Sad, sad....

[brutusbabe]

Scary that this is what some kids have resorted to when threatened.

ASSOCIATED PRESS


2:36 p.m. July 8, 2005


LANCASTER – A 13-year-old Palmdale boy was convicted Friday of beating another teen to death with a baseball bat after his team lost its first game of the season. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Richard Naranjo found the teen guilty of second-degree murder. The case was heard in Lancaster Juvenile Court.

The boy, whose name was not released because he is a minor, struck 15-year-old Jeremy Rourke in the knee and again in the head after an April 12 youth league game. Jeremy died later that night.

The teen's sentencing was scheduled for July 28. The sentence could range from probation to state custody until he's 25, said District Attorney spokeswoman Jane Robison.

The 13-year-old, who was a pitcher in the game, testified during the trial that he felt threatened by the much bigger teen. He said Jeremy pushed him and used a racial slur as the two waited in line at the concession stand in Palmdale, about 40 miles northeast of Los Angeles.

"I thought he was going to beat me up," the tearful defendant testified. "I was scared."

Defense attorney William McKinney said his client was acting in self-defense. The defendant is black and Jeremy was white, but McKinney said he did not believe the incident was racially motivated. A message left for McKinney Friday was not immediately returned.

During the three-day hearing, the defendant's teammates supported his story and said Jeremy had a history of violent outbursts at Pony League games – including throwing bats, balls and other gear and making obscene gestures – and was a known bully.

 

[holybuckeye33]

That truly is a sad story. Also, wasn't there a death at an Ohio baseball tournament last week after a fight broke out over a $5 parking charge?

**Edit, answered my own question. Here's the story:

http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/beaconjournal/news/local/states/ohio/counties/summit_county/12051402.htm

Brawl at kids game fatal

Springfield man dies after fight that erupted over a $5 parking fee

[size=-1]By Jim Carney[/size]

[size=-1]Beacon Journal staff writer[/size]

<!-- begin body-content -->
A fight about a $5 parking fee at a youth baseball tournament erupted in an all-out brawl that left an active Springfield Township man dead.

Robert Abrams, who would have turned 41 today, died at 1:40 a.m. Saturday at Akron City Hospital, where he was taken after he hit the ground during the fight Friday night by the fields at Springfield High School on Sanitarium Road in Lakemore.

Abrams, one of the owners of the Ellet IGA on Darrow Road, suffered severe head injuries and was unresponsive at the hospital, according to a statement released by the Summit County medical examiner's office.

An autopsy is scheduled today.

``We are treating it as a homicide,'' Lakemore Police Chief Kenny Ray said Sunday.

Police have identified two suspects in the fight, Ray said, but no arrests have been made.

Ray said about 100 people were at the high school to attend any of the multiple games scheduled there as part of ``The Beast of the Northeast'' tournament hosted by The Boys of Summer Athletic Club.

Ray said the fight apparently stemmed from a $5 parking fee that youngsters were collecting from everyone attending the tournament. The parking fee and money raised by the concession stand was to support the Springfield Sports Booster Club for which Abrams was volunteering.

Abrams was working the concession stand, Ray said, when the dispute about the parking escalated and a decision was made to refund the $5 fee. Sometime after that, however, the fight broke out in front of the concession stand, Ray said.

In addition to Abrams, two others were injured, including a woman who was struck on the back of the head with a baseball bat, Ray said. The woman was treated at Akron General Medical Center and released.

The fight, Ray said, involved 10 to 15 people -- both adults and youngsters. No one in a team uniform was involved, he said. At least one of the teams involved in the tournament came from the Pittsburgh area, but Ray would not say whether the suspects were from the area or from out of state.

``Somebody became enraged about having to pay,'' Ray said. ``It became a brawl.''

Ray said police have spent the last two days interviewing and re-interviewing people on the list compiled from those attending the tournament, which was to have lasted all weekend.

The police chief said no security force was hired for the tournament. The incident may have been prevented, he said, had some security been present.

