4 teens charged with murder in Warren man’s death

[mrclose]

Toledo, Ohio — Four teenage boys will remain in an Ohio jail on murder charges in the death of a man struck by a sandbag thrown from an interstate overpass.

The boys, ages 13 to 15, appeared in juvenile court Wednesday in Toledo where they entered denial pleas to the murder charges.

Prosecutors filed the new charges Tuesday against the boys after 22-year-old Marquise Byrd died Friday at a hospital.

He had been sitting in the front passenger seat of a car traveling south on Interstate 75 in Toledo when a sandbag smashed through the windshield Dec. 19.

The Warren, Michigan, man was in the front passenger seat of a car traveling south on Interstate 75 in Toledo when a sandbag smashed through the windshield on Dec. 19.

The Lucas County Coroner’s Office says Byrd died of blunt-force trauma injuries to the head and neck.

Sean Carter, 14, William Parker, 14, Pedro Salinas, 13, and Demetrius Wimberly, 14, have been charged as adults, which means they face up to life in prison

Police and a prosecutor have said the teens threw other objects from the overpass that night.

In the 911 call from the evening, the driver, who says her name is Armani, panics when she doesn't see her friend move. "I don't know what happened, my friend ... I don't know what happened, he's not moving," she said.

"I was just driving underneath the bridge and something hit my car ... I think this windshield may have smacked his head," she said.

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/macomb-county/2017/12/27/sandbag-hits-car/108939234/

[mrclose]

Whatever happened with just putting pennies on railroad tracks as kids?

[Right_in_Virginia]

Sean Carter, 14, William Parker, 14, Pedro Salinas, 13, and Demetrius Wimberly, 14, have been charged as adults

Not sure I agree with this ... 

[Fishrrman]

I -do- agree with this.

Lock them up for life (which won't actually -be- life, it will end up more like 20-25 years).
The only regret I have is that society will have to pay for it.

If I had my way, this amendment to the Constitution would apply:
========================================
"This Constitution recognizes capital punishment to be an appropriate penalty pursuant to the due process of law.

As such, no Court of the United States, nor of the Several States, may declare the death penalty invalid under this Constitution, nor shall any of the Several States enact laws that do the same.

No person in the United States, nor in the several States, shall face such punishment unless above the age of twelve years and six months."

[Wingnut]

Hey.  There is always Jury Nullification.   Libs will let them walk.

[Right_in_Virginia]

I -do- agree with this.

Lock them up for life (which won't actually -be- life, it will end up more like 20-25 years).
The only regret I have is that society will have to pay for it. ...

I don't think they should get away with it, there should be meaningful punishment.

I'm just not sure I agree that a 13 year old should be sentenced to life in prison for this. He may be too young to have fully understood that death could actually happen by throwing shit off the overpass. 

[Oceander]

I don't think they should get away with it, there should be meaningful punishment.

I'm just not sure I agree that a 13 year old should be sentenced to life in prison for this. He may be too young to have fully understood that death could actually happen by throwing shit off the overpass. 

Agreed.

[anubias]

I don't think they should get away with it, there should be meaningful punishment.

I'm just not sure I agree that a 13 year old should be sentenced to life in prison for this. He may be too young to have fully understood that death could actually happen by throwing shit off the overpass. 

I don’t agree with it either.  If a person is too young to drink, smoke, vote, ..., etc, then he’s too young to put in prison for the rest of his life.  They are either adults or they or not,

[verga]

How about the parents, they are the ones that raised these yoots to be morally bankrupt.

[mrclose]

I don’t agree with it either.  If a person is too young to drink, smoke, vote, ..., etc, then he’s too young to put in prison for the rest of his life.  They are either adults or they or not,

When I was 13, I knew what throwing rocks from an overpass at cars would do!

These "children" knew!

How about the 22 year old that was murdered?

You think he'd rather be alive than dead .. given the choice?
He wasn't given a choice!

These thugs made a choice ... now they can live with the payoff, even though it wasn't the one they were looking for!

[thackney]

Not sure I agree with this ... 

I do.  I believe at that age they fully should understand the results of throwing heavy objects at cars moving at speed.

It isn't a prank.  It is attempted, and in the case, successful, homicide.

[TomSea]

I think performing such an act shows intent to kill or injure.

There are 4 boys there; so perhaps 2 or more are more responsible for this incident. One might have just been there accompanying them. I hope that justice can work and they should receive the maximum if guilty for taking another life and should not be protected because of their young age.

