US: Colorado boy accused of killing dad

[webfact]

Colorado teen accused of killing dad

DENVER - A 13-year-old Colorado boy suspected of shooting his father dead and concealing the killing for days by calling the man's work to say his dad was sick, made his first court appearance on Monday.

Kai Kelly was arrested last week on suspicion of first-degree murder in the death of his father, Joseph Kelly, in the small mountain town of Gypsum, about 170 km west of Denver.

Jill Sarmo, spokeswoman for the Eagle County District Attorney's Office, said the boy was appointed a public defender on Monday and will be formally charged at a later date.

She said prosecutors have not decided whether to charge him as an adult.

Police uncovered the crime after the boy called his father's employer several days in a row to say his dad was sick and would not be coming to work, according to a statement from Eagle County Sheriff Joe Hoy.

Full story: http://www.enca.com/world/colorado-teen-accused-killing-dad

-- eCNA 2014-05-13

[lee b]

Why not charge him as an adult. They know exactly what they are doing at that age !

[ClutchClark]

What is the deal with CO having such a high incidence of homicides committed by white males between the ages13-28? Several of which were multiple fatalities.

You don't see the same thing occurring in neighboring Wyoming or New Mexico on a per-capita basis.

[Som wat]

Why not charge him as an adult. They know exactly what they are doing at that age !

Yup.

Nothing like locking up a 13 year old for life without parole, in the land of the free.

[Carmine6]

Why not charge him as an adult. They know exactly what they are doing at that age !

Yup.

Nothing like locking up a 13 year old for life without parole, in the land of the free.

13 year old who shot his dad in the head with both a shot from the back and a contact shot to the temple. Then called in to the dad's work to say he was sick for a few days, and stayed in the home with the dead body.

The kid is not just misguided, he's go serious mental issues. Kid deserves his day in court. But if he's guilty and there's nothing to explain it other than he didn't want his dad to go talk to the cops about the graffiti incident, I'd have no issues with a lot of time in jail.

[ClutchClark]

Why not charge him as an adult. They know exactly what they are doing at that age !

Yup.

Nothing like locking up a 13 year old for life without parole, in the land of the free.

Agree he is awfully young but you must remember that America is the "Land of the Free" for law-abiding citizens. We have the right to live our lives in the freedom from being shot by individuals like this that have no value of human life. Thats a freedom I rather enjoy.

Ofcourse, I wish we had taken a path like Australia or Canada when it comes to firearms but there are hundreds of millions of firearms in the US today and no collection effort would ever have a chance at success.

[GentlemanJim]

Not sure how they can try him as an adult. So if he at 13 shoots someone they can try him as an adult, yet if you sleep with a 13 year old, you will quite rightly be charged with abuse of a minor. The legal system (oxymoron) wants it all ways. A 13 year old is either an adult or a minor, it is an absolute term or it should be in legal definitions.

[ClutchClark]

Not sure how they can try him as an adult. So if he at 13 shoots someone they can try him as an adult, yet if you sleep with a 13 year old, you will quite rightly be charged with abuse of a minor. The legal system (oxymoron) wants it all ways. A 13 year old is either an adult or a minor, it is an absolute term or it should be in legal definitions.

I believe the penalties for juveniles is far more restrictive because the law does recognize the limited capacity of "minors" to make rational decisions. However, the severity of some crimes does lead prosecutors to want to keep the assailant off the street longer and therefore such minors are tried as adults.

Still, I get what you are saying. Although I am thankful our legal system allows for such discretions. We often seemthe flip side of this when we look at the myriad problems with mandatory sentencing for different drug crimes. The harsh sentence is the same for both a minor and major infraction yet the judge has no ability to lessen the sentence set forth my mandatory sentencing guidelines.

[NeverSure]

The gun was the father's responsibility. The gun should have been locked in a gun safe. I'm not speaking to punishment for the kid, just that it never should have been possible for it to happen.

[NeverSure]

What is the deal with CO having such a high incidence of homicides committed by white males between the ages13-28? Several of which were multiple fatalities.

You don't see the same thing occurring in neighboring Wyoming or New Mexico on a per-capita basis.

The difference between the people in Colorado and Wyoming and New Mexico is astounding. Birds of a feather and all.

Colorado is like a bowl of Granola. If you removed all of the fruits and nuts, all you'd have left is flakes.

[Jingthing]

What is the deal with CO having such a high incidence of homicides committed by white males between the ages13-28? Several of which were multiple fatalities.

You don't see the same thing occurring in neighboring Wyoming or New Mexico on a per-capita basis.

