12-year-old charged with capital murder spotlights justice system ill-equipped for juveniles
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
A 12-year-old in Texas has been charged with capital murder after allegedly breaking into the home of a professional boxer and killing him. The boy could face a maximum of 40 years if convicted, a sentence that juvenile justice advocates are hoping he can avoid.
Boxer John Duane VanMeter, 24, was killed in his home on Wednesday evening, according to Uvalde, Texas, police, who said a woman in the house called 911 to report someone had broken in and shot her boyfriend.
Witnesses told NBC affiliate News 4 San Antonio that a male was seen running from the residence dressed in black, with a black bandana covering part of his face, before he was transported to Jourdanton Juvenile Detention Center.
Police did not identify the suspect. Numerous legal experts told NBC News they believe he is one of the youngest people to be charged with capital murder, the most serious type of felony.
The capital murder charge differs from first-degree murder in that it typically involves a special circumstance, such as a kidnapping, or the murder of a firefighter or police officer who is on duty.
In the Uvalde boy's case, prosecutors likely considered the robbery component to be the special circumstance, said Mandy Miller, a Houston-area attorney who represents several juveniles who were convicted of capital murder years ago and are trying to get their sentences reduced.
"It's a common practice for district attorney's offices to charge as high as they believe they can possibly make it and work their way down," Miller, who is not involved in the Uvalde case, said. "This case is obviously going to be complicated."
In states such as Texas that have the death penalty, crimes by adults charged with capital murder are punishable by death. But a Supreme Court case from 2005 banned capital punishment for juveniles in the United States.
Jason Chein, a psychology professor at Temple University who has studied adolescent brain development and decision-making, said that ruling was one of several important acknowledgments from the Supreme Court of the biological differences between juvenile and adult brains.
"Impulse control is something that we see continuing to develop at least into mid- to late adolescence. You're going to see improvements in impulse control even up to 16 years old. That's when it starts to level off and look like that of an adult," he said.
Youth offenders, like the boy in Texas, have a strong capacity to rehabilitate if given the proper tools, Chein added.
"The science is clear here, that there is potential for an individual who shows abnormal behavior as a 12-year-old, behavior that concerns us societally, to still become remediated and become a healthy, functioning, normal contributor to society as an adult," Chein said.
That's a position that's shared by Lindsey Linder, senior policy attorney leading youth justice work at the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition.
"When you say a 40-year sentence for capital murder, it may not be shocking to somebody's conscience. But for someone who's 12, you're looking at nearly four times the age that they're currently at that they would be serving," she said, pointing out that the U.S. Sentencing Commission considers 470 months or longer to be a "de-facto life sentence." "Obviously, I don't know the details of this case, but I definitely would implore the district attorney's office to strongly consider the mitigating circumstances."
Steven Halpert, the juvenile division chief for the Harris County, Texas, public defender's office, which does not oversee Uvalde, said Texas law does not allow the boy to be tried as an adult since he is under the age of 14.
Instead, Halpert said, prosecutors can go before a grand jury and get what's called determinant sentencing that will allow them to seek up to 40 years' prison time — enabling them to potentially keep the boy inside the justice system after he ages out of juvenile detention even though he is being tried in juvenile court. Halpert said he hoped the boy would not receive that lengthy of a sentence.
"With a 12-year-old, you're talking about the absolute lower end of brain development. People might say it's a heinous crime — obviously, someone died, which is horrible — but I don't care who the 12-year-old is, he cannot fathom the consequences of his actions at that age," he said. "That's never appropriate, putting a 12-year-old in prison for 40 years. There's some serious rehabilitation that needs to occur if the 12-year-old did commit this crime."
The Supreme Court has taken offenders' age into consideration in other cases as well, including a 2012 ruling that struck down statutes that required courts to sentence juveniles convicted of murder to life without parole.
Linder said the court needed to hear more about what other factors were at play in the boy's life to make a sentencing decision.
"When you're dealing with somebody this young, I think that you have time to work with them and see if you can't address the root cause of what caused the harm and set them on the right path, rather than just one moment, one mistake, and you throw them away," she said.
She suggested youth like him be placed in secure facilities that "look as therapeutic and residential as possible" and receive rehabilitation that is tailored for individual needs, as opposed to juvenile prisons that feel similar to adult ones.
"I hope the district attorney's office that's prosecuting this case has processes in place to account for youthfulness," Linder said. "Because even kids who committed the most heinous of all offenses are capable of rehabilitation."
Tags
Who is online
88 visitors
I call bull on some of this. I think a 12 year old knows what happens when you point a gun at someone and pull the trigger.
Probably but they're also Idiots. 40 years is a long time but the Victim and his family deserve Justice. If the Kid isn't a complete Wackadoo I'd give him the 40 years but if he's good allow him to be paroled at 17 to a 25 year stint in the Navy (under special supervision for the first 10-15 years). I'd like to see these Kids who commit serious crimes at a very young age get a second chance and I think the military might be the answer. The Navy is good because most sailors aren't running around with guns, they're on a ship where it's easier to keep track of them and they just do a job. It would be cheaper and more effective to create a special program in the Navy for these kids than to incarcerate them for 40 years then let them free. What kind of Monster would we be releasing in 40 years ? We would have no choice but to release this kid when he's 52 and has a Quadruple Doctorate in Criminality.
Not a bad idea really. We all know our prisons do everything but rehabilitate.
One thing that would concern me would be port stops in other countries. I would imagine they wouldn't want a bunch of our criminals all together taking shore leave. I guess they would never be able to leave the ship or sub.
Still would beat living in a cell.
I think there's more to this story to come out.....
It's unlikely a 12 year old got a gun, dressed in black, and brought a bandana to cover his face for a simple robbery. I'd say someone put him up to it and it was a hit not a robbery, gangs like to use stupid kids to do their dirty work.
Maybe....... but in this case I'm asking myself why this house, why this man.
There's something a lot more serious and all-encompassing in America than just the Justice System when a 12 year old commits murder.
It's difficult to generate any empathy for this murderous bad seed.
So murder is now just one moment, one mistake? Tell that to the victim's family.
I am not saying lock the kid up and throw away the key; but please don't try to make murder less of a crime.
Whether he realized the consequences or not is irrelevant, what is relevant is he certainly knew what he was doing was wrong and illegal. While I don't believe he'll do the entire sentence, I don't have any problem with it at all
I saw this and thought , wow this is where were at in this country. I realize that there are factors that exist that are unknown to me at this time, that would allow me to judge this better. But the end result is that this kid most likely knew it was a REAL gun and shooting it could hurt someone. What bugs me the most is that i cant shake this feeling that this kid is also not one to have decided to do this on his own.
If that is the case i hope this trickle down event will snag all involved. So sad for this victims family to have to deal with this and the community to again see another one gone to gun violence, as if the bank shooting in Florida wasn't enough or that guy who killed 5 folks in Louisiana.
Sad sad all the way around!