11 Year-Old Murders 8 Year-Old

[Losty]

Can this really be called murder though? Doesn't murder imply you understand the concept of death?

You do understand it at age 11. But that's not the point.

How can you say that with such certainty? Death is an extremely difficult concept to understand. Sometimes adults still struggle with it. You're certain that all 11 year olds understand?

[Losty]

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Obviously you don't get the distinction between the bleeding heart approach and what's reasonable for a society. As I said, that guy has serious mental problems. Even if tried as an adult, he will come out at some point. Untreated, made worse by the prison system, probably a career criminal or serial offender.

On the other hand you might read up on the works of John Douglas and Hazlewood, who were prominent FBI profilers and forensic psychologists. At the age of 11 you can still catch them. At the age of 21 or whenever he's supposed to come out, the train has left the station. To the detriment of society.

Maybe so, but haven't you noticed the huge rise of insanity pleads for murder trials these days? There aren't that many crazy people you know. I smell a thief trying the desperate back-door on this one.

But If he indeed was crazy and didn't know what he was doing, the you are right.

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IMO not only are children not responsible but although adults are fully responsible by age 18 legally... some people take years more to mature, maybe to fully mature most people take to age 25+... some people never mature

Legally it's justifiably 18 though.

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lol. So If I microwaved a cat when I was seventeen (literally a few months back) I would possibly a lighter sentence for animal cruelty. Either aging sucks, or we have an infantile judiciary system on our hands.

Oh....so you're not 45 like your profile says?

[bambi_swag]

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Maybe so, but haven't you noticed the huge rise of insanity pleads for murder trials these days? There aren't that many crazy people you know. I smell a thief trying the desperate back-door on this one.

But If he indeed was crazy and didn't know what he was doing, the you are right.

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lol. So If I microwaved a cat when I was seventeen (literally a few months back) I would possibly a lighter sentence for animal cruelty. Either aging sucks, or we have an infantile judiciary system on our hands.

Oh....so you're not 45 like your profile says?

Of course wtf. Does it say that? Let me change my birthday

[abaris]

How can you say that with such certainty? Death is an extremely difficult concept to understand. Sometimes adults still struggle with it. You're certain that all 11 year olds understand?

I understood death's finality at that age. And that's all that matters when shooting someone. It's no longer the boom, you're dead age.

[Losty]

I don't believe that an 11 year old could possibly understand the implications of killing someone.

[abaris]

I don't believe that an 11 year old could possibly understand the implications of killing someone.

Why not? I definetely understood it. Probably not all the implications, but the finality didn't escape me. We're talking about a preteen, not a toddler.

That said, and to repeat myself, he shouldn't be tried as an adult. He should be treated, since he's at an age where the cycle can still be broken. According to forensic psychologists. He's definetely on his way to become a very dangerous person and I wouldn't be surprised if he already got a history of animal cruelty or cruelty towards younger children. Locking him up will only speed up the process. Oh, he should be locked up, but not in a punitive institution. A mental institution where trained professionals work with him, would be the right place for that kid.

[Edwardo Piet]

Everyone is different... less generalizing the better.

The main thing is whether ANY 11 year olds understand the concept or not - even the very few that might are still not responsible adults, they're children. They are completely innocent. That is one thing we can generalize - children are innocent, without exception. It's part of the parcel of being a child.