Shot fired by 11-year-old kills neighbor, officers say

Posted on Sat, Dec. 10, 2005

Shot fired by 11-year-old kills neighbor, officers say

Associated Press

SACRAMENTO - A 52-year-old man who stayed home from work because he was ill was accidentally shot and killed by an 11-year-old neighbor who wanted to hear the "loud bang" of a rifle, sheriff's officers said.

Sgt. R.L. Davis said the girl, who was not identified, took the rifle outside her home Thursday around noon and fired it.

The bullet traveled through a fence and into the bedroom where Nghiem Ky Tahi was sleeping, killing him instantly. His wife found him when she returned from work that evening.

more...
http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/news/13378346.htm





Dec 9, 2005 6:34 pm US/Pacific

Man Shot And Killed While Sleeping In His Home

(CBS 13) SACRAMENTO A woman came home from work Thursday night to find her husband dead, lying in his blood, said the Sacramento County Sheriff's Deputies.

The woman’s husband had been feeling ill and had stayed home from work, trying to sleep off his sickness. While the man was lying in his home at 8401 Beretta Court, Sacramento County Sheriff’s Deputies say, a bullet traveled through the wall of his home, striking him and killing him instantly.

Sheriff’s Deputies say that the single shot that killed the man was fired by a young girl standing in the backyard of the home next door. The 11-year-old had found the rifle and ammunition in a locked room in the home and wanted to hear the “loud bang”. When she fired the rifle, the bullet travelled through the fence and through the side of the neighbor's home, where it hit and killed him.

http://cbs13.com/topstories/local_story_343220716.html



Sad story. Supposedly the room was locked, but the girl was still able to get to the rifle.

DEATH PENALTY for her! She took a life, so she must pay with her own.


On edit: I was just mocking the DP supporters. I'm leaving now and don't want this to be misconstrued in my absence.

with guns.

This sort of nonsense has gone on too long.

A man is dead and we need to send the message "let some child kill with your gun, and you go to jail".

There is no reason to charge the parents. The child entered a locked room, took the gun, loaded it with ammo, and then took it outside and fired it. None of that suggests any crime by the parents.

Obviously a locked room is easily penetrated, from inside or outside.

Parents should be charged with neglegent manslaughter, as well as the girl sent to a youth prison.

That way there will be no legal way for any of these people to buy or own a gun again, as well as justice for the murdered man.

A locked room should be sufficient.
An 11-year old that can pick a lock to get a gun can obviously be held responsible for her own actions.
I don't see the parent's fault here.

by the Sacramento Bee.

http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/crime/story/13962469p-14796651c.html

I dont see any mention of picking a lock in there.

Speaking of locks, someone needs to pay for this mans death with prison time!

That isn't the law, and it's a good thing.

There has to be a crime, and a child breaking into a locked room, finding a gun and ammo, and loading the gun is not reasonably foreseeable, nor does it rise to the level of negligent homicide.

As for your sending the 11 year old girl to prison, that's just asinine.

I dont want this child to ever have a gun again.

She's 11 years old. She wanted to hear the BANG. It was a stupid thing to do, but we don't send 11 year olds to prison for ANYTHING, muchless accidents.

We don't send kids to prison, and we don't punish kids with prison time for making kid mistakes.

should the law.

BTW, any child above 7 is condidered to know right from wrong and 11 isnt exactly much younger then a teenager.

Someone has to pay for this mans death, period, else all laws mean nothing, not to mention his life.

Why should it be that way, because that's your opinion?

A man is dead because someone was careless with a gun and the girl killed that man, regardless that it was intentional or not.

That is why someone has to pay. Because a man died a needless death and his life had worth.

I find that people who think punishment is always the right medicine got too much of it themselves.

Just because something terrible happens doesn't mean someone has to be morally and legally culpable. You fall into that group of people who actually believes these ill-thought out punishments accomplish anything.

...an accident?

Bad, stupid, tragic accident, sure, but an accident.

I suppose you could get her tried as an adult for manslaughter. If you're lucky, maybe you can put her behind bars for 5 to 15 years or something. And that would accomplish what?

locks on each weapon is much better. Won't stop a serious evil-doer, but would deter a curious kid.

my boy is only 6 months, but its the best thing to do.

