16 year olds aren't adults and in many states, they can't be charged as adults. For that matter, imo, 18 is a bit too young to be fully charged as an adult because our brains aren't fully matured until about age 25.
I agree that a teenage brain is not fully developed. At the same time, they know that shooting somebody can kill them and that murder is a serious crime. So as a practical matter they have full knowledge of what the consequences of their actions are, for their victims but also legally for themselves. Just because somebody is 16 does not mean they are stupid!
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These gangs use teenage enforcers a lot as it is. Imagine if the worst thing 14 or 16 year old assassins had to fear was a a couple of years in juvi? The gangs would not be using anybody over 18 any more to do their dirty work because the teenagers can basically get away with murder. And you want to expand that to 25 years old? Hell no!
And, imo, 20 years is a long enough prison sentence for murder in most cases, especially a case as murky as the one being discussed seems to be. Of course there is no sense in discussing this seriously, as we all seem to have different opinions on this issue.
I do not think it's as murky as Myon apologists here would want us to believe. Myon was a gangbanger who was doing this drive by shit for a while, going by witness statements. Only this time he murdered a little girl while he was doing it.
And, if you don't like my link, do some of your own DD. It's been widely accepted in the world of neuroscience that human brains aren't fully matured until around age 25. People under that age are often more impulsive, more influenced by peers, and more likely to take risks.
Does not mean they should not face full consequences for their actions or that they do not understand these consequences.
Apart from youth, some people are more impulsive than others. Some are more influenced by peers. Some are more willing to take stupid risks than others. Many 16 year olds are more mature than some 36 year olds. Should they get special treatment by the criminal justice system too?
[There is no reason, imnsho, to give a life long sentence to a very young teenager for a crime that he/she wasn't mature enough to fully understand the consequences of or in some cases, lacked the maturity to control their impulsive behavior.
By 16 any non-mentally handicapped person knows the possible consequences of shooting a gun. And Myon did that over and over again.
I admit that I haven't researched this case in detail, but what others have posted mentioned a stray bullet, as well as witnesses that seemed to change their stories over time.
The only ones who changed their stories were his fellow bangers. And they probably decided to lie to protect him.
As to the stray bullet, he tried to kill a rival gang member (who positively identified him and hadn't changed his story) but missed and killed a little girl instead.
If this unfortunate young girl was the victim of a stray bullet, or an impulsive foolish act shot by an immature teenager, it's a terrible tragedy, but the perpetrator, assuming he was even the one who was guilty, has already served enough time and hopefully will be offered some rehab during his remaining time in prison. These days, it's very difficult for former convicts to even find opportunities that give them a second chance at living a decent life.
Are you kidding me? Dude is famous now. He will probably be able to raise 100s of 1000s on GoFundMe by #BLM supporters.
I also find it very ironic that some posters here will go out of their way to defend the police when they recklessly harm or kill an unarmed or innocent victim.
Can you point to a case like that?
It's unfortunate that police who are criminals are often defended and supported by so many, when their crimes are often as heinous as that of any other criminal.
Police are not the subject of this threat, but when police engage in criminal behavior they should be prosecuted. The problem is that #BLM will usually offer a very distorted misrepresentation of a case. Like claiming a perp was unarmed when he had a gun.
Of course I'm sure we all know that justice is a myth in many or most cases. The wealthy and the powerful often get off with light sentences or no prison time while the poor and the powerless are given the most severe sentences, even for non violent crimes.
Murder is most definitely a violent crime, so that does not fit here.