Toddler Death

[firedoc5]

LAUDERHILL, Florida (AP) -- A 12-year-old boy beat a toddler to death with a baseball bat because she was crying while he was trying to watch TV, authorities said.

The boy, who was not identified, was arrested Saturday on first-degree murder charges, Lauderhill police spokesman Lt. Mike Cochran said.

He was arraigned in juvenile court Sunday and remained in custody, but it was not clear if he had an attorney or if anyone else would be charged in the girl's death.

Cochran said the boy confessed to authorities that he was home alone Friday baby-sitting a 10-year-old girl and the 17-month-old girl and became angry when the toddler began to cry. The relationship between the three was not clear.

At some point, an adult called 911. The girl, Shaloh Joseph, was rushed to a hospital where she was pronounced dead of blunt force trauma to the head, Cochran said.

The Miami Herald identified the boy's mother as Guerla Joseph. A telephone listing for a Guerla Joseph in Fort Lauderdale had been disconnected.

The case is not the first in Florida where a boy so young has been charged in the death of a child. Lionel Tate was 12 when he beat and stomped to death a playmate half his age in Florida.

At the time, Tate was the youngest person in modern U.S. history to receive a life prison sentence. His attorneys initially said he accidentally killed 6-year-old Tiffany Eunick in 1999 while imitating pro wrestling moves.

Tate was convicted as an adult of first-degree murder, but the conviction was thrown out in 2004, and Tate pleaded guilty to a lesser charge.

[Chief1C]

Death penalty. That's just f**ked up.

or Life in prison w/ out ever seeing light, or having human contact again.

[rat115]

12 is too young to be given life or a death sentence.

That kid needs counseling...BIG time!!! I'd want to know how long he was alone with 10 and 17 month olds. Those ages can try anyone's nerves if left alone with them for too long.

[Chief1C]

Counciling?

He beat a child to death with a baseball bat, over a television program.

They need to start punishing these kids, not coddling them.

[DwayneEMTP]

Counciling?

He beat a child to death with a baseball bat, over a television program.

They need to start punishing these kids, not coddling them.

Let's see. This CHILD did a mindless, senseless thing by taking a life.

So your adult, mature decision is to take away his life? Where is the difference? I would prefer we beat him to death with a bat. At least that brutality would have an end.

He brutalized a baby for a moment and you want him to go to prison forever. You want to brutalize a 12 year old for the next 20 years. What punishment is right for you?

This CHILD has had no say in anything to do with creating the kid that did this. He's a kid. Still forming. No clear PERSONAL opinion on religion, life or death, or developing tools to deal with rage.

He is exactly the broken instrument he was raised to be. He needs to be repaired, not discarded.

His parents created a ticking time bomb with no operational safeties. They should go to prison for that. This boy should go to a place that will allow him to become a normal human being.

I'll ask you to believe that my anger is not directed at you specifically, but the attitude of punishing children behaving in the manner that they were raised. This boy is the victim of his parents, and that is were the rage of those that loved the baby belongs.

Dwayne

[Scaramedic]

The problem with this case is the fact that he acted out so violently. He should not get the death penalty but he should spend a large portion of the next 20 or so years in a psych hospital. Most serial killers started out young killing both animals and humans. If he is already acting out this violently then he should be monitored for a long, long time. Maybe someday he will be a part of normal society, unfortunately the numbers say different.

Dwayne where in the story does it mention the parents were bad parents? How do you know the child isn't just a schizophrenic who finally acted out? I find it interesting you are so quick to condemn the parents and condemn them to jail yet give the kid a free pass. At 12 years old a child is old enough to hunt and carry a firearm, 12 year olds do know the difference between right and wrong.

If he didn't know the difference between right and wrong at his age that is a psych defense and he should go to a psych unit until he is 18. At that age he will be reassessed and released or given further time.

