Or by the same token - do you risk arresting a kid based on a gut reaction, then face the anger of the public if it turns out he was telling the truth? Face it, no matter what is done, once all the facts are in, much criticism will fly.
It is possible that this an accident. He may ended up getting convicted of something only sufficient to allow the state to have control. He could possibly sent home under a program where he’ll have to be tested and kept in counciling. How his parents react may have a lot to do with it. Anyway, we should hope for that outcome. It is a far worse problem if he’s a sociopath.
I also think the Jon-Benet Ramsay case is casting a long shadow, here and elsewhere.
If the claim upthread about the little girl being stabbed 20 times is true, how in the world could that conceivably be an accident?
It would be difficult. I don’t know any of the stabbing details. He may have stabbed her repeatedly in a panic when he realized what he’d done that was initially unintended. I also don’t know anything about the boy. Age 12 can be very, very different between a 12 year old pre-pubescent boy and one that is surging with hormones. All of the details in this story are important.
This article says 21 times. I first heard the 20 (or more) reference when listening to the local NBC (5, Chicago) affiliate last night while doing other things around the house, so I wasn’t sure if it was 20 or over 20.
This is a really good point. One or two unfortunately placed slashes is “too angry and not thinking” but 20+ is “I want this person to be dead” activity. In thinking about it, at some point you’d expect the kid’s arm would get tired from the force of pushing in a blade against bones & muscle tissue, and then fighting suction trying to yank it back out again. What 12 year-old has the kind of stamina to do that 20 times? Either a kid who doesn’t care and who took his time (did he poke a smiley-face pattern into her tummy?) or a kid with an explosive brain chemistry but still fully capable of regret after the fact. Either way, he’s so screwed–what a horrible story. I’d be curious to know if he has a history of explosive outbursts or other psychotic complaints, or if this was a Golden Child who mysteriously stabbed his sister to death.
So far I have seen nothing documenting his reaction/emotional state. Not that I particularly want to, or think it’s my business, but it would shed light on the question of whether it was a tragic accident or a coldly sociopathic assassination.
She had multiple stab wounds. Doesn’t sound like an accident to me.
For real. I mean, don’t any of you guys remember being twelve? All those hormones racing around inside you? Shit, I must have stabbed dozens of smaller children to death in my junior year of high school. The worst was when I’d gotten toddler blood all over my pants before class and the teacher made me come up to the board to do a word problem anyway! Man, was that ever embarrassing.
PS. 
Colander, psychotic rage is apparently like nothing you’ve ever felt. It’s been a lot of years for me now, and I still cry when I think about how I felt, and how I made others feel. None of us know what the OP killer’s story is, but if you remember being a little impulsive & emotional when your gonads went live try imagining a devastatingly broader baseline range of emotions and even less self-control. I think that’s all TriPolar was getting at. I think it’s a well-accepted premise that puberty doesn’t turn everybody into a killing machine.
Oh, you must be right. Puberty doesn’t change people.
Seriously, where’s all this “psychosis” shit coming from? Look, I know you’ve had issues with psychosis in the past, but there no reason at all to jump to the conclusion that psychosis is a player here. That’s sloppy as shit. As I am sure you know, psychosis and violence are two completely different things, and the presence of one in no way implies the existence of the other. Certainly, the fact that the boy invented a fictional assailant immediately after the crime was discovered doesn’t make it seem very likely that he took leave of his moral senses during the incident.
Plus, no, I’m sorry. Remembering my puberty does not suddenly make me sympathetic to someone who stabbed their kid sister to death. That is literally the worst argument ever conceived.
Well, I guess when all you have is a hammer everything looks like a nail. But sane people don’t stab their sisters to death. I suppose we can agree on “we don’t know why” and “puberty changes people’s attitudes and frustration tolerances.” Leave the rest to the lawyers and doctors and not even bother discussing possibilities here.
I don’t know what definition of “sane” you labor under, but I can tell you that the vast majority of murders in this world were not committed under the influence of anything that could be called “psychosis”. Since most people manage to make it through puberty without stabbing anyone, I don’t think “puberty” gives much in the way of either an excuse or an explanation for this act.
Speculate all you want. But groundless speculation will do little to convince.
Alright, I wanted to let it go but I guess I’ll spell it out first.
My post #47 ended with a musing about Mr. Stabby’s past, not speculation about any possible condition, but just a curiosity about whether this came out of the blue or if it was a nightmare culmination of some ongoing behavioral issues his family had been working with.
I took your post #50 as rather dismissive of TriPolar’s observation that puberty can play a significant role in undermining impulse-control, distorting self-image, and directing behavior overall.
My post #51 was directed at your dismissal. At that point nobody had suggested “this psychosis shit” was actually part of the kid’s story. In fact, knowledge of anything at all was expressly denied. My intent was merely to point out that there appears to exist for some a level of emotion that is mercifully outside of your personal experience, that puberty can really aggravate it, and that it can cause one to take action that seems sensible at the time and is later regretted. Yeah, I’m open here about my issues and I’m sorry if it looks like I’m an attention-whore about it. But I’ve come to learn most people find it easier to judge than to understand, and that taking that attitude does nothing to solve the problems caused by those who live in very different realities from the norm. It’s a personal peeve of mine.
Your posts #53 and #55, frankly, strike me as sloppy as shit–nobody has said the kid was nuts, or that gonad poisoning explains his actions. Nobody but you even purported to know the mental state of those who commit the vast majority of murders. And lastly, “Certainly, the fact that the boy invented a fictional assailant immediately after the crime was discovered doesn’t make it seem very likely that he took leave of his moral senses during the incident.” indicates a belief the kid was in the same mental state while stabbing and lying. I think that’s silly.
Dad wants evidence in girl’s stabbing
http://news.yahoo.com/dad-wants-evidence-girls-stabbing-083221714.html
Re: the number of stabs. I seem to remember a Doper (Quagdop?) once stating that stabbing someone multiple times is more of a reflexive reaction than anything else, very common, and not a very good indicator of motive. I’m not sure if 20 times qualifies.
I feel for the parents.