[Kazanne]

What can you say? what the hell was this 'mother' thinking leaving a young baby in the charge of kids so young,I wonder if the US will be as lenient as we are?
http://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/...cid=FUJITSUDHP

[Kizzy]

Sleep deprivation is a form of torture, leaving a child alone is abuse.
This was not a normal state of affairs by any stretch, the mother as good as murdered this child.

[rubymoo]

Really sad

The mother was selfish putting her own needs ahead of her childrens, it's a really sad case.

If the little girl was so loved, why wasn't an adult looking after her???

[Ashley.]

I agree with the mother's charge, but I don't really know much about the case in hand from that article alone, to conclude whether the 8-year old's charge was right.

[Ashley.]

I'm so angered by people having children and not fully recognising just how much responsibility they're going to have to take. There will be no going out, partying, leaving the child with a babysitter all the time... If you don't want to lose out on your youth, don't have a child. Because you can't have both I'm afraid.

[lostalex]

awful. obviously an 8 y/o has no concept of death.

this mother should be in jail and never be trusted with kids again. but i feel bad for her kids that are now probably going to be in the foster system, hopefully there is some family members that can take the kids so they don't get stuck in foster care.

[Ammi]

...so, so heart breaking and tragic...it'll be interesting as it unfolds through the court case etc as to whether their social services were involved with this family and aware how much they were struggling...I don't know what the Care around a Family and Children in Danger equivalents are in the US but I wonder if they were receiving support, when it was obviously needed...

[Niamh.]

I don't know how they can charge the 8 year old with murder really. Sounds like 100% of the blame in this case should be with the mother, an 8 year old is not equipped to look after a baby

[Ashley.]

Originally Posted by Niamh.

I don't know how they can charge the 8 year old with murder really. Sounds like 100% of the blame in this case should be with the mother, an 8 year old is not equipped to look after a baby

This, pretty much. I'm baffled.

[Cherie]

Originally Posted by Niamh.

I don't know how they can charge the 8 year old with murder really. Sounds like 100% of the blame in this case should be with the mother, an 8 year old is not equipped to look after a baby

. He was probably playing out how his Mum dealt with him when he was crying awful woman who should never have had kids

[Ashley.]

Originally Posted by Cherie

. He was probably playing out how his Mum dealt with him when he was crying awful woman who should never have had kids

Extremely good point. We're all products of the environment. Our fears, beliefs and behaviours all spawn from our parents and how they act when we're younger - this could be a clear indication of that. I'm just so shocked and angered by the mother.

[Livia]

Originally Posted by Ashley.

I agree with the mother's charge, but I don't really know much about the case in hand from that article alone, to conclude whether the 8-year old's charge was right.

Well that's strange, you knowing all about criminal law... The age of criminal responsibility in Alabama is 14, so I'm going out on a limb and saying, it's not lawful.

[Ammi]

..we don't know anything about it being learned behaviour though or if it has any bearing, children can 'learn' equally from their peers as well..but there is nothing to suggest either has any bearing atm...I know some pretty great children who have had some pretty grim parenting and if that was something that 'always was'/that they followed the same path... then they wouldn't be the children that they are...anyways, it's still stuff that we just don't know with this story...

[Ashley.]

Originally Posted by Livia

Well that's strange, you knowing all about criminal law... The age of criminal responsibility in Alabama is 14, so I'm going out on a limb and saying, it's not lawful.

Are you sure?

Anyway, that's what I'm saying. The article doesn't give much information on the child's situation, so I don't see how they can charge him for murder, especially when he's under the age of criminal responsibility. There's got to be some sort of factor which has resulted in such a charge, or he just got lumped with a load of uneducated lawyer twats. Which is why I'm so baffled by this.

[Livia]

Originally Posted by Ashley.

Are you sure?

Anyway, that's what I'm saying. The article doesn't give much information on the child's situation, so I don't see how they can charge him for murder, especially when he's under the age of criminal responsibility. There's got to be some sort of factor which has resulted in such a charge, or he just got lumped with a load of uneducated lawyer twats. Which is why I'm so baffled by this.

Uneducated lawyer twats? What does that mean? I don't know anyone who's actually studied law who is an uneducated twat.

And... am I sure? LOL... yes. I'm sure.

[Ashley.]

Originally Posted by Livia

Uneducated lawyer twats? What does that mean? I don't know anyone who's actually studied law who is an uneducated twat.

Exactly The impossibility of the second option means that it can only be the first option.

Example:

"Either you took my cup out of the cupboard, or it grew legs and climbed up the counter itself"

[Cherie]

Originally Posted by Ammi

..we don't know anything about it being learned behaviour though or if it has any bearing, children can 'learn' equally from their peers as well..but there is nothing to suggest either has any bearing atm...I know some pretty great children who have had some pretty grim parenting and if that was something that 'always was'/that they followed the same path... then they wouldn't be the children that they are...anyways, it's still stuff that we just don't know with this story...

We know that a Mum left an 8 year old at home with a baby with no responsible adult in attendance, that is enough for me, the mother should be charged with child neglect and manslaughter, I was speculating as to the learned behaviour and it is a possibility.

[Ashley.]

Originally Posted by Cherie

We know that a Mum left an 8 year old at home with a baby with no responsible adult in attendance, that is enough for me, the mother should be charged with child neglect and manslaughter, I was speculating as to the learned behaviour and it is a possibility.

If she left an 8 year old at home with a baby with no responsible adult in attendance, god knows what she has been teaching this 8-year old child about norms and values.

[Cherie]

The saddest part of this is she didn't even bother to check on the baby when she came back in.

[DemolitionRed]

Alabama doesn’t have hard and fast rules regarding the age at which a child may stay home alone, or the age that a babysitter must be. Many young people as young as 11 years old baby sit. http://blog.laborlawtalk.com/2006/11...ysitting-laws/

In the UK its not illegal to have a babysitter under the age of 16 but if anything happens to the child being cared for, the responsibility rests with the prime carer/s.

Its questionable whether a child of 8 would have the capacity to understand the charges against him. A child of 8 does understand what death is but that doesn't mean he knew he'd killed her or intended to kill her.

Its a clear case of parental culpability. I don't believe this child should be up on a charge of murder but its important that this child receives some very intensive counselling in the years ahead. There was a sadistic element to this that needs to be addressed carefully and handled properly. For the sake of all small children who get left home alone or alone with other young children, she needs to go to jail because an example needs setting here.

It doesn't say whether the boy was her brother ?

[kirklancaster]

Originally Posted by Ammi

..we don't know anything about it being learned behaviour though or if it has any bearing, children can 'learn' equally from their peers as well..but there is nothing to suggest either has any bearing atm...I know some pretty great children who have had some pretty grim parenting and if that was something that 'always was'/that they followed the same path... then they wouldn't be the children that they are...anyways, it's still stuff that we just don't know with this story...

You have so much sense Ammi.

[kirklancaster]

Originally Posted by Niamh.

I don't know how they can charge the 8 year old with murder really. Sounds like 100% of the blame in this case should be with the mother, an 8 year old is not equipped to look after a baby

I agree totally.

[Ammi]

..I think that there is still much more with this tragedy...one of the articles I read is saying that it was a friend's house where the baby was left..(also out that night with the mother..)...and presumably, but I'm not sure, the child of her friend who killed the baby..there could still though, have been other children there though.../in any case, there would be at least two families involved in this and children so young being left at home, with an 8yr old in charge...