12-year-old boy charged with felony murder and armed robbery

**agirlintheD** · August-20-09, 11:18 AM

I wonder if Nathaniel Abraham will loan Demarco Harris borrow this suit after his release, you know, once he's been "rehabilitated"????

**ggores** · August-20-09, 11:27 AM

"What, exactly, are you implying? That she was committing criminal activity?"

Around Town, no. There was only one known bit of criminal activity being committed and that person is in a holding cell.

"Please inform us what sort of job-seeking activity justifies point-blank excecution?"

Crawford, nothing I said implied that job-seeking justifies anything other than,,, finding a jay oh bee.

Call it what you want, that place is ghetto, and sitting in a vehicle, past midnight, only increases the odds that harm will come your way. It was not her fault. People just still don't get it.

And yes, as someone previously pointed out, until some more detailed information is released.... something just doesn't add up. So far.

**aoakley** · August-20-09, 11:36 AM

There are so many kids out after dark, of ALL ages. So many in groups of 5-6 just wandering around, casing things out and just looking for trouble or someone to trouble. They wear getting locked up in juvie hall like a badge of honor and their strut and swagger gets bigger. So stupid. The talk around here is that the cops are really gonna start cracking down now, get these kids off the street. I disagree only because I have 2 eyes and a brain and I've been paying attention to the way this forsaken city takes care of things. Sadly and likely this will probably be happening again.

**ChildOfDetroit** · August-20-09, 11:36 AM

I have a lot of question about that whole case. Firts of all the boy [[MAN) took a life treat him as such. Why she was there is as important as why this happened, because she could have been set up, or what ever else. This could lead to other crimes or problem about there area.The point is to stop crime. .......Side note This Man Boy is not in the jails he is in Juvenile which is probably nicer than home.

**R8RBOB** · August-20-09, 11:39 AM

Originally Posted by agirlintheD

I wonder if Nathaniel Abraham will loan Demarco Harris borrow this suit after his release, you know, once he's been "rehabilitated"????

I doubt it since this 2009 version of Abraham is 6'2"

**pffft** · August-20-09, 11:47 AM

I saw that detail, that the kid is six foot two. That is one large 12-year-old.

**iheartthed** · August-20-09, 12:14 PM

Originally Posted by jcole

If a 12 year old is able to obtain a gun, have the forethought to take it with him to commit a crime and shoot the victim to silence them, he has already rationalized as an adult would.

How does what you state demonstrate that he is capable of rationalizing as an adult? Should we start giving 12 year olds drivers licenses as well?

**exdetroiter** · August-20-09, 12:16 PM

Originally Posted by R8RBOB

She was in that area between Rosedale and Brightmoor. More Rosedale but Brightmoor is near by. She was over by that park.

Not to justify the killing, but to get to the bottom of what we are working with, that area is highly populasized by drug dealers, addicts and drug dens. Possibly that 12 year old was roaming the streets while one or both of his parents were busy getting high. The poor lady whom met her death possibly was involved with the wrong type of man to even have her in that dangerous area.

**pffft** · August-20-09, 12:19 PM

I think a 12 year old is capable of reasoning. Not as well as an adult, but still, capable of reasoning. A five-year-old knows right from wrong. Even a kid brought up in a fantasy world of violent video games knows that pointing a gun at someone and shooting quite likely could kill them.
I'm not sure what the answer is with someone this young, but I agree the parents can't continue to get off scot-free.

**iheartthed** · August-20-09, 12:35 PM

Originally Posted by pffft

I think a 12 year old is capable of reasoning. Not as well as an adult, but still, capable of reasoning. A five-year-old knows right from wrong. Even a kid brought up in a fantasy world of violent video games knows that pointing a gun at someone and shooting quite likely could kill them.
I'm not sure what the answer is with someone this young, but I agree the parents can't continue to get off scot-free.

Of course a 12 year old is capable of "reasoning", but that is a broad term. A toddler is capable of reasoning, and demonstrates this when they choose one toy over another. But the question is does a 12 year old understand the consequences of his/her actions as well as an adult? Many 12 year olds are physically capable of driving a car. We don't allow them to do so because our society has established 16 [[or 18) as the minimum age at which all healthy persons should have the mental maturity to operate a car.

