Today's Hot Topic (2/22): Kids and violence, how can we stop it?
More and more we are seeing headlines with children committing unimaginable acts of violence. Why do you think violence on this level is growing among children? How do you think we can put a stop to it?
11-Year-Old Charged in Shooting Death of Pregnant Woman in Pennsylvania
WAMPUM, Pa. - An 11-year-old boy shot his father's pregnant girlfriend in the back of the head while she was lying in bed in their western Pennsylvania farmhouse, then got on the school bus and went to school, authorities said Saturday.
Jordan Brown was charged Saturday as an adult in the shooting death of 26-year-old Kenzie Marie Houk, who was 8 months pregnant, Lawrence County District Attorney John Bongivengo said at a news conference.
Houk's family and friends, who gathered at her parents' house Saturday night, told The Associated Press that Houk had experienced problems with the boy in the past.
"There was an issue with jealousy. He told my son stuff," said Houk's brother-in-law, Jason Kraner, 34. "He actually told my son that he wanted to do that to her."
Brown, the son of Houk's live-in boyfriend, was charged with criminal homicide and criminal homicide of an unborn child, Bongivengo said. He was being held in Lawrence County Jail. A preliminary hearing is set for Thursday.
The fifth-grader was picked up from school Friday by Pennsylvania State Police, who found Houk's body after her 4-year-old daughter told tree cutters on the property that she thought her mother was dead, Bongivengo said.
The murder follows another shocking killing linked to a boy. On Thursday, a 9-year-old Arizona boy reached a plea deal with authorities who accused him of the fatal shootings of his father and his father's roommate. The boy pleaded guilty to negligent homicide in the death of his father's roommate while the murder charge in his father's death was dropped.
On Saturday, the Pennsylvania boy told police there was a suspicious black truck on the property that morning, causing investigators to look into a false lead for about five hours, he said.
Inconsistencies in Brown's description of the vehicle led police to re-interview the victim's 7-year-old daughter, who implicated the boy in the killing, Bongivengo said.
"She didn't actually eyewitness the shooting. She saw him with what she believed to be a shotgun and heard a loud bang," Bongivengo said, adding that the weapon, a youth model 20-gauge shotgun, was found in what police believed was the boy's bedroom.
The shotgun, which apparently belonged to Brown, is designed for children and such weapons do not have to be registered, Bongivengo said.
Brown's attorney, Dennis Elisco, said the evidence points to the gunshot wound being "consistent" with the boy's hunting gun, but he wanted to see stronger proof that it was Brown's.
"I believe Jordan did not do this and I'm looking forward to seeing the physical evidence to see if it matches with what I think happened," he said Saturday after meeting with the boy in jail.
The attorney also said he met with the boy's father, Christopher Brown, and planned to file a motion Monday to have the boy released on bail and move the case to juvenile court.
The attorney said Christopher Brown was "in a state of actual shock and disbelief." There was no indication the boy had a problem with Houk, he added.
"This is a tragic, extremely tragic situation, and it's way too early to have any substantive comment," Elisco said.
Police said they had no motive for the shooting, and Bongivengo would not say whether the boy confessed.
"An 11-year-old kid - what would give him the motive to shoot someone?" Houk's father, Jack, told the AP. "Maybe he was just jealous of my daughter and the baby and thought he would be overpowered."
Jack Houk said the family had gathered at his home in nearby New Castle on Thursday night to celebrate his 4-year-old granddaughter's birthday. Everyone was excited about the pending birth of his daughter's baby, he said.
"That's the last time I seen her, my daughter," Jack Houk said.
He said Brown was raised by his father and grandmother. Houk and the boy's father had been together since May 2008 and were engaged at Christmas, her father said.
Jack Houk said the boy and his father used to practice shooting behind their farmhouse, and the two enjoyed hunting together.
He didn't know of any recent problems between the boy and his daughter, but said there had been "some tension" in the beginning. Houk said his daughter had been working hard to forge a relationship with the boy.
