# 12 Year Old Boy Kills 8 Year Old Sister **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 12, 2013, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-boy-kills-8-year-old-sister/658133 "2013-05-12T06:40:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2013, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-boy-kills-8-year-old-sister/658133/21 "2013-05-12T17:47:56Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Compare to the neighbors in the Cleveland kidnapping case who said they saw the women naked in the yard. They aren’t necessarily lying, but even at best, the memory works in funny ways, and people can genuinely remember things that never happened. It’s also possible that the women they did see were not the same ones who were rescued. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2013, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-boy-kills-8-year-old-sister/658133/22 "2013-05-12T18:04:49Z")
> [@Becky2844](#): > > A fight between siblings carried horribly too far? It’s all fun and games until somebody gets stabbed to death. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2013, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-boy-kills-8-year-old-sister/658133/23 "2013-05-12T18:20:37Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > It’s all fun and games until somebody gets stabbed to death. Which sadly could be true in this case. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2013, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-boy-kills-8-year-old-sister/658133/24 "2013-05-12T18:49:27Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Perhaps they just saw the brother running off somewhere, noticing nothing in particular, then after the fact conflated that with an intruder. **But many people do seem willing to do anything for attention.** (Bolding mine.) You got that right. _Inside Edition_ (puke smiley) interviewed a woman yesterday who (tearfully) said she “could have been a victim” of Ariel Castro. Apparently he spoke to her a few times. I thought the brother did it too, but hoped he didn’t. A home invasion, by a stranger, where a young child is stabbed to death and the other, older child is unharmed? Has that ever happened? ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2013, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-boy-kills-8-year-old-sister/658133/25 "2013-05-12T21:35:55Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > (Bolding mine.) > > You got that right. _Inside Edition_ (puke smiley) interviewed a woman yesterday who (tearfully) said she “could have been a victim” of Ariel Castro. Apparently he spoke to her a few times.? Some people are easily disturbed by such events. If something like that (talking a few times to someone who turns to be an abductor/rapist) had happened to an ex of mine, for instance, she would most certainly have been in tears, would spend her time wondering about all sort of scenarios that could have happened, worrying about all sort of scenarios that might really have happened, fearing possible future similar events, etc… In fact, she’s frequently deeply disturbed by stories that have way more remote from her (say, for instance, the rape of a coworker’s husband’s sister). She would probably be on medical leave and crying all day long curled in a corner if she had actually talked to a sexual predator living down the street. So, the woman you’re talking about might have been absolutely sincere about her feelings, if she’s anything like my ex. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2013, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-boy-kills-8-year-old-sister/658133/26 "2013-05-12T21:59:20Z")
It’s quite possible that the people who reported seeing ‘someone run away’ just saw a jogger or someone else utterly unconnected- maybe not even the same day- and are just conflating two totally unrelated things. It doesn’t have to be malicious, it’s just that the brain tries to make patterns, and find sense in things that make no sense. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-boy-kills-8-year-old-sister/658133/27 "2013-05-13T00:28:16Z")
> [@Filbert](#): > > It’s quite possible that the people who reported seeing ‘someone run away’ just saw a jogger or someone else utterly unconnected- maybe not even the same day- and are just conflating two totally unrelated things. > > It doesn’t have to be malicious, it’s just that the brain tries to make patterns, and find sense in things that make no sense. It’s entirely possible those claims were good, solid eyewitnessing leading to the best information we can expect. It’s just that good, solid eyewitnessing isn’t as good as we think, and the best information we can expect from it isn’t as good as we assume. I’ve watched an event in real time and the people beside me had wildly different recollections of it just moments later. ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-boy-kills-8-year-old-sister/658133/28 "2013-05-13T05:43:30Z")
They said they’re charging the boy with murder - is that possible? ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-boy-kills-8-year-old-sister/658133/29 "2013-05-13T07:01:21Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > They said they’re charging the boy with murder - is that possible? Why wouldn’t it be? ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-boy-kills-8-year-old-sister/658133/30 "2013-05-13T07:18:33Z")
I thought you can’t charge minors with murder. Even if found guilty, he won’t get the death penalty, will he? ---