Darrell Jennings, director of the Boys of Summer Athletic Club, could not be reached for comment. The group's Web site says it is a nonprofit organization that fields teams for boys 11 to 18.

Friends and family at the Abrams home Sunday declined to comment.

Springfield Schools Superintendent Jerry Pecko said the district approved the permit for the athletic club to use the ball fields but that was the extent of the district's involvement.

``The altercation that ensued Friday night was absolutely unnecessary and very tragic,'' Pecko said. ``The death of Mr. Abrams is a shock to all who knew him.''

Pecko called Abrams ``a very dedicated parent and volunteer, a well-mannered individual who was always there in support of his children and the schools.''

Pecko said it is ``so sad to think that these kind of things can happen in our world today... at a time when we're supposed to be celebrating our freedom. Mr. Abrams will be missed.'

 

[LoKyBuckeye]

I remember reading about the first story when it happened. Things like this are happening more and more these days.

 

[scooter1369]

It can be scary being a youth league coach. I was lucky this year. I had a great group of parents and kids.

 

[MililaniBuckeye]

Let me get this straight...this big white kid, well-known as a habitual psychotic bully, gets clocked by a smaller black kid whom he called a "nigger" (yeah, they said "racial slur", but what else do you think he called him) and threatened to beat up. Then he dies of the injuries. Fuck him...he deserved it. He's the type of punk-ass fuck that would've gone through life doing the same shit and eventually ending up in jail for assault--or worse--on our dime. I hope the smaller black kid gets probation.

 

[JohnnyCockfight]

Let me get this straight...this big white kid, well-known as a habitual psychotic bully, gets clocked by a smaller black kid whom he called a "nigger" (yeah, they said "racial slur", but what else do you think he called him) and threatened to beat up. Then he dies of the injuries. Fuck him...he deserved it. He's the type of punk-ass fuck that would've gone through life doing the same shit and eventually ending up in jail for assault--or worse--on our dime. I hope the smaller black kid gets probation.

Is this a joke?

 

[scooter1369]

Is this a joke?

I don't believe it is. And I agree with him

 

[JohnnyCockfight]

Well then, that's disturbing. The article at the top is a short one, and one with a few facts and a few opinions.

Here are the facts:
1. The defense counsel doesn't believe this was racially motivated (that is, the convicted murderer's own lawyer--that's tellling).
2. One kid was smaller.
3. Said smaller kid beat someone to death with a baseball bat.
4. The kid was convicted of murder.

Here are the opinions (mostly):
1.

Let me get this straight...this big (opinion) white kid (fact), well-known as a habitual psychotic bully (opinion), gets clocked by a smaller black kid (fact) whom he called a "nigger" (opinion) (yeah, they said "racial slur", but what else do you think he called him) and threatened to beat up (hearsay). Then he dies of the injuries. (fact) Fuck him (opinion)...he deserved it.(opinion) He's the type of punk-ass fuck (opinion) that would've gone through life doing the same shit (opinion) and eventually ending up in jail for assault--or worse (opinion)--on our dime. I hope the smaller black kid gets probation.

This is a side-story of how a published article can embellish the truth in order to make money, and why it's important to divorce the facts from the slant.

A media group like ESPN writes an article about a guy who got suspended for a season because he was willing to speak out about $100 handshakes and free perks provided to him by the big ugly football program. On his side are former teammates, Jim Brown, etc. etc. (like the kid's teammates) Now, because this is in print it must be true. In the analogy, the guy who got suspended is like the kid who got convicted of murder. It's an outrage the guy got suspended! (and the kid got convicted!). All the signs from the article clearly show the guy (Maurice Clarett) was wronged! The big ugly program (Ohio State) deserves everything coming to it (just like some feel the bigger kid deserved to get beaten to death by a baseball bat).

Back to the original story.