[steph1030]

i wanna know what a 12 yo was doin watchin a 17 mo old??/this society makes me wonder and worrried and howd the adult miraculously appear later ?where was said adult at the time of the beating?i just dont get it my son is 12 and i swear he dont baby sit my 11 yr old not happening

people need to start making better chices and start takin responsibilites and taking care fo their children

[mediccjh]

That's funny.

By the time I was 10, I was cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, and knew the difference between right and wrong.

I'm the oldest of 5, and I never thought of beating my siblings when they cried. And I was watching them when I was 12.

[DwayneEMTP]

The problem with this case is the fact that he acted out so violently. He should not get the death penalty but he should spend a large portion of the next 20 or so years in a psych hospital. Most serial killers started out young killing both animals and humans. If he is already acting out this violently then he should be monitored for a long, long time. Maybe someday he will be a part of normal society, unfortunately the numbers say different.

I disagree. A pattern of such behavior speaks to a child’s future statistically. I've not seen evidence that a single event, regardless of that event, does so.

Dwayne where in the story does it mention the parents were bad parents? How do you know the child isn't just a schizophrenic who finally acted out?

To use your above logic. There are truck loads of psychological data to suggest you're looking for a zebra here. I'm unaware in neither my limited general psychology education nor my slightly more extensive behavioral psychology experience of any body of evidence that shows that even the most damaged child's first noticeable pathologic act to be the murder of another. There was a ton of evidence; the parents simply had other things to do besides raise their children.

I find it interesting you are so quick to condemn the parents and condemn them to jail yet give the kid a free pass.

If by free pass you mean ignore this behavior. I don't. But he is what he was raised to be (with the exception of an incredibly small percentage of children). I simply believe it's an ignorant opinion that taking away this child’s life is the most productive thing to do.

What rational criteria did you use to decide 20 years was a good time frame?

What rational criteria did you use to decide perhaps 20 was too much, but at least until 18 years old?

See what I mean? They are arbitrary numbers that have nothing to do with the mental health of this child. That logic is no more sound than the logic used when he "decided" to kill a baby so he could hear the TV. (Of course, he had no mental maturity to use any tools really) But, at least he had hopes of hearing the TV. He had the logical expectation of success...there is nothing in your plan that has the ear marks of creating anything positive except to those that want to punish because it makes them feel better.

If he's, wherever he is, pulling his hair out in grief over the realization of what he's done...what is gained by locking him away for most of his life? If he doesn't understand now, but with maturity comes to understand, what is gained by keeping him in prison beyond that point?

I am not anti punishment. I'm anti punishment that is based on pseudo psychology and knee jerk reactions that allow people to discard children so that they can continue to hide from their parental/societal responsibilities.

At 12 years old a child is old enough to hunt and carry a firearm, 12 year olds do know the difference between right and wrong.

And if that 12 year old, straight A student, that has been hunting and handling guns responsibly since he was 8 suddenly beats his sister to death with a bat? Then we need to seriously consider chemical/biological causes for this, along with taking a hard look at his parents. But we can't in your world, because he's suddenly become an animal not worthy of consideration. He now belongs in a cage, not a subject of study.

If he didn't know the difference between right and wrong at his age that is a psych defense and he should go to a psych unit until he is 18. At that age he will be reassessed and released or given further time.

As above.

I hope it's obvious Scar that my responses didn't hold strictly to your reply. That was an attempt to expound on my points, not to misrepresent what you said/meant. No offense intended.

As always, I look forward to your thoughts.

Dwayne

[Chief1C]

Okay, maybe 'death' was a reaction to the heinousness of the crime... But still, he'll sit in a facility till he's 21, just like a boarding school. The only difference is, he can't leave. There needs to be a greater consequence for something like this. I'm sure the crime itself will affect him for the rest of his life, but that isn't enough. Just because he's 12, doesn't mean he should be counciled, hugged and let go to live his life.

I think that psychological treatment and/or a correctional institute till he's 25 would be a fair sentence. Perhaps tack on that he can never be near small children, for life.

Any more on the story?