If an 11 year old loaded the gun, then she'd been shown how to do so.

Someone taught her how to use a gun, but not how to do so safely. They also took insufficient measures to lock up their weapons. (Judging by an 11 year old being able to defeat those measures.)

That is not responsible gun ownership, and those people should be charged.

You sure feel comfortable leaping to conclusions. You don't know what happened, how difficult it was, whether she had been shown, but that doesn't stop you from speculating and then building your indignation around that supposition.

The gun was in the house. The kid got access to it. Somehow the gun got into a ready to fire condition. A neighbor was killed.

Either the parents were irresponsible (for not properly securing the gun), the 11 year kid is brilliant (for defeating proper security), or the gun is several pounds of supernaturally malevolent steel.

Unless I hear some surprising facts regarding this case I know what I think. I won't shed a tear if that makes me unfit for jury duty.

Rational people don't jump the gun and make completely unjustified conclusions based upon scant information and their own need to find a bogeyman and punish him.

You've clearly never raised kids.

If We Outlaw Guns
Only Outlaws Will
Accidentally Shoot Their Kids

Phooey!!!

Play with guns, kill someone and you go to prison.

Its either that or we start banning all guns.

Which is it going to be, people?

Responsiblity for your actions, or we take your toys away for good?

Its going to be one way or another becuase people are sick and tired of all the bloodshed cuased by someone with a gun in thier hands here in the US.

Sometimes people really bugger me off. I distinctly remember Columbine when everyone blamed the video games, the school kids for ostracizing the shooters, the guy who sold them the guns, but you know what, those two boys took it upon themselves to arm themselves to the teeth, and go into a school with guns blazing.

Same here. This child took it upon herself to find the gun, load the gun, and go outside and shoot it. There is culpability here. At eleven years old, she understands life and death, right and wrong. The parents have some fault here, but I get sick of everyone blaming everything except the person. It was Bush has done his entire life, and look what an asshole he is.

for her would be?

gun's fault or the bullet's fault or the cheesy siding on a doublewide's fault. People made choices, there are consequences for your actions. Such an easy lesson to teach, so hard to learn.

a man lies on a slab in the morgue, with his death as a result.

Someone has to pay for the bad decisions here, else what use is the law or of what worth was this mans life?

The parents obviously did not take the proper precautions in storing their weapon, and the girl obviously knew she was doing something wrong because she noted the door was locked, and she proceeded to unlock the door anyway. Most likely her curiosity got the best of her. That indicates to me she was ignorant about the issues and dangers surrounding firearms.

Either negligent homicide or manslaughter, I'm not sure which. Maybe reckless endangerment?

In my mind they are responsible, as they failed to implement measures that would keep an 11 year old from obtaining their gun in a ready to fire condition.

The kids too young to be responsible for her own actions. Again, that is the parents responsibility.

I mean, if she'd stolen the car and ran the man over with it, we wouldn't likely blame the parents. Still, it just seems that gun accidents should be so preventable with a little foresight, like locking the gun up and I mean really locking it up. And why do kids fully understand that a car is lethal and they aren't capable of handling them, but miss that lesson with guns. At least it seems that it's more likely to be a kid and a gun than a kid and a car. If you're going to have a gun, you should make sure your child is completely familiar with them and the damage they can do. I think that's why these particular types of stories are more likely to happen in cities than in the sticks.

So you don't see a difference between people who intend to kill dozens of people and someone who wanted to shoot a gun just to hear it and presumably had no idea that the bullet would travel that far and kill someone.

Ever heard of "intent"?

..children could be excused for a crime such as this one.

This child knew that guns shoot bullets because we live in a culture where all our movies, video games ect, extole the use of guns to kill people or "players."

We ain't in Kansas anymore and this girl or the person who ownned the gun needs to be charged, convicted and sent to prison.

And these people never should have to begin with.

I advocate a mandatory gun education program nationwide. Everybody should be required to learn how to properly store, maintain, and even fire a weapon as well as be educated in the hazards of handling a loaded weapon. She obviously did not know the danger of discharging a loaded weapon in a crowded environment.