[Suppressed]

Whatever happened with just putting pennies on railroad tracks as kids?

Sadly, this isn't new.   It must be 20-25+ years back that my buddy's fiancée was killed by a rock thrown off an overpass by some kids.  She was on her way back from having her wedding-dress fitting.

[musiclady]

I don’t agree with it either.  If a person is too young to drink, smoke, vote, ..., etc, then he’s too young to put in prison for the rest of his life.  They are either adults or they or not,

To me it's different if a young teenager willfully and maliciously murders someone.  Then, they should be tried as an adult.

But this, as bad as it is, should not condemn a 13 year old to prison for life...... or even a slightly lesser sentence.

I'm not a lawyer, but it seems like this should be manslaughter, or a lesser charge of murder.

Guilty, but not imprisoned for their entire lives....... where they will definitely be turned into criminals.

[anubias]

Sadly, this isn't new.   It must be 20-25+ years back that my buddy's fiancée was killed by a rock thrown off an overpass by some kids.  She was on her way back from having her wedding-dress fitting.

I am ashamed to admit that i partook in a water balloon chunking off the overpass close to our home with other neighborhood kids.  It never occurred to me that we might cause someone to wreck.  We didn’t, but we could have.  We just thought it was a funny thing to do like throwing snowballs.  Stupid kids do stupid things.

If someone had died, my life would have been pretty much over as I would not have been able to deal with the guilt.

I also realize that a sandbag is a far cry from water balloons, but the kid may have thought the bag would bust and throw sand all over the car.  Anything thrown off an overpass can be lethal.  I know this as an adult, but as a kid, I did not.  I was a stupid kid.  I can’t help but wonder if the 13 year old was just a stupid kid, or hanging with the wrong bunch, or what have you.  He may indeed been out to murder the poor man, but I hope not.

[goatprairie]

I am ashamed to admit that i partook in a water balloon chunking off the overpass close to our home with other neighborhood kids.  It never occurred to me that we might cause someone to wreck.  We didn’t, but we could have.  We just thought it was a funny thing to do like throwing snowballs.  Stupid kids do stupid things.

If someone had died, my life would have been pretty much over as I would not have been able to deal with the guilt.

I also realize that a sandbag is a far cry from water balloons, but the kid may have thought the bag would bust and throw sand all over the car.  Anything thrown off an overpass can be lethal.  I know this as an adult, but as a kid, I did not.  I was a stupid kid.  I can’t help but wonder if the 13 year old was just a stupid kid, or hanging with the wrong bunch, or what have you.  He may indeed been out to murder the poor man, but I hope not.

That's where the mob mentality comes in.  Many people wouldn't do criminal things if not part of the mob. Or just a small group with one loudmouthed ringleader who challenges members of the group to do something brave i.e. stupid.
Sure, if young enough, and nobody is killed or seriously injured, you can let the weaker, non-alpha members off with a lesser punishment.
 But not to punish the weaker members still sends a message.  The message being that future transgressors can get away with stiff punishment if their lawyer can convince a jury they were just gullible and weak.
I have an uncle who was a wheel man on a robbery many decades ago when he was a teenager.  Young and dumb.  Of course he and his two accomplices got caught within a few hours of the robbery. Fortunately, nobody was physically hurt.
But he managed to get a felony conviction. He's had to live with that for sixty years.

[anubias]

I hear you and get it @goatprairie   It just saddens me that a child’s life will be over.

It’s all fun and games until somebody loses an eye.

I’m just damned grateful we didn’t kill anybody when we were chucking those balloons off that bridge.  How differently somebody’s life and mine could have turned out.  It gives me shivers just to think about it.

[goatprairie]

I hear you and get it @goatprairie   It just saddens me that a child’s life will be over.

It’s all fun and games until somebody loses an eye.

I’m just damned grateful we didn’t kill anybody when we were chucking those balloons off that bridge.  How differently somebody’s life and mine could have turned out.  It gives me shivers just to think about it.

