# Boy intentionally smothered by 5- and 6-year-olds **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 20, 2000, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-intentionally-smothered-by-5-and-6-year-olds/30097 "2000-08-20T23:20:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2000, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-intentionally-smothered-by-5-and-6-year-olds/30097/1 "2000-08-20T23:20:04Z")
[http://www.cnn.com/2000/LAW/08/18/childsuffocation.ap/index.html](http://www.cnn.com/2000/LAW/08/18/childsuffocation.ap/index.html) > [@](#): > > BLYTHE, California (AP) – A little boy was smothered with a pillow by his 6-year-old sister and 5-year-old cousin, and investigators said the death was intentional. There’s so much crap going on in the world that unfortunately it almost gets routine. But this has me speechless. ---
**Author:** ![Anti\_Pro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Anti\_Pro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anti_Pro)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2000, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-intentionally-smothered-by-5-and-6-year-olds/30097/2 "2000-08-21T05:35:50Z")
And they’ve already said there is to be no prosecution of the two girls either, though they sure sound they need some help before they get much older. ---
**Author:** ![tatertot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c37758/32.png) [@tatertot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tatertot)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2000, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-intentionally-smothered-by-5-and-6-year-olds/30097/3 "2000-08-21T07:28:32Z")
I just don’t know what to say. My niece is six and my little boy is five; they still seem like _babies_ to me. My god, what could have caused this? I hope like hell these little girls get the help they desperately need. ---
**Author:** ![Phobos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Phobos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phobos)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2000, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-intentionally-smothered-by-5-and-6-year-olds/30097/4 "2000-08-21T13:38:48Z")
truly sad my heart goes out to the parents ---
**Author:** ![SqrlCub](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SqrlCub](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SqrlCub)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2000, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-intentionally-smothered-by-5-and-6-year-olds/30097/5 "2000-08-21T14:13:49Z")
OH MY! I never liked kids but that is just not right. If they want to play that way they can do the Lord of the Flies thing on some deserted island far away from me. They need to be institutionalized. A very sad, Sqrl ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2000, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-intentionally-smothered-by-5-and-6-year-olds/30097/6 "2000-08-21T14:26:43Z")
At that age I think they hardly know what death is. probably they were playing. I think it probably reflects on the society that surrounds them much more than it does on themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2000, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-intentionally-smothered-by-5-and-6-year-olds/30097/7 "2000-08-21T17:32:07Z")
The latest is that the children have admitted to authorities that this was intentional. The boy’s 12-year-old sister has said that she caught the girls trying to drown the boy in a mud puddle. All of the adults involved have had previous run ins with the law; the father has had some jail time. Even the grandmother was once arrested on drug charges! With a family like that, it could be that the girls just don’t know right from wrong. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2000, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-intentionally-smothered-by-5-and-6-year-olds/30097/8 "2000-08-21T17:37:46Z")
right from wrong perhaps. dead = always dead. not so sure. sad, sad case. ---
**Author:** ![CandyMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b5e925/32.png) [@CandyMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandyMan)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2000, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-intentionally-smothered-by-5-and-6-year-olds/30097/9 "2000-08-21T20:29:21Z")
The kids that did this understand death. They knew that death means that he would no longer be around, that is not a good excuse for them. What they DIDN’T understand, and for that matter most kids do not understand, is that just because THEY want something a certain way, that it should be that way. I am not that old, but if I wanted something and the answer was no, sure I might have whined, complained and bitched in general, but I _never_ would have taken it into my own hands to do/get whatever it was I wanted. Its a respect thing. They (nor thier family apparently) have any respect for the law or authority and have passed it on to their kids. They should be proud. CandyMan ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2000, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-intentionally-smothered-by-5-and-6-year-olds/30097/10 "2000-08-22T01:33:29Z")
For everyone in the St. Louis/Springfield (IL) area: listen to Paul Harris on 550AM from 10am - 2pm weekdays. I listen to him at work via [his website](http://www.harrisonline.com); I’m sure he’ll be keeping up with the story. ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2000, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-intentionally-smothered-by-5-and-6-year-olds/30097/11 "2000-08-22T03:22:01Z")
That’s awful. Those kids are like some kind of physical manifestation of hatred. Then again, when you look at how they were raised… My first thought when I read that article was “juvenile boot camp.” But do such camps even accept kids that young into the program? I know kids as young as 7 can go in.