Yeah the only reason he does not have any adult charges is because he just turned 18. He apparently had no thought on changing his behavior especially since he was still on probation from his last “juvenile” charge. I mean really how many times does this guy have to do something before they say “hey maybe this guy is nothing but bad news for our community?”. He had no plains on paying for what he did to that Officer, he had went home and packed his bags and was planning on getting the heck out of dodge, when the police actually caught him. I think the only thing this scum bag is sorry for is for wrecking the truck and getting caught. Now that he is caught he wants to play the ” I’m just so young and was soooo scared”, but before that he was all big and bad with his gun and going to break up a chick fight.

this will be cool, now they can charge him as a youthful repeat offender. all of his youth court cases can be used againts him as well as shooting a man, that was cop, doing security work, with a stolen gun, with drugs on him and maybe in him. BS, with his passed record he had his chance and did not learn. let him go in front of the judge with his big boy pants. if he goes poopoo in them, that’s just to dam bad.

minimay, thank you for your clarification.  And, speaking of attorneys, I can remember back when a certain police officer got shot and very seriously wounded, an attorney made the pronouncement that he would never, ever defend the shooter, no matter how much money he was offered…the only exception being if he was ORDERED to defend him.  I wonder how many practicing criminal attorneys would make that same statement today?  Seems that a lot of them jump at the chance to defend these no-good thugs.  Why?  I can’t say, but I seriously doubt it’s because they’re interested in seeing the “innocent until proven guilty” defendant is given a fair trial.  Sounds more to me like they’re seeking (and getting) name recognition and the notariety that accompanies such actons.  I, for one, will always remember this guy’s name and associate it with this cop-killing monster.

determination on what their character is. If we keep wiping the slate clean after they turn 18, then how are we going to know if this individual is a threat or not to our society. I agree with you on everything you stated in your post.

Yeah I agree I think that kids need to understand that what they do does not just effect them. To Oldmobilian, I was actually agreeing with you. I know you did not mean let him off and make the parent’s pay. I get that you were saying that his actions are a reflection of how his parent’s raised him. What I was trying to say is that Hollingsworth’s, defense lawyer is trying to use the Y.O status to get this creep of the hook, they are trying to say that we can not hold this young man completely liable, because of his, “rough life experiences”, I was trying to explain that this should no make his case. Everyone goes through rough times, but it is their decision on how they handle it. You can take the higher road and become stronger from it, which is not always the easier route, or you can react in a negative manner as this guy did with the drugs and illegal activity. I was agreeing with you when you were saying that they should not hide the juveniles past record because that is a big..

One thing I have always told my kids-remember Who you are and Whose you are. I am not saying my kids have always been “perfect,” I don’t think any kid is-BUT-those words, those values have made them think twice, and when they have done wrong-the guilt from the disappointment worked more than any “restriction” ever could.

minimay, I think you misunderstood what I was saying. I’m not saying to let him off, blaming the parents for what he’s done. I’m saying that if his misdeeds had been publicized way back when he was a juvenile delinquent,THAT was when his parents—even though divorced—should have had a wake-up call and seen what kind of kid they were turning out into the world. I AM SAYING, though, that the system in its present form is not working. Kids are being protected by the system. They can’t be expected to wake up at age 18 and start taking responsibility. That is something that should be impressed on kids at a very early age—from the time they are toddlers.  You can’t just sit a kid in front of a TV set or shove them out the door to play outside.  They should be nurtured, taught, shown, and given responsibility.  And when they go wrong, they shouldn’t be coddled—their names and faces hidden from neighbors. To me, that’s enabling.  This kid has been on his own long enough to be responsible.

It would be so easy for all of us to do that when things get hard. The right thing is not always the easiest thing.

Yeah I do have to admit that the parents are getting off a little easy in this. Sure if it was something positive that their son was getting recognized for then they sure would want their names at their as well. However, blaming the parents would only make people think that he still should not be held completely reliable. Yes his parents are probably a huge reason why he has turned out the way he has, but it was still his choice. I had plenty of things that some of my family did when I was younger and even up until today that could have caused me to go down a bad path, but I chose to take a higher road. There are going to be things that happen to us throughout our lives that are not going to be easy to handle, we have to keep our faith and strength and know that if we handle the situation correctly that everything will eventually work out for the better. This kid took the easy road, of dulling is feelings away with drugs, alcohol and god knows what else.

Youthful offender? I think the present system is party to enabling them to continue as they have been. Why should their identity be hidden simply because of their age? The public needs to know who these kids are. If a kid in the neighborhood is arrested for a crime, why should his face be hidden? I don’t believe for a minute that it’s to protect the kid; it’s to protect the parents.  If parents had to face up to what their kids are doing, I think they would put more effort into keeping them under control. These parents hide behind the security of concealment.  If the names & faces of their delinquent kids were plastered all over the news, parents would do more to reign-in their doper-thug-offspring. Had this thug’s previous crimes been publicized, people at least would know what this thug looks like, where he lives, & what his crimes were. Why should society provide protection for him and his family? Let the whole world see these kids so they’ll be recognized and society can beware!