Teen guilty of beheading at least 4 in Mexico, gets 3 years.

[Bob Hubbard]

A 14-year-old born in the United States has been found guilty in a Mexican court of torturing and beheading at least four people and kidnapping three others.

The teenage hit man was sentenced to three years in a correctional facility, the maximum allowed under Mexican law. He also has to pay a 4.5 million Mexican peso fine ($387,500 U.S.).
The defendant, known as "El Ponchis" ("The Cloak") is a 14-year-old boy from San Diego. Because he is a minor, his trial in Cuernavaca, Mexico, was closed to the public.

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/07/26/teen-guilty-of-beheading-at-least-4-in-mexico/?hpt=hp_t2

 

[Touch Of Death]

This is actually quite a common thing, Recruiting youth to commit horrific crimes, and then they walk.
Sean

 

[MA-Caver]

"How many have you killed?," he asks.
"Four," he responded calmly.
"How did you execute them?"
"I slit their throats."

Slitting throats and decapitation are two different things. Now if he said, I cut their heads off then okay.
Either way I wonder if someone else didn't do the actual slayings and he was allowed (or told) to take credit for it so the real murderers get away with it.
But then again I don't doubt the ability and wherewithal of a kid this young being able to perform this henious crime.

What a terrible way to ruin a young man's life.

 

[MJS]

WOW!!! 3 yrs for killing someone? Kid should be locked up for life with no chance of parole!!! 3 yrs...what a joke!

 

[granfire]

WOW!!! 3 yrs for killing someone? Kid should be locked up for life with no chance of parole!!! 3 yrs...what a joke!

Well, it's one of the things that are well...not here nor there.

In the US they love to throw the book at children while at the same time denying much older individuals benign rights (like having a beer or looking at naked women)

It's part of the justice system. The kid is 14. Period. End of discussion.

Now, normally that would work just fine.
But what is normal in that drug war in Mexico?
Not to mention the possibility of the child taking the rap for an adult - since the law will not allow him to serve more than 3 years.

no matter how much it sucks in this case (and similar ones, of course kid soldiers...how despicable) I do prefer it that way. If the individual is deemed not mature enough to drink a beer, how can you assume he/she can adequately value a human life?

 

[MJS]

Well, it's one of the things that are well...not here nor there.

In the US they love to throw the book at children while at the same time denying much older individuals benign rights (like having a beer or looking at naked women)

It's part of the justice system. The kid is 14. Period. End of discussion.

Now, normally that would work just fine.
But what is normal in that drug war in Mexico?
Not to mention the possibility of the child taking the rap for an adult - since the law will not allow him to serve more than 3 years.

no matter how much it sucks in this case (and similar ones, of course kid soldiers...how despicable) I do prefer it that way. If the individual is deemed not mature enough to drink a beer, how can you assume he/she can adequately value a human life?

You bring up some valid points. I wonder....has there ever been a solid answer when someone talks about the drinking age, and says, "If a kid can go to war at 18....."? IMO though, I think things need to be looked at on a case by case basis. Theres a big difference between a kid sneaking a beer at his house while his parents are out compared to killing someone.

Let me ask you this: lets assume this happened in the US vs. Mexico. Lets say it was an adult who killed these people. What do you think the public would be screaming for, as far as time in prison goes? We have people in the US kill someone and people are crying for the death penalty or life w/o parole. Should it be any different if it were a child instead of an adult?

 

[granfire]

You bring up some valid points. I wonder....has there ever been a solid answer when someone talks about the drinking age, and says, "If a kid can go to war at 18....."? IMO though, I think things need to be looked at on a case by case basis. Theres a big difference between a kid sneaking a beer at his house while his parents are out compared to killing someone.

Let me ask you this: lets assume this happened in the US vs. Mexico. Lets say it was an adult who killed these people. What do you think the public would be screaming for, as far as time in prison goes? We have people in the US kill someone and people are crying for the death penalty or life w/o parole. Should it be any different if it were a child instead of an adult?

The long and the short: yes.

because adult vs kid, I grant you that there are a lot of so called adults who cant grasp the connection between clouds and rain, but in general there is a pretty good understanding of acts/consequences, and the gravity of taking a life. Any life.