As far as the gun being stored in a locked room, the question is how did she unlock the door?

make gun safes.

Maybe they can teach her that in prison.

To me anyway, it's obvious she didn't know anything beyond simply loading a weapon and firing it. She seems completely ignorant beyond that point. Ultimately, if a family decides to keep firearms around the house, then the parents take on the burden of responsibility to teach their children about guns, how to use them, and the dangers of loaded weapons. There would be fewer deaths if people were educated.

my dad never had them loaded, but he never had them in a safe either, just his bedroom closet. Ammunition stored out in one of the barns. I have the guns and ammunition locked up in seperate places, but let's be honest here, if my 12 year old REALLY wanted to get to my guns--she would. Therefore, it is MY job to educate her, which I have. I MADE her take hunter's safety at the ripe age of eight years old, have taught her how to shoot and basic gun safety. There is no "mystery" per se, and I trust her with a gun. I have to, because I take her hunting with me. I also have her out on the ocean with me in Prince William Sound on the boat, as my mate. I would rather have her with me than a lot of grown men. She understands that what we are doing is fun, but does have consequences if you screw up. She is deadly serious on the boat or huntinng, but still has fun fishing and such. She can pitch a tent so the wind will not knock it down, pump river water, skin a caribou, gut a salmon, filet a halibut, help me handle birddogs and is learning to cook- at twelve years old!!

People, it's called TEACHING your kids.

There would be fewer deaths in America due to gun accidents if people were educated about firearms.

but dont let that stop you from defending the indefensible.

Since you brought it up, I'm interested in exactly what it is you mean. What exactly is indefensible? Defending people being able to bear arms? Or requiring mandatory gun education?

as I see it, if you are a parent, and you are going to have guns in the house, damned well better teach the kid how to handle it. Look at it this way, if you raised horses, would you let your kid run around your horses without teaching them how to handle him, move around him, where to stand so he does not kick you? What if you had a stud horse that are 3/4 of the way crazy anyway? Would you not teach them about him?? It is just common sense, too bad so many people have so little of it.

Was she intending to kill him or was it an accident?

Do you know anything about the cognitive development of children?

Psychologists have long recognized that children differ from adults in terms of cognitive development, impulse and emotional control, and judgment capability. It's why our nation doesn't allow those under 18 to vote, enter into contracts, drink alcohol, or serve in the military. But in the last few years, research has revealed specific chemical and biological differences between the cognition of a teen and that of an adult.

Doctors at UCLA, for example, have shown that the frontal lobe of the brain--which allows us to prioritize thoughts, anticipate consequences, and control impulses--is the last part of the brain to fully develop, and it undergoes the greatest change during adolescence. Harvard researchers have even shown that underdevelopment of this region makes teens more prone to react using another part of the brain, the amygdala, which is much more instinctual.

http://www.cwla.org/articles/cv0409execdir.htm

This is just what I found on the fly. Did she know she was doing something wrong? Sure, but she did not have any clue about the ramifications of her actions or what possible outcomes would be.

When I was younger, I decided to "play" with my dad's table saw. Did I know it was wrong? Of course. Did I think I could possibly cut my hand off? No. Lucky for me, I only severed the top of my finger.

I'm not saying no action should be taken, but we have to stop holding KIDS to the same standard as adults. One life already has been tragically lost. What's the sense in destroying another when there was no intent on her part of killing someone?

11 is beyond the age of constant monitoring, but I think the most obvious thing here is that the security measure proved insufficient.

with negligent homicide. Period.

I noticed the article mentioned that the bullet went through a fence which is an interesting detail to highlight.

The girl could have thought that a wooden fence would stop the bullet which would be a common mistake. Not only will a rifle bullet go through a single pine board, but it will go through at least twelve 3/4 inch boards and keep going (thanks boxotruth.com).

There is probably an appropriate charge for this girl, but I don't know if it will involve jail time. Plus, I think, they will need to take into account whether this child has shown a pattern of reckless or dangerous behavior prior to the shooting.