Interesting read. I'm assuming the number 36 represents the amount of teenage (or younger) people awaiting murder charges across Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties (which make up Detroit and the surrounding Metropolitan area).
http://www.freep.com/article/20090903/NEWS03/909030606/?imw=Y
They should be skateboarding the neighborhoods or working summer jobs, shooting hoops or falling in love for the first time. At night, they should be home in bed.
Instead 35 teenagers -- and one 12-year-old -- sit behind bars or in juvenile detention centers this summer charged with murder.
They have little in common except their age. They are middle class, poor, black, white, suburban, inner city, boys and girls.
Police say they have shot, stabbed, stomped and beaten to death victims throughout metro Detroit in the last year. Some have roamed neighborhoods late at night with loaded guns. One Wixom youth is accused of killing another with a golf club.
Their motives? A small amount of marijuana, $7 worth of lunch money, anger over text messaging or the mere thrill of the kill, prosecutors contend. Many of the victims appear to be chosen at random, targets of opportunity.
While violent crime is actually dropping, the viciousness of the killings in the last year and the shockingly youthful ages of those accused have rocked the region.
The victims -- two homeless men, a night restaurant manager, a young police officer, a landscaper and others -- are gone now. Soon, many of these young people will be gone forever as well, slipping into Michigan's vast prison system, serving out life sentences.
Chilling deaths touch all corners of metro Detroit
It might be said DeWayne Kawon Williams was born to kill.
It can certainly be said he was born into serious trouble -- a cocaine-addicted newborn, the son of a crack-using mother and a father he would never meet.
Abandoned at birth, passed from relative to relative, he was diagnosed with attention disorders and emotional impairments. By 15, he had dropped out of school and was soon arrested for carrying a gun. Because of his age, he was placed on probation.
On the morning of March 9, police say, Williams, now 18, walked up and pointed a gun at Brian Bailo, a 31-year-old landscaper from Orion Township who had just gotten out of his truck at the Great Wall Chinese Restaurant on Auburn Road in Pontiac. He allegedly demanded money.
Bailo, according to a witness who was in the truck with him, raised his hands and said: "You'll have to shoot me."
And Williams did.
Today, Williams is in the Oakland County Jail, a member of an exclusive and growing club -- youths accused of killing.
Across metro Detroit, at least 35 teens -- enough to fill most of a school bus -- now sit in jail cells and juvenile detention centers facing murder charges and the prospect of spending the rest of their lives behind bars. Williams, charged with first-degree murder, hopes to claim insanity.
Dismayed by young defendants
While FBI statistics show the crime rate in Michigan, like most of the country, has been dropping since 1995, the steady parade of high-profile young defendants has dismayed many in metro Detroit.
Baby-faced killers, some still middle-schoolers, are charged with running about, sometimes at night when their peers are in bed, armed with guns, knives or even just their fists and feet, killing people as they try to leave work or stop for a meal.
Bailo's killing netted $7. Another death brought in about $35 worth of marijuana. In yet another, a woman was killed during a botched robbery aimed at a Wednesday night's proceeds from a rib joint.
Social scientists have long suspected that part of the reason for violence among teens lies in a culture saturated with violence -- music, television and videos.
These kids "must be so desensitized that they are unable to understand or appreciate what the victims might feel," said Brad Bushman, a psychology professor at the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan, where he researches human aggression. "These are pretty horrific crimes with little motive."
Others note that young killers aren't new.
"The image of a child hopscotching or riding a bike has been changing for a while," said Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy. "There isn't a spike in the number of cases, there's been a spike in interest."
Neighbors, residents and parents "need to start paying attention," Worthy said.
The crimes have touched all corners of metro Detroit and beyond.
Demarco Harris made international headlines when the 12-year-old was charged last month with shooting a 24-year-old Davison woman with a .45-caliber handgun in Detroit.
Three Macomb County teens -- Kevin Antone, 18, Jacob Androsuk, 17, and Brandon Ebel, 16 -- face murder charges in Warren, accused of downing a man with a chunk of concrete to the head, then beating and stomping him to death over $35 in marijuana. A fourth teen, Thomas Post, 17, has agreed to testify against the three in exchange for a reduced charge.
Two Pontiac teens, Thomas McCloud and Dontez Tillman, await trial on allegations they stomped two homeless men to death.
Risk factors for violent future
Researchers say certain risk factors can predict a violent future: being male, coming from a dysfunctional and poor family, having a low IQ and being associated with gang activity.
They say economic despair also can prompt bad parenting. Many of the young murder defendants currently sitting in area institutions had little or no adult supervision at the time of their crimes, records show.
"The economy as a direct causal factor, I think not, but with the excessive amount of stress that it brings, you see that some of these teenagers are fragile to these stressors," said Steve Miller, a forensic psychologist on Grosse Isle who has studied troubled kids for years. "Most will already have mental problems. ... Sometimes there can be a pile of stressors that push somebody over the edge."
And sometimes kids are put together so poorly -- either through neglect or abuse -- that they feel no empathy, the one emotion that stops people from hurting others.
