Boy, 9, Charged with Juvenile Manslaughter

This incident happened here locally. And caused a huge rift between the town. Its a tragedy pure and simple.
Source
I cant link to an excerpt as I am on my mobile but I will give a few ofGoogle search the details that may not be reported.

The 9yr old had fatally shot his younger 4 yr old brother in the hours before school. It was said his parents were home also, getting ready for the day. It was said that the 9 yr old got the .22 rifle and loaded it himself and proceeded to shoot his younger brother poiny-blank, through the eye. The 4 yr old was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Before any details came out everybody spouted abouting charging the parents. WE DIDNT EVEN KNOW WHAT HAPPENED YET. It seemed as though most were o.k. wit ignoring the 9 yr olds obvious pyscopathic actions as long as the parents were charged.

This is a fairly new family to the are, but they did make some friends here. From some of those friends we have found out that there was a history of the 9 yr old trying to violently hurt the younger.

The 9 yr old was recently apprehended and charged with juvenile manslaughter. Which, again caused another uproar and heated debate. I believe there may be charges pending on the parents for niglect but that has yet to be said.

Let me just say that this incident is truly sad. I do not wish to debate the issue here as I have locally debated enough to make my head spin.


I just wanted to bring it to the ATS crowd. ( after the facts came out)
other sources

The parents do share in the blame here. They knew their older son had violently acted out on his little brother in the past and yet kept an unlocked weapon in the house where a 9 year old could find and load it. and use it.

Child should be remanded for physiological treatment, either through court sentence or voluntary.

The PARENTS, should face the full weight of the law.

Negligent homicide for allowing the Minor access to a gun.

AS a Gun owner, and Supporter of the 2nd, any negligent handling of a fire arm (minor getting a hold of it) SHOULD be prosecuted to the full capability of the law.

IT is the only way, people will start taking Gun ownership, as serious as it deserves.

Prosecutors said that the manslaughter allegation against a juvenile cannot lead to jail or prison. Rather, officials will seek treatment to alter the child's behavior. Adams County Attorney Donna Fegler Daiss said that the files in the case are under seal because it is being treated as a mental health issue.

(The above quote is from the final source in the op's post.)

I think it's strange a child would not be charged with murder. It's obvious he loaded the weapon and intended to shoot the other child.

Sure he has mental issues but how is that different than a rapist or a serial killer?

a reply to: benrl

I totally agree!

Plus a child under the age of 13 (teenager) is considered to young to be reprimanded by the courts ..... in some countries.

a reply to: benrl

Good points and I agree!

When I was a young un I grew up around guns and let me tell you! My father made it VERY CLEAR, "If I catch you touching any of these guns without me being around????? I will whip your ass so hard you won't be able to sit for a week!"!

I didn't doubt him! At the same time, look at the politically correct world we live in! Say that to your child today and you can get arrested........

Society, parents, and the control freaks that want a government to create laws for "our" protection, instead of personal responsibility are also responsible!

Spare the rod spoil the child comes to mind.

But YES, the parents were "irresponsible" gun owners and I believe they should take the brunt of the punishment!

Guns and children do not mix.

How the hell did he get hold of a loaded gun?

originally posted by: Antigod
Guns and children do not mix.

How the hell did he get hold of a loaded gun?

Did you read any of the story? He loaded the weapon.

originally posted by: minusinfinity

originally posted by: Antigod
Guns and children do not mix.

How the hell did he get hold of a loaded gun?

Did you read any of the story? He loaded the weapon.

By that act alone, 9 yrs old or not. He had the preset intention of doing harm to his younger brother. If he in fact does have a past history of violent behavior towards his sibling, his parents should have been aware of the possibility of him killing his brother.

Maybe the 9 year old is a sociopath with no trace of empathy. If so, he's going to be a danger for the rest of his life unless he can be conditioned through massive amounts of therapy, to learn to control his impulses.

When I read stories such as this one. An old movie comes to mind, some of you may have seen it. The Bad Seed.

The parents will have to be held responsible for leaving an accessible gun in their home. Especially knowing the mental problems their 9 yr old son had, and his hatred for his younger brother.

Des

Ill give you guys my unpopular stance on it-

Firstly, gun education is key. Rule #1. I dont agree that I or other gun owners should have to keep our guns locked aeay out of reach. I think we need to teach our children respect and educate thrm. My childten are much younger and know the difference between play guns and real guns and learned to respect the latter. That being said, as a responsible gun owner, the minute my children display some unworthy behavior, the guns that I hold so dear, would be gone in a heartbeat.

