Kansas 5 year old might be charged with murder

[ShoeDiva]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110609/us_nm/us_kansas_drowning_charge;_ylt=Arihbpmtn7Vay0wEiUrnwv9H2ocA;_ylu=X3oDMTNnbTRkNGR2BGFzc2V0A25tLzIwMTEwNjA5L3VzX2thbnNhc19kcm93bmluZ19jaGFyZ2UEY2NvZGUDZ21wdG9wMjAwcG9vbARjcG9zAzIEcG9zAzIEc2VjA3luX3RvcF9zdG9yaWVzBHNsawNrYW5zYXNnaXJsNW0-


Johnson, 18 months old, was in a Kansas City house on June 3rd with other children, but the 16-year-old girl who was supposed to be looking after them fell asleep, Snapp said.

Investigators learned through interviews that a 5-year-old girl in the house got irritated at the boy, Snapp said.

"She said she got angry because he would not stop crying and she held him under the water until he stopped crying," Snapp said.

 

[unionmom]

There are a lot of younger kids in the news for murder lately. Absolutely frightening ... what the h*ll is going on in the families in this country?

 

[MamaHog]

Very sad! I think that the 16 year old needs to be brought up on charges too.

 

[unionmom]

Very sad! I think that the 16 year old needs to be brought up on charges too.

What about the adult that chose to leave the younger kids with the 16 year old? This article doesn't say it but an earlier article that I read stated that the 16 year old had some sort of mental issue, or something to that affect. (Might have been inaccurate information that was first reported in the race to break that story, too.)

The earlier article also said that the adult left to go pick up a family member at the bus station.

...Police say little Jermane lived in St. Louis but had been in the care of relatives for the past couple of weeks.

A 16-year-old girl was babysitting four kids that night, ranging in age from Jermane, who was a year and a half, to a 12-year-old. An adult relative had left the house to pick up the boy's father who was coming to Kansas City from St. Louis on a bus to get his son...

...Police say the 16-year-old babysitter suffers from a mental disorder. She was sleeping when the drowning happened at around midnight Friday...

link to full article

 

[MamaHog]

The parents too! I don't honestly think that a 5 year old can really grasp the concept that what they did was wrong. I mean, I'm sure she knows it is wrong, but at the time of doing it, I seriously doubt she had it in her head that "I'm going to kill the baby by putting his head under water". The whole thing is sad!

 

[ShoeDiva]

I was honestly shocked when I saw the article. I understand that the child could not possibly grasp the whole gone forever death concept, but how does a 5 year old even think of dragging the child to the bath and holding them under?????

I almost did not post it, but I really wanted to read others thoughts on this. I can not wrap my head around this even happening.

 

[meandmyguys]

Hmmm....

I think there's awhole lot more to this story. How does one sleep through a baby crying so much that it's irritating the other kids? Where the heck were the other 2 kids, like the 12 yr old? A regular 16 yr old would certainly be able to handle babysitting, so I don't think the adult would be charged there, but if the 16 yr old has a mental disorder, what the heck were they thinking?

I serious ly doubt that the 5 yr old will be formally charged, or she may, but then have it immediately thrown out. It has to be investigated as a homicide if that is what it appears to be intent wise, but then there is a determination of whether or not the "perpetrator" has the capacity to understand their actions, which obviously, a 5 yr old does not.

 

[newsjunky]

I think she did know it was wrong. Why did she choose to drown the baby? Because she knew it would make him shut up. How did she know that? Lot of younger kids killing these days. Is it a commentary on our society? :'(

 

[Vaguesondes]

I was honestly shocked when I saw the article. I understand that the child could not possibly grasp the whole gone forever death concept, but how does a 5 year old even think of dragging the child to the bath and holding them under?????

Not sure about the "gone forever death concept". My grandfather died when I was six, and I knew very well that I was never going to see him again. I remember thinking that very thing when my father told me when I woke up in the morning. So I've never really believed it when people say "children don't understand about death". Of course, I did not kill my grandfather, so that perhaps makes a difference, and I was six, not five.

As to how would a child of five think of dragging the child to the bath and holding it under the water? Perhaps the five-year-old had seen people drowning unwanted kittens or puppies or chickens?

The whole thing is unbelievably sad, for everyone concerned.

 

[ShoeDiva]

I was honestly shocked when I saw the article. I understand that the child could not possibly grasp the whole gone forever death concept, but how does a 5 year old even think of dragging the child to the bath and holding them under?????

Not sure about the "gone forever death concept". My grandfather died when I was six, and I knew very well that I was never going to see him again. I remember thinking that very thing when my father told me when I woke up in the morning. So I've never really believed it when people say "children don't understand about death". Of course, I did not kill my grandfather, so that perhaps makes a difference, and I was six, not five.

As to how would a child of five think of dragging the child to the bath and holding it under the water? Perhaps the five-year-old had seen people drowning unwanted kittens or puppies or chickens?

The whole thing is unbelievably sad, for everyone concerned.

I guess maybe it is what the child has been exposed to regarding death. My sister was 6 when our father died and she did not totally understand it. No one in our family or even close friends had ever died so she had never experienced it or even been spoken to about it.
Okay that is a sad picture if the child had been exposed to someone drowning things. Frightening actually.
On a daily basis I have a hard time reading the news. It is so depressing what is happening in the world. I would like to live with my rose colored glasses.