Kraner, Houk's brother-in-law, said Jordan could be a "rough kid." He said his son was interviewed by police about the boy.
Kenzie Houk had been renting the farmhouse in Wampum, a rural community northwest of Pittsburgh, for no more than a year, neighbor Cameron Tucker said.
Tucker's wife sometimes drove Houk's younger daughter to the bus stop because she went to preschool with the Tuckers' 5-year-old.
"She was very protective of her kids," he said.
I heard about this, this is a terrible terrible tragedy.. I think first for serious crimes they should be tried in court as adults.. No nonsense... For any kids with problems in school, say signs of boredom, or known lack of supervision at home, signs of serious behavior problems, maybe there could be after school programs on social responsibility, or extra activities to keep them busy. ???
How tragic!! Its such a shame that families can't be better.
A lot of it goes to parents.
I also don't believe in throwing away the baby with the bathwater. I don't believe in trying all kids who commit violent crimes as adults.
Each individual case is different and should be treated as such.
See... this is why all guns should be outlawed!
I'm sick of hearing people cry about their rights to own a gun in order to protect their family and then are shocked and outraged when something like this happens.
If there was no gun on this property, then this killing would never have happened.
this is a very sad story for both families but it's a tragic that a 2 innocent life has end (meaning the unborn baby and the boy that killed them both) but this child needs help and i hope he gets the help he needs. something does need to be done with the gunlaws but we can be always blaming the parent's when something like this happens because the parent's isn't the one that pulled the tigger the child was. There is nothing wrong with owing a gun to protcetive yourself, your hosue or family but the guns need to be somewhere safe and somewhere the kids can't get there hands on it, if you ourlaw guns, there will be a another kind of weapon to use to kill innocent people. My brother owns couple of guns but there are not in the house and my newpeh has no idea that my brother has them because he has never seen them and he will never be able to find them, cause they are locked away in a very safe place.
No this is why gun owners need to take the time and care to put guns in safe places, where kids can't get them.
So if this story was about a pregnant woman who was shot by an intruder would we be saying this is why more people need guns to protect themselves? Remember criminals have guns no matter what.
Quoting IhartU:See... this is why all guns should be outlawed!
I'm sick of hearing people cry about their rights to own a gun in order to protect their family and then are shocked and outraged when something like this happens.
If there was no gun on this property, then this killing would never have happened.
But why was this child feeling jealousy? What was wrong in his life to make him feel this way? You can't tell me you don't think his parents don't have any part in this. Heck the brother in law knew the kid felt this way!
Quoting LoriAnn87:this is a very sad story for both families but it's a tragic that a 2 innocent life has end (meaning the unborn baby and the boy that killed them both) but this child needs help and i hope he gets the help he needs. something does need to be done with the gunlaws but we can be always blaming the parent's when something like this happens because the parent's isn't the one that pulled the tigger the child was. There is nothing wrong with owing a gun to protcetive yourself, your hosue or family but the guns need to be somewhere safe and somewhere the kids can't get there hands on it, if you ourlaw guns, there will be a another kind of weapon to use to kill innocent people. My brother owns couple of guns but there are not in the house and my newpeh has no idea that my brother has them because he has never seen them and he will never be able to find them, cause they are locked away in a very safe place.
Quoting Junebug926:
No this is why gun owners need to take the time and care to put guns in safe places, where kids can't get them.
So if this story was about a pregnant woman who was shot by an intruder would we be saying this is why more people need guns to protect themselves? Remember criminals have guns no matter what.
Quoting IhartU:
See... this is why all guns should be outlawed!
I'm sick of hearing people cry about their rights to own a gun in order to protect their family and then are shocked and outraged when something like this happens.
If there was no gun on this property, then this killing would never have happened.
No... because I don't think guns are necessary except for military and law enforcement!
Saying people need guns for protection is a cop-out. You're saying guns need to be locked up and yet if you hear someone breaking into your house in the dead of night, how the hell are you going to have time to unlock a gun safe, load a weapon, aim and shoot?