And what is there even to gain by sending a 12 year old to prison for life? Will we report this during Sesame Street or Saturday morning cartoons in order to deter potential copy cats?

As you can tell, I don't see the logic in prosecuting children as adults. It is not a crime deterrent. It will not bring this woman back from the dead. And frankly, I don't see how locking a 12 year old up for life can give this woman's family a better piece of mind.

This entire concept of prosecuting children as adults is barbaric.

**jcole** · August-20-09, 12:37 PM

Originally Posted by iheartthed

How does what you state demonstrate that he is capable of rationalizing as an adult? Should we start giving 12 year olds drivers licenses as well?

Definition of reason: to come to a conclusion. He concluded that to get what he wanted he would have to shoot the woman.

**jcole** · August-20-09, 12:39 PM

Originally Posted by iheartthed

Of course a 12 year old is capable of "reasoning", but that is a broad term. A toddler is capable of reasoning, and demonstrates this when they choose one toy over another. But the question is does a 12 year old understand the consequences of his/her actions as well as an adult? Many 12 year olds are physically capable of driving a car. We don't allow them to do so because our society has established 16 [[or 18) as the minimum age at which all healthy persons should have the mental maturity to operate a car.

And what is there even to gain by sending a 12 year old to prison for life? Will we report this during Sesame Street or Saturday morning cartoons in order to deter potential copy cats?

As you can tell, I don't see the logic in prosecuting children as adults. It is not a crime deterrent. It will not bring this woman back from the dead. And frankly, I don't see how locking a 12 year old up for life can give this woman's family a better piece of mind.

This entire concept of prosecuting children as adults is barbaric.

It will deter that particular 'child' from killing someone else. It might deter his friends from doing it, too.
And I believe you mean 'peace of mind'

**R8RBOB** · August-20-09, 12:47 PM

Originally Posted by jcole

Definition of reason: to come to a conclusion. He concluded that to get what he wanted he would have to shoot the woman.

You are attempting to show that this boy had the mental capacity to think on the level of an adult when we know he could have gotten this action from 24. If Jack Bauer can torture someone to get what he want, it's okay because it is a TV show.

**pffft** · August-20-09, 12:47 PM

Actually, I didn't say he should be prosecuted as an adult, or even that he can reason "as well as an adult."

I said that he can reason, that even at 5, 6 ...kids know right from wrong.

For me it's still up in the air, what should happen to him. My point was, I don't agree that he didn't understand the impact of his actions, just because he doesn't have the experience and reasoning skills of an adult. [[Although some 12 year olds have better reasoning skills than adults, actually).

**iheartthed** · August-20-09, 12:48 PM

Originally Posted by jcole

Definition of reason: to come to a conclusion. He concluded that to get what he wanted he would have to shoot the woman.

Again: How does this prove that he was rationalizing in the same frame of mind as an adult? This is what you claimed. Please explain your "reasoning".

**R8RBOB** · August-20-09, 12:50 PM

Originally Posted by pffft

I said that he can reason, that even at 5, 6 ...kids know right from wrong.

Question of the day: how do kids know right from wrong at age 5 or 6?

I want to see the words. Please don't disappoint.

**jcole** · August-20-09, 12:55 PM

An adult with the mentality to shoot someone during a robbery obviously doesn't stand there with a gun and think it through. They shoot and hope no one finds out they did it. I don't believe there is any rationalization when it comes to murder. The kid had the same thought process. I can use this gun to get what I want.

**R8RBOB** · August-20-09, 01:00 PM

Originally Posted by jcole

An adult with the mentality to shoot someone during a robbery obviously doesn't stand there with a gun and think it through. They shoot and hope no one finds out they did it. I don't believe there is any rationalization when it comes to murder. The kid had the same thought process. I can use this gun to get what I want.

I'm afraid to ask, but what is the point to this line of thought?

