recently to life without parole.

Thanks for linking the Raymond Child's III case. Here, we have another teen who massacred six members of his family after an attempt of simple discipline by the teen's father:

Childs got into an argument with his father after Childs had returned home after leaving without permission, according to court documents. Childs was 17 years old at the time of the shooting.

Similar to the WA murders, a sibling survived being shot and told authorities he begged his older brother not to kill him:

... the teen explained that pleaded with his big brother to not shoot him, "I can give you 40 dollars. I won't say nothing. Please don't kill me," according to court documents.

Studies show 96% of family annihilators are male, and only half commit suicide following their murderous act.

IMO, I think these teen killers are cases of psychopathic, antisocial personality disordered individuals where the crimes are so horrific, it's easier to look for fault elsewhere.

IMO, I think these "older siblings" somehow held a belief that they had a right over their family members' lives (over-enmeshment), craved the need for power, and such that murder begets feelings of control. Given the ages of the killers, I also think this could have been a last ditch attempt to perform a "masculine role." Sadly, these families were in grave danger of their own children and sibling. MOO

https://scholarsarchive.library.albany.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1022&context=honorscollege_cj

When people kill close relatives: Explaining 'family annihilators'

"Family annihilators are never spontaneous," one expert said.

abcnews.go.com

 

[Seattle1]

The WA case is essentially under a gag order until the decision of whether to try the shooter as an adult. Unfortunately, this also prevents forensic psychologists from commenting on this case.

There's a case in PA where a 13 yr old murdered his 10 yr old cousin during a sleepover at their grandmother's in August 2024. Given the teen is being tried as an adult, Law & Crime has a good interview with a forensic psychologist at the link below:

PA, James Campbell, 13 confesses to murdering cousin Hunter Meyers, 10 at a sleep over, Westmoreland County

 

[Seattle1]

Looks like there was a thread for this family annhilation by a juvenile here on WS, and he was sentenced recently to life without parole.

^^rsbm

From OP's quoted link, sentencing is not scheduled until January 2025.

Indiana engages the use of presentencing investigation (PSI) reports after conviction for the judge's use in sentencing. There's likely additional work here given the defendant was at least age 16 but under the age of 18 when he committed the crimes.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Any good parent will intervene in a child's choice of friends, if they're headed down the wrong path.

Perhaps, if the friends are dangerous, abusive, or similar.
But because their friend came out as LGBTQ+? I would be happy if my kids had some gay friends. I'd think they would probably be very accepting kind friends who would accept my kids just as they are.

 

[Ladyotm]

Perhaps, if the friends are dangerous, abusive, or similar.
But because their friend came out as LGBTQ+? I would be happy if my kids had some gay friends. I'd think they would probably be very accepting kind friends who would accept my kids just as they are.

The parents of the friends were LGBTQ+. Perhaps the parents looked at that fact the way some of us might forbid our children from visiting with kids down the street whose parents are drunk everyday, cursing, fighting, known drug users, etc I certainly wouldn't have allowed my children into these types of homes, but I don't think I would have protested them being friends with the kids (my kids are all grown now).
I think a lot of people tend to look at it as controlling, and I'm definitely guilty of that. It very well could be them trying to protect their children or instill in them certain morals and character traits...with their beliefs, religious and cultural expectations.
We can both harm and help our kids in decisions we make as parents. We can all just do our best with what we know. I do believe in allowing kids freedom to know different "types" of people and getting to know who they are as a person rather than the labels we use (boy/girl, black/white, gay/straight, rich/poor, religious/non-religious). It prepares them for the world and makes them more well rounded. MOO

I do wonder if this child had shown signs of violence or extreme acting out in the past? What was the relationship like with his siblings? What went on in his head while he executed his family? Did he really believe he would get away with it and life would go on (who did he think he would live with)?

I hope the very best for the surviving child and I hope the families, and especially the children, who knew this family are getting help to deal with this tragedy.

 

[girlhasnoname]

Perhaps, if the friends are dangerous, abusive, or similar.
But because their friend came out as LGBTQ+? I would be happy if my kids had some gay friends. I'd think they would probably be very accepting kind friends who would accept my kids just as they are.

I don't think that had anything to do with it personally.

JMO

 

[Elley Mae]

Any good parent will intervene in a child's choice of friends, if they're headed down the wrong path.

Agree, but wrong path to me may be a path someone else may be ok with. Everyone sleeping and yet a 15 year old boy full of rage waited for father to wake or did the father hear something that led him to the hallway. Iirc

 

[ChatteringBirds]

I don't think that had anything to do with it personally.

JMO

I also doubt being told to avoid one family had much to do with what he did. It seems there was something else that happened shortly beforehand, IMO.

 

[girlhasnoname]

I also doubt being told to avoid one family had much to do with what he did. It seems there was something else that happened shortly beforehand, IMO.

Yes, I wonder if there wasn't an argument that day or he knew something was going to come to light. Either way he was cold and cunning in his actions, especially trying to frame his 13 yo brother.

JMO

 

[Knox]

I don't think that had anything to do with it personally.

JMO

I’m choosing to wait for the facts in this case to be revealed. The comment early on from the unnamed source, could be untrue. Attributing that to motive and coloring Mark as homophobic, is simply wrong at this point, all MOO.

 

[lovesit]

I live in the area and this is morbid but today I was driving by FC and decided to drive up to where the family lived. One long road and no other in or out to get up to their house. In this PNW climate things can feel even more isolated and remote. I got an eerie feeling and the road was closed off likely due to the power outage.
I have always wondered if the shooter wasn’t in trouble for tests but that he was the one caught w , and if it was also LBTGQ content…shame can make people do very insane and cruel things and maybe this kid knowing his whole family could potentially know the details at some point, of the sin he may have thought he’d committed, perhaps he rationalized being unable to go on with their knowing that and living w the embarrassment.