I spent the past day and a half in Gatesville covering a punishment hearing on a murder conviction. The hearing ended around noon today, and before I headed back to my office I decided to try Taco Bell's new Volcano Taco, which, by the way, was very disappointing.
When I walked into Taco Bell I ran into Adam Rey, a young man from Gatesville that just recieved a mission call to serve in Honduras. He was waiting for a friend at the register and while she ordered Adam and I talked. When I told him I had just been at the courthouse covering a hearing, I noticed the clerk perk up.
When I got to the register he asked me if the hearing was for the young man who helped kill his father and had been certified to be tried as an adult. When I told him it was him he said he used to hang out with the teenager but stopped when he kept talking about wanting to kill his father.
I was stunned at this young man's words because two other youths had testified of basically the same thing during the hearing. Before I left, I asked him if when he found out the boy's father was murdered did he immediatly think his former friend had done it.
"Oh, yeah," he said without hesitation.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
It's a small world
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7 comments:
I heard a spot on the radio yesterday about the verdict and a report that when the youth was leaving he threatened his fathers family. He said he hated all of them and he would get them.
What was his motive to hate so much?
The boy is mentally ill and has shown a pattern of enjoying to shock people with his behavior since he was about 4. His parents were involved in a bitter, bitter divorce and a jury awarded custody to the father. The boy wanted to live with his mother, who supposedly had a more relaxed parenting style with less structure.
A therapist said the boy was a tortured soul from a young age in part because of the dysfunctional relationships of family members. It appeared from the testimony that the parents had a tug of war of wills for many years and this boy and how best to help him may have caused much of the consternation.
I also wondered if he had been abused by someone, although no direct evidence related to that was presented.
One thing was clear. The father loved him profoundly, never gave up on him and believed that one day his son would see the wisdom behind the father's actions and open his heart to the gifts of love.
Sadly, unless something very unusual happens in prison, that day may never come.
What a sad story. I can't imagine living like that and wanting to do such a thing. I hope you are at peace with your assignment.
I wonder why none of his friends spoke up earlier, when they felt he would act on his anger.Families,friends and teachers should take mental illness more seriously-all the love and support can't wish it away.Sounds like he had a lifetime to seek medical treatments.
On a much lighter note-I thought the new taco would be more hot.Volcano-Lava ?
Robert+Kelly=4boys
Murder trials are interesting to cover. The drama is intense and it's a challenge to tell the story succinctly and comprehensively. There is usually a large sense of relief afterward and a need to turn to lighter stories.
As for the Volcano Taco, the marketing was much better than the product. I wanted eating that taco to burn and instead I left disappointed that a red taco shell is no different than a yellow one.
I guess its diversions like Volcano Tacos that make such experiences bearable.
The hardest part of covering such stories is not hearing about the terrible acts -- it's seeing the family members still in the grieving process a year later. I feel for the family every time.
Well Taco Bell is no way to focus on losing the weight!
Oh man, now that I actually finished reading the blog, I realized that there was a whole lot more to this post than a "volcano taco". It seriously sad to hear things of this sort. SAD!
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