# Here's a depressing headline: 12 year old girl charged with murder **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 26, 2006, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-a-depressing-headline-12-year-old-girl-charged-with-murder/354241 "2006-04-26T03:01:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2006, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-a-depressing-headline-12-year-old-girl-charged-with-murder/354241/1 "2006-04-26T03:01:10Z")
From a [news story](http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,18932787-401,00.html?from=rss) from Alberta. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2006, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-a-depressing-headline-12-year-old-girl-charged-with-murder/354241/2 "2006-04-26T04:12:35Z")
Yeah, it’s all sounding pretty messed-up. My take - 12 year old girl starts dating 23 year old guy, family doesn’t approve (big friggin’ shock), 12 year old and 23 year old off them. She probably won’t be tried as an adult in Alberta, but I think if she had anything to do with the crimes, she should be. Her sentence for killing her family as a young offender will be a joke (a couple of years in a light detention centre and her records sealed when she turns 18). They can’t report the name of the girl or her family, because she’s a so-called young offender, but they can show her exact house and interview close family friends. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2006, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-a-depressing-headline-12-year-old-girl-charged-with-murder/354241/3 "2006-04-26T04:17:57Z")
In other words, it’s good to be a youth doing crimes in Canada. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2006, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-a-depressing-headline-12-year-old-girl-charged-with-murder/354241/4 "2006-04-26T04:21:43Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > They can’t report the name of the girl or her family, because she’s a so-called young offender, but they can show her exact house and interview close family friends. So in fact nobody will “officially” know her name, but unoffically, everyone will know? ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2006, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-a-depressing-headline-12-year-old-girl-charged-with-murder/354241/5 "2006-04-26T04:45:38Z")
I can’t imagine that the neighbours, friends and family don’t know already. If we had any Dopers in Medicine Hat, I would guess they already know. If I drove to Medicine Hat this weekend, I could probably ask any waitress at a coffee shop who was killed and _she’d_ know. So yeah, the media ban is pretty much just a formality. ---
**Author:** ![the\_Lady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bb73d2/32.png) [@the\_Lady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_Lady)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2006, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-a-depressing-headline-12-year-old-girl-charged-with-murder/354241/6 "2006-04-26T13:34:33Z")
Didn’t they publish her name early on when the parents and brother’s bodies had been discovered and she was just “missing”? The media are having a field day - because the 23 year old had put a mildly disturbing poem on his blog on Nexopia. The media got a hold of it before his lawyer did, so now it’s all over the news. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2006, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-a-depressing-headline-12-year-old-girl-charged-with-murder/354241/7 "2006-04-26T14:38:51Z")
Wait now - if I understand the YO Act corectly (and granted, I’ve been gone for many years), they can’t identify the dead _because it may identify the minor girl_. Have their names been in the press? ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2006, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-a-depressing-headline-12-year-old-girl-charged-with-murder/354241/8 "2006-04-26T14:39:34Z")
I hadn’t heard that, but it wouldn’t surprise me. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2006, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-a-depressing-headline-12-year-old-girl-charged-with-murder/354241/9 "2006-04-26T14:40:45Z")
Here’s a couple of other links: [Accused killers met on vampire website](http://www.canada.com/topics/technology/story.html?id=e5998bbf-3c73-4081-9606-6abc144c0edc&k=67030) [Girl, 12, charged in slaying of family](http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/News/National/2006/04/25/1548898-sun.html) ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2006, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-a-depressing-headline-12-year-old-girl-charged-with-murder/354241/10 "2006-04-26T14:41:27Z")
Sorry, that was for **The Lady**. That’s exactly what is going on, **Ginger** - the dead family’s names have not been released because it would identify the young offender. I’m thinking this isn’t going to work very well. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2006, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-a-depressing-headline-12-year-old-girl-charged-with-murder/354241/11 "2006-04-26T14:44:20Z")
**Ginger** is correct about the way publication restrictions work under the Youth Criminal Justice Act. I don’t recall any news items that identify the deceased. At first the news items said it was because of the usual “notify next of kin” rule, but as time went on and there were the mentions of the missing 12 year old from the family, I started to assume that the police thought she might be a suspect and were not releasing the names for that reason. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2006, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-a-depressing-headline-12-year-old-girl-charged-with-murder/354241/12 "2006-04-26T14:43:55Z")
Okay, this is bullshit writing: > [@](#): > > The young girl, who now stands accused of killing a Medicine Hat family (from your first link, **Piper** ). She stands accused of killing **HER** family. That’s a big goddamn difference. ---
**Author:** ![the\_Lady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bb73d2/32.png) [@the\_Lady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_Lady)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2006, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-a-depressing-headline-12-year-old-girl-charged-with-murder/354241/13 "2006-04-26T14:49:24Z")
I was sure the Calgary Sun ran her picture and her name on the front page… But maybe I’m misremebering. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2006, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-a-depressing-headline-12-year-old-girl-charged-with-murder/354241/14 "2006-04-26T14:52:30Z")