A kid at the age of 14 - sticking with this case - heck, in a lot of cases they can't grasp the reason why they are in trouble for not picking up their room, not taking a shower...
Early in life life and death is a rather abstract matter. Some kids get it, some don't...

But to get back to the age limits:
driving a car....16 around here...put a ton of steel around a kid. Turn it lose on society.
at 17 you can join the Army...
18 or 19 you can smoke and harm really nobody but yourself (if 2nd hand smoke was THAT bad, we would have died out in the 50s and 60s...)
drinking - regardless of the alcohol drink, Wine cooler, beer or heavy stuff...21...

Now...
at the same time we are gung ho t send kids up the river for - ok, gotta admit it - violent crimes, assuming they have the maturity to grasp the severity of their wrong doings...

to me it stinks. Either the kids are mature and can go to the big house (then give them a cigar, drink and a hooker ...) or they have to be sheltered.

I think that a person who killed 4 people is vile.
But I do not, cannot condone the willfulness on how 'justice' is dispensed in those cases in the US. Either you are a kid, or you are not...can't eat the cake and keep it...

Not sure if my thoughts are clear here.

 

[MJS]

The long and the short: yes.

because adult vs kid, I grant you that there are a lot of so called adults who cant grasp the connection between clouds and rain, but in general there is a pretty good understanding of acts/consequences, and the gravity of taking a life. Any life.

A kid at the age of 14 - sticking with this case - heck, in a lot of cases they can't grasp the reason why they are in trouble for not picking up their room, not taking a shower...
Early in life life and death is a rather abstract matter. Some kids get it, some don't...

But to get back to the age limits:
driving a car....16 around here...put a ton of steel around a kid. Turn it lose on society.
at 17 you can join the Army...
18 or 19 you can smoke and harm really nobody but yourself (if 2nd hand smoke was THAT bad, we would have died out in the 50s and 60s...)
drinking - regardless of the alcohol drink, Wine cooler, beer or heavy stuff...21...

Now...
at the same time we are gung ho t send kids up the river for - ok, gotta admit it - violent crimes, assuming they have the maturity to grasp the severity of their wrong doings...

to me it stinks. Either the kids are mature and can go to the big house (then give them a cigar, drink and a hooker ...) or they have to be sheltered.

I think that a person who killed 4 people is vile.
But I do not, cannot condone the willfulness on how 'justice' is dispensed in those cases in the US. Either you are a kid, or you are not...can't eat the cake and keep it...

Not sure if my thoughts are clear here.

Yes, you're thoughts are clear. Thanks for your reply. Now, I will admit that some people can't seem to grasp certain things, things that, anyone else, with the slightest bit of common sense, can grasp. But, IMO, I think alot of the right vs wrong behavior is learned at home. My mother always says that kids learn what they live, and personally, I'm a believer in that as well. Is a child being exposed to violence at home? Is the child learning violence from a source outside the home? We can go on and on. I guess given my views on that, its hard to imagine, although I do understand they exist, that there're people who can't comprehend that taking a gun, a knife, whatever, and killing someone, is wrong. OTOH, one would think, though I know its 'wishful thinking' that this person would be showing signs that even if the parents ignored, a teacher, neighbor, someone, would see, and possibly act on.

So, another question if you dont mind. If you were the decision maker, as to what happened to this kid, as far as punishment goes, what do you feel is right?

 

[MA-Caver]

So, another question if you dont mind. If you were the decision maker, as to what happened to this kid, as far as punishment goes, what do you feel is right?

10 years of intensive therapy and juvenile prison til he is 18 then onto adult prison then 10 years probation and again therapy. Eventually it MIGHT get through to him that what he did was the wrong thing to do. ... provided that he actually did it.

Some are on the wrong path for life, some can be changed, some can be changed and then they stray off again, some just won't do wrong. With kids it's nearly impossible to tell what they will do when they're adults.

 

[granfire]

ah, sorry, I had a reply typed out but the computer ate it.
I will try to reboard that train of thought and get back to you! ^_^

 

[JohnEdward]

Changed my mind about posting.