**Author:** ![Jman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jman/32/4416_2.png) [@Jman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jman)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-boy-kills-8-year-old-sister/658133/32 "2013-05-13T12:29:10Z")
He’ll most likely be tried as a juvenile, which would carry (in many jurisdictions) a maximum sentence of imprisonment until he’s 21. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-boy-kills-8-year-old-sister/658133/33 "2013-05-13T12:38:26Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > I thought you can’t charge minors with murder. Even if found guilty, he won’t get the death penalty, will he? No, minors cannot be sentenced to death anymore in the US; if he’s tried as an adult the maximum penalty would be life imprisonment. > [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > It is crystal clear that alpha was just expressing sadness that the murder wasn’t an accident. What agony it must be for the mind to constantly tick with agendas and politics and subtexts at work. Exactly, and I really don’t see how any sane person could misinterpret that. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-boy-kills-8-year-old-sister/658133/34 "2013-05-13T13:24:04Z")
People do claim to have been involved after the fact. When Ann Rule published _The Stranger Beside Me_, she got thousands of letters from women claiming they had “almost” been abducted by Ted Bundy. And if all the people who claimed they were going to be at Sharon Tate’s house the night of the Manson murders but somehow didn’t go there had actually been there, they would have outnumbered the murderers by about a million to one. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-boy-kills-8-year-old-sister/658133/35 "2013-05-13T13:57:07Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I saw an article about this killing just after it happened. My initial thought was that the boy killed the girl and fabricated the story. I’m right on board. When I saw the update on CNN that the brother had been arrested, I think I startled half the people around me, my, “I fucking knew it,” was so loud. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-boy-kills-8-year-old-sister/658133/36 "2013-05-13T14:11:07Z")
Well, in addition to the truism that most killings are done by people who know the victim, there’s also the long history of people claiming “some stranger did it and ran off” who turn out to be guilty themselves. So that sort of tale automatically raises my suspicions these days. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-boy-kills-8-year-old-sister/658133/37 "2013-05-13T14:11:25Z")
> [@Jman](#): > > He’ll most likely be tried as a juvenile, which would carry (in many jurisdictions) a maximum sentence of imprisonment until he’s 21. Which ought to be _juuuust_ long enough to ensure he is never a productive member of society. I have 4 kids. They fight sometimes. Sometimes those fights have turned into safety lectures and have resulted in temporary rearrangement of residency (divorce is really cool sometimes) if things need to cool off. I can totally see how this could happen, and how it is most definitely would NOT be murder–just an argument gone too far. Odds are there is nothing The Justice System can do to this boy that he isn’t already doing to himself in spades. Well, I guess they could make his life, and the loss for the parents, just a bit worse than it already is. The Justice System can be counted on to do that. ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-boy-kills-8-year-old-sister/658133/38 "2013-05-13T14:36:58Z")
I’m pretty amazed that the boy managed to pull this off without the cops suspecting something right away. Makes me think he is a good liar or these cops are rather gullible. Or a combo of both. Was the murder weapon found on the scene and dusted for fingerprints? ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-boy-kills-8-year-old-sister/658133/39 "2013-05-13T15:00:47Z")
> [@The Great Sun Jester](#): > > I have 4 kids. They fight sometimes. Sometimes those fights have turned into safety lectures and have resulted in temporary rearrangement of residency (divorce is really cool sometimes) if things need to cool off. I can totally see how this could happen, and how it is most definitely would NOT be murder–just an argument gone too far. I **don’t** have kids, and I know my mom often commented that she was surprised that 3 of our cousins (brothers) didn’t kill each other with their fights growing up - but I’m pretty sure none of those fights involved a knife at all, much less stabbing a younger sibling **20 times** or so (per the morning news). I mean, there’s being a stupid reckless kid and stabbing your sibling once - still kind of crazy but more understandable. But lots of times? That’s into sociopath-type territory. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-boy-kills-8-year-old-sister/658133/40 "2013-05-13T15:05:39Z")
> [@you\_with\_the\_face](#): > > I’m pretty amazed that the boy managed to pull this off without the cops suspecting something right away. I doubt if he did. I imagine the police activities were CYA / just-in-case window-dressing and efforts to make the parents _think_ they believed the boy to keep all concerned from panicking. ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-boy-kills-8-year-old-sister/658133/41 "2013-05-13T15:20:34Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > I doubt if he did. I imagine the police activities were CYA / just-in-case window-dressing and efforts to make the parents _think_ they believed the boy to keep all concerned from panicking. That’s probably true. Still, you have to wonder what is worse. That the family panic? Or a whole town? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-boy-kills-8-year-old-sister/658133.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-boy-kills-8-year-old-sister/658133.md?page=3)