There are many racial slurs other than nigger that could have been used, such as but not limited to monkey. Regardless, it's in the kid's best interest to claim racism even if it wasn't there (can you believe someone would do that?!) because it would bolster his self defense claim and make him more sympathetic to the Judge. Also, you don't know if the kid was "big," just that he was "bigger," which would mean next to nothing if he was only slightly bigger (an aluminum bat can bring a five-pound difference down to size real quick).

Whatever the case, the older kid could have been the biggest asshole in the world, and he still wouldn't have deserved to get beaten to death with a baseball bat, and it's really sick that anyone thinks so.

 

[methomps]

1. The defense counsel doesn't believe this was racially motivated (that is, the convicted murderer's own lawyer--that's tellling).

Well, I think it's a given that the defense counsel would deny that it was racially motivated.

 

[JohnnyCockfight]

Well, I think it's a given that the defense counsel would deny that it was racially motivated.

I think you're right--I inferred what "incident" meant incorrectly.

But the point remains that it's disturbing there are people out there who truly don't know what happened (none of us do) but would cheer the brutal death of a kid.

 

[stxbuck]

Let me get this straight...this big white kid, well-known as a habitual psychotic bully, gets clocked by a smaller black kid whom he called a "nigger" (yeah, they said "racial slur", but what else do you think he called him) and threatened to beat up. Then he dies of the injuries. Fuck him...he deserved it. He's the type of punk-ass fuck that would've gone through life doing the same shit and eventually ending up in jail for assault--or worse--on our dime. I hope the smaller black kid gets probation.

I agree w/ mililani-sometimes bullies get exactly what they deserve. If you go around calling people nigger to their face, you will pay sometime. This kid will probably get some kind of manslaughter charge-he only hit the punk twice.

 

[JohnnyCockfight]

I agree w/ mililani-sometimes bullies get exactly what they deserve. If you go around calling people nigger to their face, you will pay sometime. This kid will probably get some kind of manslaughter charge-he only hit the punk twice.

The kid will not get a manslaughter charge--he got a murder charge and was convicted. And the only place you've seen that the word "nigger" was used is from a post in this thread, by someone who couldn't possibly know.

I googled the victim's name just to see if I was losing it. Guess what? None of the articles written at the time of the incident were nearly so slanted against the victim. Here's the most enlightening one I found with a quick search, which talks about the defense's strategy to "blame the victim" as their trial strategy, which apparently has worked on some of you. Also notice the testimony over whether any third party heard a racial slur being used.

California + junvenile + reasonable doubt standard = almost impossible to convict on murder unless it really was murder.



Victim 'blamed' in ball bat murder trial

This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press on Friday, July 8, 2005.
By JACQUELINE KALLAS
Valley Press Staff Writer

LANCASTER - Employing a "blame the victim" strategy, the defense in the Jeremy Rourke baseball-bat murder trial extracted testimony from a former coach of the slain 15-year-old concerning his "violent" reputation in the Palmdale Pony League baseball community.

"Did he have a reputation as a violent man?" Greg Harris' defense attorney, William McKinney, asked witness Willy Tonkin.

"I guess, yes," responded Tonkin.

"He was a bully," said the former coach, referring to the Highland High School freshman who died April 12 after being hit with an aluminum baseball bat, allegedly wielded by 13-year-old Harris after a Pony League game at a Palmdale ball field.

Tonkin, who said he was in the Pony association for 10 years, testified about an incident "approximately 11 months ago" in which Rourke, apparently frustrated at being walked in a game, "took his bat and threw it toward the dugout, about 50 to 75 feet into a wall."

Upon being informed that he was out of the game, "extracted," said Tonkin, Rourke "said '(expletive) you' to the umpire and, raising both hands in the air, flipped him off. He then threw his helmet in the air and punched his coach in the chest."

When challenged, however, about Rourke's later involvement in the league as a junior umpire, Tonkin said he didn't object to the boy's supervisory role.

