The jury decided she did. Facts do not necessarily lead to that conclusion.
I disagree. The jury made the correct decision based on facts and evidence, at least as far as known to me and you (i.e. from articles posted in this thread).
I think it is wrong for 16 year olds to be sentenced to life in prison. Period.
Perhaps so. But according to the Tennessee law they can be. I think 15 years is too little. She took that man's entire life, yet she gets to resume her life from age of 31 as a free woman. That's not right. Perhaps life with possibility (but not automatic granting) of parole after 25 years would be a good compromise.
How do you know he was asleep?
It was mentioned in one of the articles that his posture suggested that he was asleep when he was shot in the back of the head. In any case, his posture and the fact that he was shot
to the back of the head suggests premeditated murder rather than self-defense.
It is impossible to know whether he was awake or asleep from forensic evidence. It's simply not possible.
And yet you think it is possible to definitively say the sentence below.
She stole stuff because she needed to bring money home to her pimp. And to survive.
That does not justify robbery and murder. It's like that "where he gonna get his money" thread where people were defending that teenage burglar who got shot by the homeowner.
Cyntonia was a girl, not a woman.
She chose to engage in adult crimes like robbery and murder. Tennessee chooses to treat 16 year old murderers as adults.
Before she started robbing johns, she did other adult crimes such as dealing crack.
Barely old enough to drive. Not old enough to vote, sign a contract, drink alcohol, get a tatoo or piercing without parental approval; not old enough to sign a lease, get married without parental or court approval, not old enough to enlist in the army.
That does not mean she did not choose to engage in some very adult crimes by her own volition.
She stole his guns, right? And didn't she say they were under his bed? If they weren't under the bed, then they were even more accessible to him, and more of a threat to her. She said that she was afraid he was getting a gun.
The guns were upstairs, not under the bed.
I did read the letter by the lead investigator. Did she really steal $50K from her victim? I don't believe she did. She obviously lied about what happened when she told the guy she wanted to drive her that she had stolen $50K and some guns and had killed the guy. IF she lied about part of it, why should we believe any of it? Isn't that your logic? Or that only you can pick and choose what to believe and not believe?
We don't have to take her word for it that she murdered the guy. The physical evidence of the slug shot through the back of his head corroborates that. What is important is her attitude toward the crime. It was not of somebody in fear of her life. It was not somebody fearful of what her "pimp" might do for bringing attention to his operation. No, the witness was afraid, and of both of them, which suggests they were partners.
And why do you dispute that she stole $50k? Some people keep that much cash on premises. Some people distrust banks.
There is nothing in the investigator's letter that suggests that she is a 'bad seed.'
Read it again as well as the
Nashville Scene article. How about the little tidbit from the latter where she threatened the nurse.
Nashville Scene said:
Then she attacked a nurse when she was refused a call to Ellenette.
"I shot that man in the back of the head," she allegedly screamed, "and bitch, I'm gonna shoot you three times in the back of the head and would love to see your blood splatter on the wall."
Charming young lady, indeed.
There is more.
Nashville Scene said:
"Um, hm, hm, hm, hm," Ellenette clucked. She chided her daughter for the fights she'd been getting into. Through 2004 and 2005, Cyntoia was the kind of inmate who gave prison guards night sweats. She was written up repeatedly for hitting, kicking, punching, spitting and threatening the guards.
This definitely shows predisposition to violent behavior.
There is a lot that suggests that she'd lived a life of being forced to prostitute herself.
I disagree. There isn't a lot to suggests she was forced to do it.
That she had many emotional/mental illness issues which would be consistent with being a prostitute from age 12 onwards,
She was in trouble with the law, but not even she claims she was a prostitute from 12 years old. She stole jewelry at 12, which landed her in and out of secure juvnile facilities, and she was released at 15. At some time after that, she left her home and when she turned 16 she sold crack. There is no indication she turned to the fake-hooker racket until sometime after that. Where do you get the idea she was a prostitute at 12? No article I read even suggests that.
from being born with perhaps fetal alochol syndrome, with being raised in an unstable, abusive home. Her foster mother didn't even bother to report her missing when she ran a way.
Yes, she had a messed up upbringing, but she also made plenty of poor decisions herself. And I doubt the fetal alcohol syndrome as her IQ is quite high at 127. That's ~95th percentile.
Yes, she exhibited inconsistent, even violent behavior. This is consistent with someone who is mentally ill and also with someone who has been abused and who is traumatized.
Be that as it may, somebody with a history of violent behavior is more likely to engage in violent behavior. Like when she robbed and murdered Allen.
BTW, who called the police to tell them that Allen was dead? I believe it was Cyntonia...
Yes, so?
I'm not so sure that I agree that it was a murder.
How would you call shooting an unarmed person to the back of their head?
I don't think that any minor should receive a life sentence or such a lengthy sentence as she received. Period.
That is a different question to whether she should be singled out for clemency. Or treated as if she was some kind of victim, rather than a robber and a murderer.
