Reddit Story- "My 10th Grade Boyfriend Stabbed His Mother To Death

[methodwriter85]

I've taken to browsing Reddit, and I came across this fascinating story of a woman who, when she was 14 years old, had a boyfriend that killed his mother. This happened in Fort Worth in November of 1999. Here's an article about the case- he was sentenced to 40 years in 2000.

They were in this cute, puppy love very innocent kind of relationship, and one day he got the idea to spend their half-day off at her house, before going back home, with his mother being none the wiser. His younger brothers snitched, the mother became furious, and he was forbidden from seeing her. His reaction was to stab his mother while she was sleeping, and when his brothers tried to save her, he stabbed them as well. They survived; the mother didn't.The writing's not on Adam Phillips-Level, but I still think the story is fascinating from a psychological point of view.

The boy was getting abused by his mother, and it seemed like this cute puppy love deal with the reddit poster was probably the one thing that made him happy. After years of abuse, then having his mother keep hm from his "true love", it makes sense that the guy snapped.

You have this cute little 10th grade hearts and flowers innocent love story leading to something completely horrific. I think the juxtaposition of that- the innocence and quite frankly immature nature of courtship against what he did to his mother in the name of said relationship- is just fascinating to me.

As for the poster, could you imagine being a 14-year old girl with all of this saddled on you? He started sending her long, rambling letters about how he was glad to have done it for her. *shudders* I can fully understand that the poster is scared about the fact that he could be paroled as a 37-year old in 2020. She's hoping that the guy has forgotten about her, but she's not taking her chances.

So do any of the numerous Texans here remember the case? It seems like this does happen- kids killing their parents in the name of "true love", although in this case the girlfriend didn't set him up to do it. Although of course, kids being kids, they tried to blame her for it and she got harassed for awhile.

 

[Trebs]

Your post reminded me of a story that happened not too long ago here in Northern California, but here the teenage couple jointly killed the girl's mother.

[wildone]

When I first read about this, it reminded me of what I hate to say, is even worse than what you and Treb's posted

 

Twelve year old girl and 23 year old boyfriend kill her parents and little brother in Medicine Hat.

[scotty94]

it happens all over the place bring me back to the murder of James Bulger in 1993, I hate to say this but some children are not all that innocent some are just EVIL

Edited April 5, 2014 by scotty94

[methodwriter85]

it happens all over the place bring me back to the murder of James Bulger in 1993, I hate to say this but some children are not all that innocent some are just EVIL

 

 

    I don't think the kid in this case was evil, though. Joe was suffering through years of abuse, had one thing that made him happy, and his abuser was standing between him and the one thing that made him happy. That doesn't excuse it, but I think this case was a bit more nuanced than the kid being completely evil.

[Thorn Wilde]

For fear of sounding like a total hippie, I don't really believe that people are evil, and in particular not children. The media (and, Scotty, the British media are notorious in this respect) tends to paint us a black and white picture, which is neither fair nor helpful.

 

Most people can be redeemed, and most people, when they do cruel things, do them for a reason. It may not be a good reason, and it's certainly no excuse, and they may sometimes be reasons that exist solely in that person's head, but they're still reasons. Random acts of cruelty are exceedingly rare. Most people who commit particularly horrible crimes either have deep psychological issues or do them as a product of the environment they live in/have grown up in, such as with most homophobic violence. With children it gets even more complicated, because they often may not fully be able to comprehend what they are doing, and their sense of judgment, impulse control, etc., has not yet matured. That doesn't mean they shouldn't have to deal with the consequences, but it does mean that they can also be helped. Both mental problems and cultural attitudes can be treated, the former with therapy and/or medication, and the latter with education.

[methodwriter85]

Right. On one hand, I really do hope that if this guy gets out at 37, he can lead a productive and fulfilling life. At the same time, I'm with the poster in being frightened at the worst case scenario, which is that this guy is still very much obsessed with her, and will do anything to be with her. She's planning on living out of the U.S.A. by the time this guy gets out, so she should still be okay, but still.

[Thorn Wilde]

Well, I hope it's at least reasonable to think that the American criminal justice system puts enough focus on therapy and rehabilitation that that won't happen. 

[methodwriter85]

You would think that, but repeat offenses are pretty high in the U.S.

[Zombie]

Right. On one hand, I really do hope that if this guy gets out at 37, he can lead a productive and fulfilling life. At the same time, I'm with the poster in being frightened at the worst case scenario, which is that this guy is still very much obsessed with her, and will do anything to be with her. She's planning on living out of the U.S.A. by the time this guy gets out, so she should still be okay, but still.

 

He was sentenced to 40 years in 2000. 2000 + 40 = 2040. Any release prior to this date should be on the basis that he no longer poses a danger to the public on account of having been rehabilitated.  In the UK this is a key factor in assessing early release. I'd guess the US has a similar process?

[methodwriter85]

   He's eligible for parole in 2020.

[GrimIsaac]

As he is obviously mentally unstable, shouldn't he be denied parole?

[Irritable1]

I knew someone, a family friend, who committed a crime like this because he was mentally ill and his psychiatrists didn't understand how badly off he really was. They sent him home, and the very worst happened... That guy is probably going to be under some kind of supervision forever, but initially he didn't go to prison, but to a mental facility for people who'd committed crimes. I think he was there more than 10 years. I was pretty scared when I heard that my brother was going to reopen contact with our friend, because at first he'd written some long rambling letters to people that certainly made him sound unrepentant. But nothing's happened. They're more or less in touch, the family friend is normal-acting now, he's getting treatment, he hasn't hurt anyone since. It sounds like he's living his destroyed life as well as anyone can after having committed such a crime.

 

It's really hard to understand what happened to this other kid... but I feel suspicious that he was mentally ill and probably hasn't had mental care during his imprisonment, just because Texas isn't famed for good treatment of prisoners or a nuanced approach to teenage crime   So maybe he is actually still dangerous. Still, you'd think he'd be under monitoring for the rest of his life. 

 

I disagree with the evil-kid thing too. For some reason I number a good few special ed teachers among my friends and relatives, and they do have to deal with kids who have emotional disabilities, and are too aggressive or dangerous to be in a classroom. These teachers occasionally talk about a "bad seed" that they've been truly scared by, but such children are, even in their experience of difficult kids, quite rare.  I know there's a lot of talk about sociopathy in the media but honestly I think it's a lot easier to train someone into the attributes of evil, through abuse and neglect, than to create a monster fresh.