The difference between the people in Colorado and Wyoming and New Mexico is astounding. Birds of a feather and all.

Colorado is like a bowl of Granola. If you removed all of the fruits and nuts, all you'd have left is flakes.

You don't say? If it wasn't so cold, I might look into getting a visa for this magical land of CO.

[Jingthing]

The gun was the father's responsibility. The gun should have been locked in a gun safe. I'm not speaking to punishment for the kid, just that it never should have been possible for it to happen.

Excuses ... excuses. The USA gun culture is a disgrace.

[ClutchClark]

The gun was the father's responsibility. The gun should have been locked in a gun safe. I'm not speaking to punishment for the kid, just that it never should have been possible for it to happen.

More details are necessary on how the son gained access to this firearm before that assumption can be made.

For most of US history, loaded firearms were accessible to all members of a household yet these crimes did not occur. In my own house, in the homes of my childhood friends, and other family homes across the country. What has happened in the last 20 years to change that? Where did the breakdown occur?

These are questions that had better be answered because this is a tragic trend taking place in the US today and the Western States seem to be leading the way.

[chuckd]

The gun was the father's responsibility. The gun should have been locked in a gun safe. I'm not speaking to punishment for the kid, just that it never should have been possible for it to happen.

More details are necessary on how the son gained access to this firearm before that assumption can be made.

For most of US history, loaded firearms were accessible to all members of a household yet these crimes did not occur. In my own house, in the homes of my childhood friends, and other family homes across the country. What has happened in the last 20 years to change that? Where did the breakdown occur?

These are questions that had better be answered because this is a tragic trend taking place in the US today and the Western States seem to be leading the way.

When did Chicago move to a Western state?

[ClutchClark]

The gun was the father's responsibility. The gun should have been locked in a gun safe. I'm not speaking to punishment for the kid, just that it never should have been possible for it to happen.

More details are necessary on how the son gained access to this firearm before that assumption can be made.

For most of US history, loaded firearms were accessible to all members of a household yet these crimes did not occur. In my own house, in the homes of my childhood friends, and other family homes across the country. What has happened in the last 20 years to change that? Where did the breakdown occur?

These are questions that had better be answered because this is a tragic trend taking place in the US today and the Western States seem to be leading the way.

When did Chicago move to a Western state?

The psychology of the inner-city african american gun violence in Chicago is completely different from the type of gun violence occurring in the West (Columbine or the Batman Movie killings, etc). For instance, in all the shootings in Chicago you would be very hard pressed to find a case where a son shot his father in the manner of this OP. Completely different demographic--completely different motivation.

[GentlemanJim]

More details are necessary on how the son gained access to this firearm before that assumption can be made.

For most of US history, loaded firearms were accessible to all members of a household yet these crimes did not occur. In my own house, in the homes of my childhood friends, and other family homes across the country. What has happened in the last 20 years to change that? Where did the breakdown occur?

These are questions that had better be answered because this is a tragic trend taking place in the US today and the Western States seem to be leading the way.

When did Chicago move to a Western state?

The psychology of the inner-city african american gun violence in Chicago is completely different from the type of gun violence occurring in the West (Columbine or the Batman Movie killings, etc). For instance, in all the shootings in Chicago you would be very hard pressed to find a case where a son shot his father in the manner of this OP. Completely different demographic--completely different motivation.

Maybe because in Chigago the guys you talk of have never lived with their father, or don't even know who he is. Completely different demographic--completely different motivation.

[danasutton]

What do you expect from the wackie tobacco state!

[hanno]

Not sure how they can try him as an adult. So if he at 13 shoots someone they can try him as an adult, yet if you sleep with a 13 year old, you will quite rightly be charged with abuse of a minor. The legal system (oxymoron) wants it all ways. A 13 year old is either an adult or a minor, it is an absolute term or it should be in legal definitions.

This.

[pacovl46]

Why not charge him as an adult. They know exactly what they are doing at that age !

Because maybe, just maybe, kids at that age aren't mentally grown ups, yet, as much as they'd love to believe otherwise?

[wandasloan]

You don't say? If it wasn't so cold, I might look into getting a visa for this magical land of CO.

You would be surprised like most people how cold Colorado isn't. It's farther south than the bulk of California. Almost all the population lives tucked up in the shelter of the mountains. Below-zero (Fahrenheit) is quite rare. It has a reputation because of the ski areas and the like, and of course if you go high up in any mountains, it gets very cold. But where most people live, Colorado is actually a banana belt, relatively speaking of course.

