Boy found guilty in wrestling death

[ajskydiver]

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., Jan. 25 ? A 13-year-old Florida boy who said he accidentally killed a 6-year-old family friend while imitating pro wrestlers was found guilty Thursday of first-degree murder and now faces life in prison without parole.

from

Read it here...

 

[blurredvision]

Damn, I think that's a bit harsh myself. 13 years old and life in prison?? That really has to suck. Imagine what this kid is going to think when he gets old enough to even understand what's going on.

 

[gittyup]

I watched the news story in this. The mother said her son is not guity because he and the 6 year old family friend were "JUST PLAYING"....:disgust:

 

[BiggieN]

i just read it right before you posted too. seems the boy beat and pummelled this little girl even though she was screaming and he knew that he was hurting her. for that, he deserves to go to prison.

 

[xarmian]

You've gotta be kidding me.. grown men can shoot and kill people and get away with it, but a kid who *accidently* killed someone is given that kind of sentence? 1st degree means it was intended, planned (correct me if I'm wrong). This was obviously not intentional. These are the screw-ups of our justice system. Many times it works well, but give me a break.

-xarmian

 

[bigbootydaddy]

amen x

 

[Elledan]

Great, so now we're even sending young kids to jail, but the real criminals can walk freely around?

I just love how justice works...

 

[ajskydiver]

I belive it was considered to be "child abuse"...which made the sentence worse.

the jurors did not have to conclude Lionel meant to cause the girl?s July 1999 death to convict him, but only that his actions were intentional and abusive.

 

[Tripleshot]

The truth is this is very very sad for the parents of both the victim and the 13 year old boy.

I don't recall the judge prounoucing sentence,and I do not think this verdict will stand under appeal. At any rate,I am curious about florida juvanial law as it pertains to how long the child can be behind bars. In most states, a juvi is cut loose at 19 and is free. What would happen in this case?

Frenchie, are you lurking about today?

 

[IamDavid]

He's lucky. Usualy people convicted of 1st degree murder in Florida face the death penalty..

 

[fir3wir3]

yah, our justice system is crap

but who am I to say/change anything

 

[vi edit]

I had an uncle who lived in Florida. He was killed by a drunk driver who had his license suspended not once but twice for drunk driving. The drunk driver got 12 years in jail for killing my uncle.

This 13 year old gets life for this. Something is fscked in Florida.

 

[Blackhawk2]

<<...You've gotta be kidding me.. grown men can shoot and kill people and get away with it, but a kid who *accidently* killed someone is given that kind of sentence?...>>

But how do you prove it was an accident. People could purposely commit murder and claim it was an accident.

 

[blurredvision]

Yeah, Florida is fscked. I think we need a recount from the jurors......

 

[fir3wir3]

<< This 13 year old gets life for this. Something is fscked in Florida >>



apparantly you werent watching the election process :Q

 

[bikman]

the jury (or judge if it was presented without a jury)apparently saw something that we didn't. I have seen news reports, 20/20 type stuff about it, and it sure didn't look like it was accidental to me. Just my 2 cents
dave

 

[TheDennis]

I find it kind of hard to believe that this kid killed another kid on purpose by doing wrestling moves. It is utterly ridiculous. And for that kid to have to spend the rest of his life in prison is also ridiculous. He should at the very least have parole.

 

[AndrewR]

<< At any rate,I am curious about florida juvanial law as it pertains to how long the child can be behind bars. >>


In many (most?) states, there is a limited category of children in which they can be tried as adults if the crime was so awful as to warrant such a finding (ie., the assumption is that they were acting like adults since the crime is so horrible -- no child would commit it). Something like that, at any rate. I think it can be as low as 10 years old, but I know that 13 year olds qualify in many jurisdictions.

So, while the age of the perp in this case was normally within juvenile limits, he was tried as an adult and received an adult sentence. I think they put these kids in juvenile detention until they reach maturity then throw them in the big house.

 

[fallenoncrack]

I'm watching it on CourtTV!!!

Hey, think about it, there will be appeals, I'm sure the sentence will be reduced, but the message will go all over the world that USA will not allow kids to commit crimes and get away with some bulltweet Youth Act that says they are not adults.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

Typically first-degree murder must be proven to be both deliberate and premeditated. In this instance he was convicted of &quot;felony murder,&quot; wherein the charge was first-degree because he was apparently in the commission of a felony (some variation of child abuse/battery), which led to the death.

It is unusual for a 12-year-old (he was 12 when the act was committed) to be charged as an adult. It seems to me this was a deliberate violent crime (the pro-wrestler excuse is not compelling to me - he literally beat a 6-year-old to death), and a harsh sentence is appropriate, but I am not sure life in prison is warranted here. Proving intent gets hard with a person as young as this boy, which is essentially the reason 12-year-olds are not subject to the death penalty (and, for that matter, the reason a business contract with a minor is unenforceable by the other party).

 

[Johnlee]

<< Before trial, prosecutors offered Lionel a three-year sentence plus 10 years' probation if he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. >>



Dude-Bad Lawyer!

 

[BrianA]

He got what he deserved. The autopsy showed some of the 6-year old's injuries were equivalent to being dropped off a 3-story building. If he is too stupid to realize that he is savagely beating a SIX-YEAR OLD GIRL to death, he doesnt belong in the same society I live in.

 

[Thorn]

Yeah, johnlee, really bad.


I'd say the kid should be: put in Juvey for a few years, and see a shrink and be on probation til he's 21. The only thing I can figure is something really must have set that jury off for them to hand down a sentence like that, no to mention for the judge to uphold it. I'm thinking there's much here that we haven't seen. Personally, I don't think it'll hold up under appeal, but it is surprising none the less.

 

[IamDavid]

The boy will be out before his 21st birthday....

 

[Optimus]

He beat an innocent child to death! :| :| :| :|

WTF is wrong with life in jail for that! I think that justice has been done.

And for the arguments that grown killers get less - that is a seperate problem, but not one that justifies poor justice for anyone else!

13 is more than old enough to know what he was doing - good lord people, what do you want? Obviously the judge AND jury were more than convinced of the horror and terribleness of this crime.

I'm sick and tired of these little psycho-killers being let off the hook. I knew not to kill at 13 or at any age! :|

I also think the parents of that kids should be looked at long and hard. Maybe the kid was just a killer despite thier best efforts... maybe not. :|