I do also think that at 9 yrs old, you are conscious and responsible for your actions. Illness or not. We cannot ignore the mental issues but we also cant use it to excuse this behavior.

In short, I feel both the child and parents should be charged. The child with manslaughter and the parents of niglect resulting in death. I also would like to see him get the help needed but not excused.

Education obviously didn't work in this case, for either the parents or the kid. The 9 year old new well enough guns kill or will cause serious damage, and he acted violently. The parents know damn well a 9 year old mixed with a gun, can cause death or a serious damage. Negligent on the parents behalf, and poor temper on the kids behalf.
Punishment for the parents for not locking up the gun or at least the bullets and punishment with rehabilitation and assessment for the kid would be best course of action really. Those adults should never be allowed to own a gun again.

Sad story indeed, this family will never be the same.

a reply to: Chickensalad

This is tragic...that gun should have been secured but losing a child is worse than any jail sentence someone could give..what a shame

a reply to: Chickensalad

Now do you see why some guns and fire arms should be banned? if there are more guns everywhere in America there will be more sadly tragedies and accidents like these.

Of course unless if you belong to an militia group i have no issue if they have weapons and arms butt regular citizens i do have something agaisnt.

originally posted by: Agent_USA_Supporter
a reply to: Chickensalad

Now do you see why some guns and fire arms should be banned? if there are more guns everywhere in America there will be more sadly tragedies and accidents like these.

Of course unless if you belong to an militia group i have no issue if they have weapons and arms butt regular citizens i do have something agaisnt.

The old saying goes, guns don't kill people, people kill people.
Cars kill more people a year than any other causes of death, I guess we should ban cars? Alcohol kills or causes serious health issues to more people in a century than any other substance abuse, I guess we should ban alcohol?

People just need to be smart with guns, and it's not hard at all to do. Lock the bullets up, separate the bolt from the actual gun, keep the gun itself locked up. It's not that hard.

For those that are trying to turn this into a gun debate, I would like to point out the 2 previous instances mention in the OP involved a bow and arrow and the other a kitchen knife.

I see this more as a social issue rather than a firearms issue.

Sounds like this boy had problems and was well on his way to becoming a 'school shooter'
From your source...

The father also says in the affidavit that the boys' mother had met with school officials to talk about threats the older boy had made. It was unclear who had been threatened. The affidavit says school officials advised the boys' mother to remove all weapons from the house.

My God how does a 9 year old get all this hate. I wonder if he was bullied. These kids have no survival skills today. Why would the school not inform the police and have the weapons stored properly? For this child to go after his 4 year old brother he wanted him gone, and nothing unfortunately would have prevented this. There are other ways he could have accomplished this without the use of a gun. Sad, really sad. Society is broken.

originally posted by: whatnext21
Sounds like this boy had problems and was well on his way to becoming a 'school shooter'
From your source...

The father also says in the affidavit that the boys' mother had met with school officials to talk about threats the older boy had made. It was unclear who had been threatened. The affidavit says school officials advised the boys' mother to remove all weapons from the house.

My God how does a 9 year old get all this hate. I wonder if he was bullied. These kids have no survival skills today. Why would the school not inform the police and have the weapons stored properly? For this child to go after his 4 year old brother he wanted him gone, and nothing unfortunately would have
prevented this. There are other ways he
could have accomplished this without the use
of a gun. Sad, really sad. Society is broken.[/
quote]
Thats pretty much how I feel about it.
Sadly, its become a sort of taboo subject over the last week. This situation has shown huge divides locally in regards to how people see the situation.

Seems that without an ignorant rage filled commentary people just arent willing to discuss such social issues. Huh...

Whodathunkit

The mind of a 9 year old is not fully formed let alone at 15 or 18 years old. Children have a limited ability to accurately judge the outcome of their actions and I'm sure this child will be haunted for the rest of his life that he killed his little brother.

"Based on our investigation at this time it is believed it was not an accidental shooting," said Fegler Daiss. "There are some questions about how that weapon was loaded and if it was known to have been loaded."

Authorities have said the rifle is owned by the boyfriend of the victim's mother. Neither adult has been charged. Authorities are investigating previous incidents that may have occurred in the home.

If the 9 year old intentionally shot his brother, was it out of anger? If he knew how to fire the weapon and esp. if he knew how to load it, indicates to me that the kid had some experience with .22s, that one in particular. If all that is true then this would have been premeditated making him one evil little SOB.