By the time you do all that, the intruder would have beaten you senselss and raped your ass.
Regardless of what you think, there is not a murderer hiding under evey rock waiting to bust into your house and get you. Unless you live in the Ghetto, why do you need to protect yourself?
Even if there were no guns, criminals would STILL kill people with knives, ball bats and their bare hands, so why not take those guns away and help stop the killing in our schools?
Quoting Junebug926:
But why was this child feeling jealousy? What was wrong in his life to make him feel this way? You can't tell me you don't think his parents don't have any part in this. Heck the brother in law knew the kid felt this way!
Quoting LoriAnn87:
this is a very sad story for both families but it's a tragic that a 2 innocent life has end (meaning the unborn baby and the boy that killed them both) but this child needs help and i hope he gets the help he needs. something does need to be done with the gunlaws but we can be always blaming the parent's when something like this happens because the parent's isn't the one that pulled the tigger the child was. There is nothing wrong with owing a gun to protcetive yourself, your hosue or family but the guns need to be somewhere safe and somewhere the kids can't get there hands on it, if you ourlaw guns, there will be a another kind of weapon to use to kill innocent people. My brother owns couple of guns but there are not in the house and my newpeh has no idea that my brother has them because he has never seen them and he will never be able to find them, cause they are locked away in a very safe place.
if the child was feeling jealous about the new baby then he should have talk about it and the brother in law that knew should have said something. alot of kids get jealous when a new baby is coming into there family but none have killed or threated to kill someone. being jealous over a new child coming into this world doesn't give him the right to take life but there is no real reason to take anyone else. the parent's are to blame for not talking to there child but there are not to blame for the shooting because he is the one that pulled the tigger not the parent's and he know what he was doing.
Sweetie crime happens EVERY WHERE in America, not just the ghetto. I sure hope you really don't believe that isn't true!
Actually there are stories all the time on the new of people who shoot an intruder. The most recent story I can think of was an elderly man who shot and killed an intruder. Oh, and also recently in Indianapolis there was a man that broke into a house and snuck into the daughters room to rape her. The father heard something, woke up and realized what was going on. He grabbed his gun and shot the guy. There is story after story like this so to say in an intrusion you don't have a chance to grab your gun is being naive, especially when you are not the only one in the house.
And yes, I know plenty of people, women included, who carry small guns in their purse. When they get home they lock them up. My father in law's neighbor actually carries a colt 45! AND she has used it before to protect herself.
So yes, when someone tries to break into my suburban home I'd like to have the chance to protect myself and family. People who have these guns, such as myself, need to be TRAINED in how to use them as well as self defense. If you are going to have such a weapon it does you no good to no good to not know how to use it which should include how to use it in an intense situation such as an intruder.
Quoting IhartU:
Quoting Junebug926:
No this is why gun owners need to take the time and care to put guns in safe places, where kids can't get them.
So if this story was about a pregnant woman who was shot by an intruder would we be saying this is why more people need guns to protect themselves? Remember criminals have guns no matter what.
Quoting IhartU:
See... this is why all guns should be outlawed!
I'm sick of hearing people cry about their rights to own a gun in order to protect their family and then are shocked and outraged when something like this happens.
If there was no gun on this property, then this killing would never have happened.
No... because I don't think guns are necessary except for military and law enforcement!
Saying people need guns for protection is a cop-out. You're saying guns need to be locked up and yet if you hear someone breaking into your house in the dead of night, how the hell are you going to have time to unlock a gun safe, load a weapon, aim and shoot?
By the time you do all that, the intruder would have beaten you senselss and raped your ass.
Regardless of what you think, there is not a murderer hiding under evey rock waiting to bust into your house and get you. Unless you live in the Ghetto, why do you need to protect yourself?
Even if there were no guns, criminals would STILL kill people with knives, ball bats and their bare hands, so why not take those guns away and help stop the killing in our schools?
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Eight Year Old Girl Given "Catastrophe Award" By Teacher
- Cafe GroupAdmin
on Feb. 22, 2009 at 6:14 AM