TYLER HILL, Pa. (AP) — A 10-year-old boy apparently angry that a 90-year-old woman had yelled at him held a cane against her throat and repeatedly punched her, killing her in her bed, prosecutors said.
The boy was being held without bail Tuesday, charged as an adult with criminal homicide in the death of Helen Novak, a woman who was being cared for by his grandfather.
His attorney, Bernard Brown, said he would seek to have the boy released into his father's care at a bail hearing Wednesday.
Brown said he would also follow up with a request for a competency hearing, saying evidence gathered by prosecutors suggests the boy may have mental health issues. He said those issues could indicate he is not competent to stand trial and also may support the transfer of the case to juvenile court.
State police said the beating occurred Saturday when the boy was visiting his grandfather's home in northeastern Pennsylvania.
The boy denied hurting the woman when he told his grandfather that the woman was "bleeding from her mouth," the prosecutor said. The grandfather checked on her, and the woman said she was OK, investigators said.
When the grandfather checked a second time, she was unresponsive, and he called 911, police said. The grandfather asked the boy again "if he had done something" to the woman and the boy said he had punched her and put a cane around her neck, said Wayne County District Attorney Janine Edwards.
The boy's mother brought him into a state police barracks later that day, reporting that he had gone into the woman's room and she had yelled at him. According to the mother, the boy told her that "he got mad, lost his temper and grabbed a cane and put it around Novak's throat," police said.
Advised of his rights and interviewed by a trooper, the boy said he "pulled Novak down on the bed and held the cane on her throat and then punched her numerous times," the prosecutor said.
The woman's injuries were found to be consistent with the boy's account, the prosecutor said.
An autopsy found blunt force trauma to the woman's neck, leading to the homicide finding.
The prosecutor said the crime of criminal homicide is excluded from juvenile law, requiring that the boy be charged as an adult.
"The family is obviously an emotional wreck to have their 10-year-old removed from them and to know he is in a county correctional facility charged as an adult," Brown said.
The Associated Press generally doesn't identify juveniles who are accused of crimes.
Starting young
Starting young
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
Re: Starting young
my god. maybe we would be better off if god started over with bonobos or gorillas. the chimps seem as violent as we are
Re: Starting young
Gee, that's a clever conclusion...evidence gathered by prosecutors suggests the boy may have mental health issues.
How about being "an emotional wreck" because their son is a murderer?"The family is obviously an emotional wreck to have their 10-year-old removed from them and to know he is in a county correctional facility charged as an adult," Brown said.
Re: Starting young
We were vacationing with relatives and a family who were friends of theirs. Their younger son ca 9-10 years old, was starting to behave pretty roughly; hitting and so forth. I was reading on the couch and he came over and punched me in the arm with a lot of force for his size. His increasingly bad behavior caused a permanent rift between their families and they are not friends anymore. As it turned out he had slow growing neural tumors which were the cause, non malignant but they cause brain injuries. Very sad for everyone. He had been a very sweet child before that
yrs,
rubato
yrs,
rubato
Re: Starting young
That concern may well be there as well, but as a parent if I had a 10 year old child held in an adult jail for ANY reason, I'd be concerned about him/her as well. Adult jails are no place for 10 year olds; certainly some alternative detention could be arranged. and as for charging a 10 year old as an adult, I would think this kid needs more mental help than prison.How about being "an emotional wreck" because their son is a murderer?
Re: Starting young
Big RR, I'm sure he's in isolation, not in the GP....
You can't very well hold a kid violent enough to kill a helpless old woman for yelling at him with other kids.
Not can you release him to custody of his parents like shoplifted a candy bar....
There needs to be a thorough psychological and physiological evaluation of this kid, (maybe there's something organic going on that can actually be fixed, like the example rube cited) as well as an intensive background check, (Was this the first incident of this sort, or is it the latest in a progressive pattern? Does he have a history of cruelty to animals, has he attacked other kids, started fires etc.) before there can be a determination as to whether the emphasis needs to be on "helping" him or protecting the rest of society from him....
You can't very well hold a kid violent enough to kill a helpless old woman for yelling at him with other kids.
Not can you release him to custody of his parents like shoplifted a candy bar....
There needs to be a thorough psychological and physiological evaluation of this kid, (maybe there's something organic going on that can actually be fixed, like the example rube cited) as well as an intensive background check, (Was this the first incident of this sort, or is it the latest in a progressive pattern? Does he have a history of cruelty to animals, has he attacked other kids, started fires etc.) before there can be a determination as to whether the emphasis needs to be on "helping" him or protecting the rest of society from him....