'It is hard to relate to them'
Attorney Michael McCarthy has represented dozens of teens on capital cases in the last 20 years and is defending Steven Kelsey, the 20-year-old who is accused of killing his sister, Jesika Kelsey, 17, then raping her in the family's Highland Township home last New Year's.
"Very often, these young defendants are very self-absorbed," McCarthy said. "So much that it is hard to relate to them. ... It is difficult to understand how they view life."
The seeds of violence often are planted years before a kid picks up a gun, said Robert Halon, a forensic psychologist in San Luis Obispo, Calif., and an expert on violent kids who end up in the judicial system. Halon said we face a generation of kids who are so poorly socialized, they are narcissistic.
"They have a huge sense of entitlement," said Halon, who has practiced for 32 years. "Some will end up sociopaths or psychopaths. So when they don't get what they want, they take it."
Beyond the lost victims, such killings ripple through families.
Bailo's mother, Ellen Harrington, recalled that the line of cars to his funeral stretched for miles.
"They always say God takes the best," she said. "He turned into a fine man."
Williams' family is suffering, too.
Last week, his sister, Brittany Williams, 21, stepped out of a small Pontiac apartment she once shared with DeWayne Williams, and described him as a "good boy" who struggled with his attention deficit disorder and emotional problems.
When their grandmother died two years ago, "the life just kind of went out of him," Brittany Williams said of her brother. "He didn't care. He lost himself."
She is resigned to the idea that her brother will likely never see freedom. "I pray for him every day," she said. "I pray that he has strength."
Among other teens awaiting trial on murder charges:
-- Jonathan Belton, 16, accused of shooting Oak Park Public Safety Officer Mason Samborski at an apartment complex. Police said Samborski stopped Belton on a routine traffic matter on Dec. 28.
-- Ihab Maslamani, 17, and Robert (Fat Daddy) Taylor, 16, accused of carjacking Matt Landry, 21, in Eastpointe and killing him in Detroit.
-- Dontez Tillman and Thomas McCloud, both 14, accused of beating to death two homeless men in Pontiac.
-- Jerome Hamilton, 16, accused of shooting Rib Rack manager Catherine Blain, 21, to death in a botched robbery.
-- Coriell Branch, Tarrius Barksdale and Ammeleo Wilson, all 16, and Reonta Hunter, 17, accused of shooting to death Donnesha Williams, 13, as she rode her bike away from a store.
What probably sparked the research and writing of this article is that carjacking about the Matt Landry guy. I used to go to school with him, but don't remember ever meeting him. However, I for sure met his girlfriend on multiple occasions, and she was good people so Im assuming he was too.
I figured it would be an interesting read to those who know how.
http://www.freep.com/article/20090903/NEWS03/909030606/?imw=Y
They should be skateboarding the neighborhoods or working summer jobs, shooting hoops or falling in love for the first time. At night, they should be home in bed.
Instead 35 teenagers -- and one 12-year-old -- sit behind bars or in juvenile detention centers this summer charged with murder.
They have little in common except their age. They are middle class, poor, black, white, suburban, inner city, boys and girls.
Police say they have shot, stabbed, stomped and beaten to death victims throughout metro Detroit in the last year. Some have roamed neighborhoods late at night with loaded guns. One Wixom youth is accused of killing another with a golf club.
Their motives? A small amount of marijuana, $7 worth of lunch money, anger over text messaging or the mere thrill of the kill, prosecutors contend. Many of the victims appear to be chosen at random, targets of opportunity.
While violent crime is actually dropping, the viciousness of the killings in the last year and the shockingly youthful ages of those accused have rocked the region.
The victims -- two homeless men, a night restaurant manager, a young police officer, a landscaper and others -- are gone now. Soon, many of these young people will be gone forever as well, slipping into Michigan's vast prison system, serving out life sentences.
Chilling deaths touch all corners of metro Detroit
It might be said DeWayne Kawon Williams was born to kill.
It can certainly be said he was born into serious trouble -- a cocaine-addicted newborn, the son of a crack-using mother and a father he would never meet.
Abandoned at birth, passed from relative to relative, he was diagnosed with attention disorders and emotional impairments. By 15, he had dropped out of school and was soon arrested for carrying a gun. Because of his age, he was placed on probation.
On the morning of March 9, police say, Williams, now 18, walked up and pointed a gun at Brian Bailo, a 31-year-old landscaper from Orion Township who had just gotten out of his truck at the Great Wall Chinese Restaurant on Auburn Road in Pontiac. He allegedly demanded money.
Bailo, according to a witness who was in the truck with him, raised his hands and said: "You'll have to shoot me."
And Williams did.
Today, Williams is in the Oakland County Jail, a member of an exclusive and growing club -- youths accused of killing.
Across metro Detroit, at least 35 teens -- enough to fill most of a school bus -- now sit in jail cells and juvenile detention centers facing murder charges and the prospect of spending the rest of their lives behind bars. Williams, charged with first-degree murder, hopes to claim insanity.
Dismayed by young defendants
While FBI statistics show the crime rate in Michigan, like most of the country, has been dropping since 1995, the steady parade of high-profile young defendants has dismayed many in metro Detroit.