When I was a kid our neighborhood ballfield was right next to the railroad tracks. We used to wave at the hobos and the people who worked on the passenger trains.
Every now and then some kid would pick up a rock and throw it at a freight car.  I did that one time.  I hit the side of the freight car with a large rock that made a nice loud sound.
I immediately felt ashamed for following the leader. It was stupid, but I did it.  Nobody but the dented boxcar was hurt, but the principle was the same....I threw something at something I shouldn't have thrown at.
If my dad had found out, he would have whipped me good. And I would have deserved it.

p.s. we used to slide down a hill on the side of an overpass above the rails which was railroad property.  Signs were posted about trespassing.  One time after doing a little trespassing i.e. sliding down the hill on cardboard boxes, I left my friends to go home for some reason.
Later that day I saw two of my friends being escorted to their homes by a railroad dick to have a talk with their parents.
Breathed a huge sigh of relief there. I would have been in for another whipping if the dick had talked to my father who never spared the rod.

[TomSea]

Some sand bags are obviously, lethal weapons if full and dropped in such a manner. It really depends on what it looks like. Some of these would need more than one person to drop and obviously, would cause a lot of mayhem on a busy highway. It might weigh, 100 lbs. or something.

[anubias]

When I was a kid our neighborhood ballfield was right next to the railroad tracks. We used to wave at the hobos and the people who worked on the passenger trains.
Every now and then some kid would pick up a rock and throw it at a freight car.  I did that one time.  I hit the side of the freight car with a large rock that made a nice loud sound.
I immediately felt ashamed for following the leader. It was stupid, but I did it.  Nobody but the dented boxcar was hurt, but the principle was the same....I threw something at something I shouldn't have thrown at.
If my dad had found out, he would have whipped me good. And I would have deserved it.

p.s. we used to slide down a hill on the side of an overpass above the rails which was railroad property.  Signs were posted about trespassing.  One time after doing a little trespassing i.e. sliding down the hill on cardboard boxes, I left my friends to go home for some reason.
Later that day I saw two of my friends being escorted to their homes by a railroad dick to have a talk with their parents.
Breathed a huge sigh of relief there. I would have been in for another whipping if the dick had talked to my father who never spared the rod.

Glad you weren’t caught.  ;)

I was the only girl in the neighborhood.  Consequently I was right there with them doing whatever stupid thing that boys are generally wont to do.  While I did survive it all with a sore ass from Mama a time or ten, I consider myself lucky to have been given such a childhood.  Kids today, regardless of their sex, do not have the same learning experiences that prepare them for life or careers.

[thackney]

Kids today, regardless of their sex, do not have the same learning experiences that prepare them for life or careers.

Some do.  Risk taking, making decisions and dealing with the consequences isn't limited to unlawful activity.

[IsailedawayfromFR]

Glad you weren’t caught.  ;)

I was the only girl in the neighborhood.  Consequently I was right there with them doing whatever stupid thing that boys are generally wont to do.  While I did survive it all with a sore ass from Mama a time or ten, I consider myself lucky to have been given such a childhood.  Kids today, regardless of their sex, do not have the same learning experiences that prepare them for life or careers.

I reject that blanket statement which relegates all parents into being non-parents.

There are and will always be effective parenting, regardless of how many decide to do otherwise.

[goatprairie]

Glad you weren’t caught.  ;)

I was the only girl in the neighborhood.  Consequently I was right there with them doing whatever stupid thing that boys are generally wont to do.  While I did survive it all with a sore ass from Mama a time or ten, I consider myself lucky to have been given such a childhood.  Kids today, regardless of their sex, do not have the same learning experiences that prepare them for life or careers.

I know many kids today probably think we were deprived without cell phones, game boys, laptops, etc., but I'd rather have my childhood experiences (minus the whippings from my pa) without those things .
I grew up in a great area with large fields and bluffs close by. Our fun was mostly outside playing ball, climbing the bluffs, swimming, sledding, and generally running around all over the place.
I'll take that childhood kind of fun any day over staring at a cell phone for hours on end.

[anubias]

Some do.  Risk taking, making decisions and dealing with the consequences isn't limited to unlawful activity.

Point taken.  I didn’t make myself clear as I wasn’t referring to unlawful activity.  I meant the freedom to explore outside the home without constant supervision.  Sorry about the confusion.

[anubias]

I reject that blanket statement which relegates all parents into being non-parents.

There are and will always be effective parenting, regardless of how many decide to do otherwise.

I did not state they were non-parents.  In today’s society, letting your kids go to the playground alone can get your kids taken away from you.  Drive down any neighborhood street here.  You will not see a single kid outside playing.  No kickball in the street.  No nothing.  It is a completely different world than when I, or my children, were growing up.