"You were in charge of the junior umpire program, the first year Jeremy participated, weren't you?" Deputy District Attorney Lonnie Felker asked. "Yet you didn't object to him being an umpire. He was enough in control to be an umpire," Felker said.

In day two of the trial at the juvenile courthouse on Avenue J, the defense called a series of witnesses, two of whom were 13-year-old acquaintances of Harris and Rourke.

The first boy to take the stand in the second-degree murder case, Dominic Archey, appeared in a suit and tie. Following his father to the stand about witnessing the incident, Archey said he saw Rourke push the defendant while the two were standing at the snack bar.

"He (Rourke) said, 'Oh, what, you think you can cut (in line) now,' then pushed (Harris) again," and yet again, "a third time," said the boy.

"I said, 'Leave him (Harris) alone,' " to which Harris added, "Leave me alone, I'm not in the mood," Archey said.

"Then I saw him (Harris) with a bat. His bag was on the ground near him, and he took a step and he hit him, with a check (or half) swing, in the knee," the boy testified.

"Jeremy kind of moved, flinched to the right and started walking toward (Harris), approximately two steps" at which point the teenage defendant "took a step back and swung again, hitting him around the jaw. Jeremy then fell to his knees and hit his forehead," said the boy, adding that "it happened real fast."

"Did you hear any teasing or racial slurs" from Rourke, Felker asked in his cross-examination of the 13-year-old witness.

"No," Archey responded.

The second boy to testify, Sammy Calloway, took the stand in a light lavender shirt. He said that as he was walking toward the snack bar, he saw Rourke pushing the defendant. Harris "then said, 'Leave me alone, I'm not in the mood,' " at which point, Calloway testified, Rourke pushed Harris again.

"He got his bat out of his blue Nike bag on the ground next to him, and he took a swing at his knees," said the witness.

"I saw the bat hit (Rourke) in the knee," said Calloway, adding that Rourke then "took a step toward him (Harris), and Greg took another swing."

When asked to describe how he felt at that moment, Calloway said, "I was in shock. I just stood there. A lady grabbed (Harris), telling people to call the paramedics."

"Did you hear Jeremy say anything to (Harris)? Did you see him threaten him in any way?" Felker asked.

"No," said Calloway to both questions.

"Jeremy had no weapons, no fist, no bat," said Felker, concluding that "you kind of thought he was just playing around, that Jeremy was just teasing (Harris) about a lousy game he had just had, and Greg got mad about it."

In his opening argument, Felker said he would establish that Harris was upset after losing a baseball game, that Rourke had teased and shoved him and that Harris then moved about 10 feet away, took the bat out of his bag and warned the surrounding crowd to stand back before landing the fatal blow.

In Wednesday's opening, the defense referred to Harris' actions as "imperfect self-defense."

Depending upon what juvenile court Judge Richard Naranjo decides, the 13-year-old defendant, a former student at Cactus Intermediate School, could face probation or commitment at the California Youth Authority until the age of 25.


[email protected]

 

[The KSB]

I'm willing to bet that at some point in his life the 15 year old bully was allowed to write on one of his friend's face with permanent marker without getting into trouble. A shame really, this boy would still be alive had his parents been more diligent when he was 10.

 

[methomps]

I'm sorry, but I struggle to see how any article that makes a reference to "blaming the victim strategy" can be considered objective.

 

[JohnnyCockfight]

I'm sorry, but I struggle to see how any article that makes a reference to "blaming the victim strategy" can be considered objective.

That's a good rhetorical statement, but what's your point?

It might not be "objective," but quoting actual testimony at length is certainly more objective than the articles that do not. I am surprised that the press was allowed to report parts of the transcript in a juvenile trial at all.

The fact that these articles are not "objective," however, is the point I've been trying to make, and I apologize for doing it so poorly. A few posters have made some pretty conclusory judgments based on subjective, and sporadic, reporting. I guess maybe I'm just struggling with how de-sensitized we've all become when we just dismiss an episode like this, because the bully had it comin' to him, obviously.