Baby-faced killers, some still middle-schoolers, are charged with running about, sometimes at night when their peers are in bed, armed with guns, knives or even just their fists and feet, killing people as they try to leave work or stop for a meal.
Bailo's killing netted $7. Another death brought in about $35 worth of marijuana. In yet another, a woman was killed during a botched robbery aimed at a Wednesday night's proceeds from a rib joint.
Social scientists have long suspected that part of the reason for violence among teens lies in a culture saturated with violence -- music, television and videos.
These kids "must be so desensitized that they are unable to understand or appreciate what the victims might feel," said Brad Bushman, a psychology professor at the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan, where he researches human aggression. "These are pretty horrific crimes with little motive."
Others note that young killers aren't new.
"The image of a child hopscotching or riding a bike has been changing for a while," said Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy. "There isn't a spike in the number of cases, there's been a spike in interest."
Neighbors, residents and parents "need to start paying attention," Worthy said.
The crimes have touched all corners of metro Detroit and beyond.
Demarco Harris made international headlines when the 12-year-old was charged last month with shooting a 24-year-old Davison woman with a .45-caliber handgun in Detroit.
Three Macomb County teens -- Kevin Antone, 18, Jacob Androsuk, 17, and Brandon Ebel, 16 -- face murder charges in Warren, accused of downing a man with a chunk of concrete to the head, then beating and stomping him to death over $35 in marijuana. A fourth teen, Thomas Post, 17, has agreed to testify against the three in exchange for a reduced charge.
Two Pontiac teens, Thomas McCloud and Dontez Tillman, await trial on allegations they stomped two homeless men to death.
Risk factors for violent future
Researchers say certain risk factors can predict a violent future: being male, coming from a dysfunctional and poor family, having a low IQ and being associated with gang activity.
They say economic despair also can prompt bad parenting. Many of the young murder defendants currently sitting in area institutions had little or no adult supervision at the time of their crimes, records show.
"The economy as a direct causal factor, I think not, but with the excessive amount of stress that it brings, you see that some of these teenagers are fragile to these stressors," said Steve Miller, a forensic psychologist on Grosse Isle who has studied troubled kids for years. "Most will already have mental problems. ... Sometimes there can be a pile of stressors that push somebody over the edge."
And sometimes kids are put together so poorly -- either through neglect or abuse -- that they feel no empathy, the one emotion that stops people from hurting others.
'It is hard to relate to them'
Attorney Michael McCarthy has represented dozens of teens on capital cases in the last 20 years and is defending Steven Kelsey, the 20-year-old who is accused of killing his sister, Jesika Kelsey, 17, then raping her in the family's Highland Township home last New Year's.
"Very often, these young defendants are very self-absorbed," McCarthy said. "So much that it is hard to relate to them. ... It is difficult to understand how they view life."
The seeds of violence often are planted years before a kid picks up a gun, said Robert Halon, a forensic psychologist in San Luis Obispo, Calif., and an expert on violent kids who end up in the judicial system. Halon said we face a generation of kids who are so poorly socialized, they are narcissistic.
"They have a huge sense of entitlement," said Halon, who has practiced for 32 years. "Some will end up sociopaths or psychopaths. So when they don't get what they want, they take it."
Beyond the lost victims, such killings ripple through families.
Bailo's mother, Ellen Harrington, recalled that the line of cars to his funeral stretched for miles.
"They always say God takes the best," she said. "He turned into a fine man."
Williams' family is suffering, too.
Last week, his sister, Brittany Williams, 21, stepped out of a small Pontiac apartment she once shared with DeWayne Williams, and described him as a "good boy" who struggled with his attention deficit disorder and emotional problems.
When their grandmother died two years ago, "the life just kind of went out of him," Brittany Williams said of her brother. "He didn't care. He lost himself."
She is resigned to the idea that her brother will likely never see freedom. "I pray for him every day," she said. "I pray that he has strength."
Among other teens awaiting trial on murder charges:
-- Jonathan Belton, 16, accused of shooting Oak Park Public Safety Officer Mason Samborski at an apartment complex. Police said Samborski stopped Belton on a routine traffic matter on Dec. 28.
-- Ihab Maslamani, 17, and Robert (Fat Daddy) Taylor, 16, accused of carjacking Matt Landry, 21, in Eastpointe and killing him in Detroit.
-- Dontez Tillman and Thomas McCloud, both 14, accused of beating to death two homeless men in Pontiac.
-- Jerome Hamilton, 16, accused of shooting Rib Rack manager Catherine Blain, 21, to death in a botched robbery.
-- Coriell Branch, Tarrius Barksdale and Ammeleo Wilson, all 16, and Reonta Hunter, 17, accused of shooting to death Donnesha Williams, 13, as she rode her bike away from a store.
What probably sparked the research and writing of this article is that carjacking about the Matt Landry guy. I used to go to school with him, but don't remember ever meeting him. However, I for sure met his girlfriend on multiple occasions, and she was good people so Im assuming he was too.
I figured it would be an interesting read to those who know how.