Re: Starting young
Jim--I would hope he's in isolation, but that's up to the warden/jail authorities and there is nothing to prevent him being placed in the general population (unless there's some jail regulation I'm unaware of). And many things just "happen" to people in jails, even those in isolation. Many states have secure facilities for underage offenders and if PA has one that's where he belongs pending trial (if not, they should try to seek alternatives to placement in an adult jail), although I think he should be in a secure mental health facility for psychological evaluation as you suggest.
And as for whether he should be helped or society should be protected from him, number one, I think 10 years old is far too young to be cast aside as beyond help; and number 2, I do think a secure mental facility could serve to protect society from him while giving him the treatment that may, one day, allow him to return to that society. Trying a 10 year old as an adult is ridiculous IMHO, even for a crime as heinous as this; the young man needs help, not punishment. It may be that he is beyond help and can never reenter society, but certainly it behooves us all to make certain of this.
And as for whether he should be helped or society should be protected from him, number one, I think 10 years old is far too young to be cast aside as beyond help; and number 2, I do think a secure mental facility could serve to protect society from him while giving him the treatment that may, one day, allow him to return to that society. Trying a 10 year old as an adult is ridiculous IMHO, even for a crime as heinous as this; the young man needs help, not punishment. It may be that he is beyond help and can never reenter society, but certainly it behooves us all to make certain of this.
-
oldr_n_wsr
- Posts: 10838
- Joined: Sun Apr 18, 2010 1:59 am
Re: Starting young
That's in Wayne County Pa. That's where we have the lake house.
Re: Starting young
Montana has very strict rules about housing juvenile offenders; they can't be held within sight or sound of adult offenders, which is generally interpreted as within an adult detention facility. In my county, we transport juvenile offenders 3 hours away to the nearest juvenile detention facility - we don't even house them short-term in a holding cell within our adult facility, even though the holding cell (adjacent to the courtroom) is not within sight or sound of the adult facility - it's still under the same roof, so we err on the side of caution in abundance, because our Youth Court Act is very specific with regard to the rights of juveniles.
Honestly, the more I learn about the criminal statutes of other states, the more I realize that Montana's are very progressive, even though we are 'backward' in many other ways.
PA does have numerous juvenile detention facilities (looks like @ 17?), I'm not sure what restrictions are in their laws regarding housing of juveniles, but anyway, I did find this on CNN:
As is mentioned in this article, the prosecutor has no discretion with regard to charging homicide as an adult under PA statutes.
The same is true in Montana; there are several offenses (deliberate and attempted homicide, forcible rape, etc.) that require charging a youth as an adult, but under the age of 16 statutes also require a mandatory transfer hearing, at which the Court determines whether the case should be transferred to juvenile court.
Recent psychological studies have shown that children even younger than 10 can be accurately diagnosed as socio/psychopathic. Only time will tell if these diagnoses bear out to be true over time; studies in adults have shown that these conditions aren't 'fixable' with therapy.
Honestly, the more I learn about the criminal statutes of other states, the more I realize that Montana's are very progressive, even though we are 'backward' in many other ways.
PA does have numerous juvenile detention facilities (looks like @ 17?), I'm not sure what restrictions are in their laws regarding housing of juveniles, but anyway, I did find this on CNN:
more: http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/14/justice/p ... -homicide/Kurilla is being held at the Wayne County Correctional Facility and charged as an adult with criminal homicide, the Wayne County district attorney's office said. The boy is separated from adult offenders and is being constantly supervised, CNN affiliate WBRE reported.
As is mentioned in this article, the prosecutor has no discretion with regard to charging homicide as an adult under PA statutes.
The same is true in Montana; there are several offenses (deliberate and attempted homicide, forcible rape, etc.) that require charging a youth as an adult, but under the age of 16 statutes also require a mandatory transfer hearing, at which the Court determines whether the case should be transferred to juvenile court.
Recent psychological studies have shown that children even younger than 10 can be accurately diagnosed as socio/psychopathic. Only time will tell if these diagnoses bear out to be true over time; studies in adults have shown that these conditions aren't 'fixable' with therapy.
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
~ Carl Sagan
~ Carl Sagan
Re: Starting young
Some people are just not willing to accept that there are people out there that are just born evil. I fervently hope this little psycho never sees the outside of a cell as long as he lives.
Wonder how many animals he has tortured so far...
Wonder how many animals he has tortured so far...
Treat Gaza like Carthage.