In the summer it is quite hotter than Bangkok, often for lengthy periods.

The actual weather is VERY changeable, and Colorado folks say that, "If you don't like this weather, wait a couple of hours and try the next batch." But compared with Minnesota or Nebraska or Iowa, New York, Kansas, Colorado has very decent un-cold weather.

I discovered Colorado by accident several years ago and I'm a fan, the weather being one reason.

.

[wandasloan]

The gun was the father's responsibility. The gun should have been locked in a gun safe. I'm not speaking to punishment for the kid, just that it never should have been possible for it to happen.

Are you sure? My FIRST assumption, of which I wouldn't be certain at all, is that the boy used his own rifle.

.

[Som wat]

9 years ago there were 2,225 children in America serving life without parole.

This is a map showing all the countries in the World that sentence children to life in prison without parole.

Blacks are of course 10 times more likely to recieve the sentence than a white child.

[ggt]

Aw...he's just a kid...give him a few more years...without counseling...likely have a serious problem for society...

[GentlemanJim]

[Suradit69]

Why not charge him as an adult. They know exactly what they are doing at that age !

Yup.

Nothing like locking up a 13 year old for life without parole, in the land of the free.

Really sad that, for whatever reason children commit such crimes, and worse still that that is essentially the end of any meaningful life for them. I'm fairly certain, but this is personal speculation, that the vast majority of them come from economically marginal families, if they have functional families at all, and/or abusive environments and definitely that the racial mix is heavily tilted toward minorities. Not excusing what they may have done, but there's something very wrong with a society that produces this level of violence in its children and then exacts revenge on them.

There are at least 2,500 people in the US serving life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for crimes committed when they were under 18 years old. The United States is believed to stand alone in sentencing children to life without parole. Although several countries technically permit the practice, Amnesty International knows of no cases outside the US where such a sentence has been imposed in recent years.

http://www.amnestyusa.org/our-work/issues/children-s-rights/juvenile-life-without-parole

[Suradit69]

The gun was the father's responsibility. The gun should have been locked in a gun safe. I'm not speaking to punishment for the kid, just that it never should have been possible for it to happen.

Excuses ... excuses. The USA gun culture is a disgrace.

I still can't believe how quickly after all those kindergarten children were murdered that public & political apathy returned regarding even the most basic gun regulations. The NRA gun lobby is powerful,well-funded, spends a ton on pressuring/bribing law makers and has a lot of very expensive lawyers on call .

You can bet just about any kid who ends up tried as an adult and sentenced to life without parole has a rookie public defender and has no influential family or community bringing any pressure on anyone. People on Thai Visa get all bent out of shape when some rich Thai kid gets special treatment by the law, but it's no different in the US. Justice for the rich and influential in the US (or UK or France or ...) is a totally different thing from that meted out to the "lesser humans."

[metisdead]

Some nonsense posts as well as troll posts have disappeared.

[jerrybuice]

Excuses ... excuses. The USA gun culture is a disgrace.

The gun was the father's responsibility. The gun should have been locked in a gun safe. I'm not speaking to punishment for the kid, just that it never should have been possible for it to happen.

I don't know of a single gun that has ever killed anyone...people kill people, whether it's a gun, a bat, a broken bottle, a car, poison...ALL of these require someone to inflect the death, NONE of these inanimate items has ever killed anyone.

[Acharn]

Why not charge him as an adult. They know exactly what they are doing at that age !

Yup.

Nothing like locking up a 13 year old for life without parole, in the land of the free.

Hey, American exceptionalism! We have more people in prison that any country in the world. More than Stalin ever put int the Gulags. And on top of that the states have contracts with the private prisons guaranteeing they will keep the prisons full. Otherwise they would have to pay a financial penalty. I'm not kidding, they really do. It was so they could cut taxes. With the crime rate dropping over the last twenty years I think that's why we also now have a record number of offenses defined in low. According to one source there are now over 6,000 felonies defined by the U.S. Code And that's on top of the thousands and thousands of crimes defined by the separate states. Yessirree, ya can't beat the U.S.

[Acharn]

Not sure how they can try him as an adult. So if he at 13 shoots someone they can try him as an adult, yet if you sleep with a 13 year old, you will quite rightly be charged with abuse of a minor. The legal system (oxymoron) wants it all ways. A 13 year old is either an adult or a minor, it is an absolute term or it should be in legal definitions.

The U.S. ceased to have anything recognizable as a legal system after 9/11. I mean there have always been ways for the rich to get away with things that the rest of us go to jail for, but now they're so blatant about it. No shame at all.