Okay, after reading the second story, I’m confused. Are the dead people the girl’s family, or not? I thought all the news reports were saying that it was her family, but these stories are very carefully not saying that she was related to the murdered people. If she is accused of murdering her own family, it needs to be reported as such - enough of the cutesie “a family.” ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2006, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-a-depressing-headline-12-year-old-girl-charged-with-murder/354241/15 "2006-04-26T15:03:18Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > She probably won’t be tried as an adult in Alberta, but I think if she had anything to do with the crimes, she should be. I’m not as familiar with the new Act as the old YOA, but a quick skim of the sentencing provisions suggests that a 12 year old cannot be tried as an adult. I think an accused has to be at least 14 before there’s any possibility of being tried as an adult. > [@featherlou](#): > > Her sentence for killing her family as a young offender will be a joke (a couple of years in a light detention centre and her records sealed when she turns 18). The sentence for a young offender convicted of first degree murder is ten years, of which six shall be served in a youth detention centre and the remaining four years in close supervision. If at the end of the initial six years, the Crown believes that the young offender continues to pose a risk of violence to other, the Crown can apply to have the entire sentence served in the detention centre. See the [Youth Criminal Justice Act](http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/Y-1.5/265352.html): > [@](#): > > **42** (2) When a youth justice court finds a young person guilty of an offence and is imposing a youth sentence, the court shall, subject to this section, impose any one of the following sanctions or any number of them that are not inconsistent with each other and, if the offence is first degree murder or second degree murder within the meaning of section 231 of the Criminal Code, the court shall impose a sanction set out in paragraph (q) or subparagraph ®(ii) or (iii) and may impose any other of the sanctions set out in this subsection that the court considers appropriate: > … > (q) order the young person to serve a sentence not to exceed > > indent in the case of first degree murder, ten years comprised of > > indent a committal to custody, to be served continuously, for a period that must not, subject to subsection 104(1) (continuation of custody), exceed six years from the date of committal, and > > (B) a placement under conditional supervision to be served in the community in accordance with section 105, and > > (ii) in the case of second degree murder, seven years comprised of > > (A) a committal to custody, to be served continuously, for a period that must not, subject to subsection 104(1) (continuation of custody), exceed four years from the date of committal, and > > (B) a placement under conditional supervision to be served in the community in accordance with section 105;[/indent][/indent] ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2006, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-a-depressing-headline-12-year-old-girl-charged-with-murder/354241/16 "2006-04-26T15:06:55Z")
Yeah, Alberta’s certainly the place to murder your entire family and get away with it. As long as you’re under 14. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2006, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-a-depressing-headline-12-year-old-girl-charged-with-murder/354241/17 "2006-04-26T20:18:39Z")
**Lady** , we had an old Sun in the break room at work, and yup, that was Jasmine Richardson’s picture on the cover. They were calling her 13 in that headline - I guess they have since found out she’s 12. And that is definitely her family she is accused of killing. I’m not sure why some media stories are saying “a family” rather than “her family” - it’s not like the media to _under_sensationalize something. Thanks for the links and info on YO sentencing, **Piper**. I’ve been thinking more about this, and while I’m pretty sure a slap on the wrist for young offenders committing serious crimes isn’t good enough, I don’t know what would be better. I do know that if my 11 year old niece decided to kill my other niece, my sister, and my brother-in-law, putting her in custody for 10 years wouldn’t seem like much of a sentence to me. ---
**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2006, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-a-depressing-headline-12-year-old-girl-charged-with-murder/354241/18 "2006-04-26T20:36:21Z")
I’m curious – how did they decide the girl killed her family and not the 23-year-old boyfriend? Plus, I won’t be surprised if we hear revelations that all was not peaches and cream with this girl’s homelife. ---
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2006, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-a-depressing-headline-12-year-old-girl-charged-with-murder/354241/19 "2006-04-26T21:01:38Z")
> [@GingerOfTheNorth](#): > > Wait now - if I understand the YO Act corectly (and granted, I’ve been gone for many years), they can’t identify the dead _because it may identify the minor girl_. Have their names been in the press? I’m pretty sure that’s right. Their names _have_ been, but most of the online stories have been disappeared since then. The [Google News](http://news.google.ca/?ned=ca&ncl=http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/2006/04/26/1551810.html&hl=en) listings on the topic make no mention of names anymore, but if you know her name and Google for it, there are still a few out there. It’s funny how self-obsessed the sites the two of them were supposed to have belonged to are - I took a look around them to see what they were saying about it, but other than a single “OMG, Look at this” copy-paste from a news article, there was nothing at all but badly spelt poems and blog entries. ---
**Author:** ![Cerowyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/82dd89/32.png) [@Cerowyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerowyn)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2006, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-a-depressing-headline-12-year-old-girl-charged-with-murder/354241/20 "2006-04-26T21:18:36Z")
> [@GingerOfTheNorth](#): > > Yeah, Alberta’s certainly the place to murder your entire family and get away with it. As long as you’re under 14. You _have_ been away for a while. 😉 Criminal law is federal in Canada, so it’s no easier or more difficult to “get away with it” in Alberta than anywhere else in the country. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-a-depressing-headline-12-year-old-girl-charged-with-murder/354241.md?page=2)