**Crumbled_pavement** · August-20-09, 01:00 PM

Originally Posted by iheartthed

And what is there even to gain by sending a 12 year old to prison for life? Will we report this during Sesame Street or Saturday morning cartoons in order to deter potential copy cats?

As you can tell, I don't see the logic in prosecuting children as adults. It is not a crime deterrent. It will not bring this woman back from the dead. And frankly, I don't see how locking a 12 year old up for life can give this woman's family a better piece of mind.

This entire concept of prosecuting children as adults is barbaric.

What is to gain by sending an 18 year old to prison for life? We most definitely will report it on the news, but will it deter others from committing the crime? The jury is still out on that as murder is still being committed. Sending an adult to jail for life will not bring this woman back from the dead and it probably won't give the victim's family much peace of mind.

I understand where you are coming from, but this "if a solution doesn't solve every problem then we should abandon it" line of thinking is not the solution either.

**Patrick** · August-20-09, 01:43 PM

And what is there even to gain by sending a 12 year old to prison for life?

To protect society from getting fucked with by this perp again.

**REL** · August-20-09, 01:52 PM

Ggores, I was sincere in my question, and was just trying to reach for an explanation of what you meant. I will repeat:

ggores: "In this ghettohood, criminal activity is lauded, applauded, encouraged, and rewarded in the homes and abandoned shacks. Hard to believe, aint it?"

What, exactly, are you implying? Why do you say this?

Also, Exdetroiter,
I think it's unfair to say that one of both parents were possibly high at the time he was wandering. His father, at least, was sober enough to turn in his own son to the police. I don't know anything about this family or why this happened, but I'm waiting for some facts to come out before I make some serious assumptions.

**GPCharles** · August-20-09, 01:59 PM

My contention -- There is more to this story than meets the eye. Stay tuned - this story doesn't pass the smell test.

**iheartthed** · August-20-09, 02:11 PM

Originally Posted by Crumbled_pavement

What is to gain by sending an 18 year old to prison for life? We most definitely will report it on the news, but will it deter others from committing the crime? The jury is still out on that as murder is still being committed. Sending an adult to jail for life will not bring this woman back from the dead and it probably won't give the victim's family much peace of mind.

I understand where you are coming from, but this "if a solution doesn't solve every problem then we should abandon it" line of thinking is not the solution either.

We have different purposes for sending adults to jail than we do for sending children to jail. That is the whole reason we have a juvenile court system. We send adults to jail in order for them to pay a debt to society caused by their actions. We send children to jail to punish, but also to rehabilitate them so that they can function with the rest of society as an adult.

**Danny** · August-20-09, 02:40 PM

Robbery, murder, larceny, rape, drugs and gangs are the symptoms in the American ghettos. Especially in the ghettohoods of Detroit everyone could end up in the wrong place and wrong time. The ghettos are institutionized that hope is cut off from the poor and underprivaleged.

I feel sorry for the 12 year old Black Detroit youth. When authority turned him down, he would go find a gun, find a innocent victim, demand some money and kill the victim.

I'm also fell sorry for the victim who ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time.

No one in this forum should write a vengence comments against the suspect or anyone in the ghettos of Detroit. Detroit is one big Black ghetto from the river to 8 Mile Rd. and it became an institutional prison for the poor. You can blame the parents of the Black Detroit youth for not giving him common sence. The Law found him and he will be punished to the full exent of the courts. Life in prison will be his home and it's more better than hustling in the streets with a piece in his pocket.

Please be aware that there are going to be more killings, robberies, rapes, drugs and gang activities in the ghettohoods of Detroit. It's a paracytic pyschological disease that must be cured right away with community power.

WORD FROM THE STREET PROPHET

for Neda Soltani

**ggores** · August-20-09, 02:58 PM

Originally Posted by AroundTown

I was sincere in my question, and was just trying to reach for an explanation of what you meant.

What, exactly, are you implying? Why do you say this?

Understood. In that ghetto, crime is more often rewarded, than punished. For further assistance in understanding this topsy-turvy notion, I refer you to the street prophet, who is a bit more clearer on these matters. I tend to go in swirling circles of appended thoughts unless I'm writing 700+ words.