For Setting Fire to his Mobile Home

quote:

Woodford County State’s Attorney Greg Minger hasn’t said why he chose to charge the boy with murder and why his decision came more than six months after the fire.

Greg Minger has no heart. I'll go as far as claiming he is a truly despicable and evil man.

I'm deeply confused. It appears that the fact that he was charged with murder is of no legal consequence, because he's not even old enough to be sent to juvenile jail.

So is the issue purely semantic?

This may be part and parcel of the fact that some crimes are deemed to be committed if the person knew what they are doing, even if they didn't realize or understand the consequences. Example: if you have several drinks and get behind the wheel, you can be charged with murder, even if you really didn't intend to hurt anyone, because you knew that there was a risk of killing someone when driving impaired and you consciously ignored the risk.

So, if I were to put myself in the prosecutor's shoes, I would say that he's probably thinking that even a nine year-old knows what can happen when you start a fire. And he's hampered to some degree by his inability to question the kid before trial to try to determine whether he really knew what could happen when you start a fire.

So, I'm not sure I'd have done what this prosecutor did, but I don't have the same feeling of disgust and revulsion that you seem to have. I may be missing something, and I've dug no deeper than the article itself, but it seems to me that the decision to charge murder instead of manslaughter is without legal consequence. If that's correct, one wonders why the prosecutor did it, but I'm also not repelled by the decision.

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Though the boy is too young to be incarcerated, if he is convicted and violates terms of probation a judge can sentence him to county detention once he’s 10 years old and state juvenile prison if he’s 13.

The stage is set for a completely destroyed life. Prosecutor knew that.

Did you ever play with matches? I did. Found out the hard way that you drop the burning match if the base of the fire is near enough to the skin. And then you discover that rugs burn while you think about what to do, in a panicked mode.

quote:

Originally posted by Piano*Dad:

quote:

Though the boy is too young to be incarcerated, if he is convicted and violates terms of probation a judge can sentence him to county detention once he’s 10 years old and state juvenile prison if he’s 13.

The stage is set for a completely destroyed life. Prosecutor knew that.

Did you ever play with matches? I did. Found out the hard way that you drop the burning match if the base of the fire is near enough to the skin. And then you discover that rugs burn while you think about what to do, in a panicked mode.

That sounds to me like, only if he violates the terms of his probation. Hopefully, they are not setting him up to do that.

It was determined the fire was intentional. Now I am not sure what constitutes intentional in Illinois, but that I suspect has a lot to do with the charge.

Sad and painful all around. No winners are possible here.

Wonder whether the kid has done other things.
My former wife had a six year old throw a heavy wooden chair at her. She ducked.
The child's mother was afraid of him.
Doubt we will ever know about the kid that started the fire.

That must have been one immense six-year old!

quote:

Originally posted by Piano*Dad:
That must have been one immense six-year old!

His size was never mentioned.

More reporting, FWIW....

https://www.rrstar.com/news/20...-year-old-imprisoned

https://abc7chicago.com/child-...deadly-fire/5603059/

quote:

The mother of a 9-year-old Illinois boy charged with murder in a mobile home fire that killed five says her son is not "a monster".

In interviews Thursday with local and national media, the mother says the boy "made a terrible mistake," adding "he's a child."

The April 6 fire near the central Illinois village of Goodfield killed a 1-year-old, two 2-year-olds, a 34-year-old man and a 69-year-old woman.

The 28-year-old mother says her son suffers from schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and attention deficit disorder.

https://www.peoriapublicradio....d-murder-not-monster

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The 28-year-old mother says her son suffers from schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and attention deficit disorder.

AT NINE?!?!?!?!

I'm thinking we need to keep Chuckie here on a short leash.