Girl, 14, Gets Probation for Killing Abusive Father

[shdwfx]

I feel terrible for the girl that she had to go through this and felt compelled to take this extreme action.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,350129,00.html

PITTSBURGH    A 14-year-old girl acknowledged killing her father with a 12-gauge shotgun blast to the face to end years of sexual abuse and could be on juvenile probation until she turns 21, her attorney said Thursday.

Defense attorney Patrick Nightingale said the girl accepted an offer from the Allegheny County District Attorney's Office to be adjudicated delinquent, the juvenile court equivalent of a guilty plea. She was placed on probation on a charge of involuntary manslaughter, the least serious grade of homicide in Pennsylvania, the attorney said.

"I think the DA's office has been consistently very enlightened in its approach because they know my client suffered significant trauma at the hands of her father," Nightingale said. "And I'm very happy on behalf of my client that we won't have to live through that trauma again in a trial setting."

The girl was 13 when she shot Matthew Booth Sr., 34, on July 30 in the squalid home they shared in Elizabeth Township, a rural suburb about 20 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. Nightingale and the girl told authorities Booth had abused her since she was about 7.

The girl at first told police two masked men shot her father while ransacking their house, but soon after confessed to shooting him.

Allegheny County prosecutors initially charged her as an adult with criminal homicide, but agreed to move the case to juvenile court in August after District Attorney Stephen Zappala Jr. toured the home and described the living conditions as "incredible."

An Allegheny County Health Department report showed the home had major health code violations, including no furnace or bathroom sink, holes in walls, a leaky ceiling, and flea infestation from neglected pets, including dogs, cats and rabbits. Much of the furniture was broken and police said the home smelled of animal waste.

Zappala spokesman Mike Manko said the office cannot comment on the resolution of the case because of the girl's age and nature of the proceeding.

The girl was last known to be living in a residential treatment facility, though her once-estranged mother had been trying to get custody of her. Nightingale said he cannot say where the girl is living, but that "reunification (with her mother) is one of the goals of court supervision."

The girl will be supervised by the county's juvenile probation department, which can have jurisdiction over her until she's 21.

Prosecutors have also offered to expunge the girl's juvenile court record if she does well on supervision, Nightingale said.

Nightingale said the relatively lenient resolution was appropriate given the "totality of the circumstances."

"Yes, it's a very serious offense, but the District Attorney's Office acknowledges this little girl has suffered tremendously," Nightingale said.

[Ex-MA Hole]

You know what?

I think this is good.

She's going to have a bad few years trying to sort her life out, and IMO, having someone keep an extra eye on her may be a good thing.

[shdwfx]

Reminds me of that Oleg Volk poster.

"Rapist Rehabilitation Through Reincarnation - the only way to be sure."

[Perd Hapley]

She should have just laughed at him.  Laughter is the best weapon.   

[Bogie]

Probation's probably a good idea here... Altho it'd be darn nice if someone could get a charity together to do stuff like pay for a boarding school for abused/molested kids... With a BIG fence around it. With guns. We'll name the .50 in the turret at the top of the roof "Restraining Order."
 

[Firethorn]

Probation's probably a good idea here... Altho it'd be darn nice if someone could get a charity together to do stuff like pay for a boarding school for abused/molested kids... With a BIG fence around it. With guns. We'll name the .50 in the turret at the top of the roof "Restraining Order."

I've had thoughts like this before.

Though I'll admit I did panic a bit when mom almost proposed sending a woman(and her kid) who had an abusive/obsessed boyfriend to me for protection.

[Bogie]

Hey, that's easy... Move 'em a county or two over. Assuming that she doesn't have a job, etc.
 
Of course, two days later, when she gets lonely and calls the SOB to come pick her up... What _is_ it about abused women and the sheer stupidity that seems to be involved so often?
 

[geronimotwo]

i hope there was some physical evidence to back up her story. she had already lied once.

The girl at first told police two masked men shot her father while ransacking their house, but soon after confessed to shooting him.

[Sergeant Bob]

i hope there was some physical evidence to back up her story. she had already lied once.

The girl at first told police two masked men shot her father while ransacking their house, but soon after confessed to shooting him.

Yeah, me too. I hope there was something other than "she said". The only actual evidence the story mentioned was squalor and flea bites.

[lupinus]

and she was probably scared shitless, can't blame her for that.

Theres lying and there is lying.

[member1313]

Some thoughts:

First, let me say I feel bad for the girl, and not her father. However, from what I've read, it doesn't sound like she killed her father in self defense. That makes it murder, and retaliation. A call to DSS or the police would have stopped the abuse, too.

It sounds like removing such a problematic person from her life gives her a shot, at least, at leading a "normal" life, which is good.

However, she lied to the police about what happened, which is a sign of guilt. People lie to avoid problems. She lied because she knew what she did was wrong.

Still, I feel bad for her, but wish she had found a "better" way around the problem.

Or have I misunderstood the article?

[Perd Hapley]

However, she lied to the police about what happened, which is a sign of guilt. People lie to avoid problems. She lied because she knew what she did was wrong. 

I don't take issue with your contention that this may have been murder, rather than self-defense.  I DO take issue with the idea that her lie to the police is a sign of guilt. 

She's thirteen, she's being questioned by cops, she just killed her dad.  Self-defense or not, she's going to hope she can just lie her way out of it.  That's what kids do.  Even adult gun-owners worry about legal backlash from justified shootings. (Just read THR) 

Secondly, don't rape victims and abused kids very often try to hide what happened?  She's both.  If she admits to his killing, then the whole issue comes out.  She probably wanted to shield her own reputation, and possibly her father's.  Which also explains why she (apparently) never told anyone who could have helped her. 

Thirdly, a girl like this is going to be very distrustful of authority figures.  If her own father would sexually assault her, what does she expect these cops might do to her? 

[TF_FH]

Some thoughts:

First, let me say I feel bad for the girl, and not her father. However, from what I've read, it doesn't sound like she killed her father in self defense. That makes it murder, and retaliation. A call to DSS or the police would have stopped the abuse, too.

Yes, a call to the police solves everything.  I had a friend with an abusive boyfriend with quite the criminal record of assaults and firearms charges.  He started to call me and threaten me.

Called the police and they, "Gave him a stern talking to on how he shouldn't call me again".

I was tempted quite a few times to bring the fight to him, just like this girl did.  Yeah, I probably would have tried to cover my ass and such.  Honestly, if he was doing what she said he was doing, I cannot find fault in the girl at all.

[Boomhauer]

Actually, I think this is a better solution than calling the police/DSS. It prevents the late scum from harming anyone else.

Good on her.

[shdwfx]

Actually, I think this is a better solution than calling the police/DSS. It prevents the late scum from harming anyone else.

One part of me agrees, but it's a shame it had to be her shooting her own dad.  The psychological toll that takes on a person is (I hear) tremendous.  Of course, she's already been through hell ...

The other part of me wishes she could have been separated from that environment and the Dad come to repentence, but I know statistically that's unlikely.  What a world we live in.

[Antibubba]

First, let me say I feel bad for the girl, and not her father. However, from what I've read, it doesn't sound like she killed her father in self defense. That makes it murder, and retaliation. A call to DSS or the police would have stopped the abuse, too.

It sounds like removing such a problematic person from her life gives her a shot, at least, at leading a "normal" life, which is good.

However, she lied to the police about what happened, which is a sign of guilt. People lie to avoid problems. She lied because she knew what she did was wrong.

Still, I feel bad for her, but wish she had found a "better" way around the problem.

Abusers often ingrain in their victims that horrible thing will happen to them if they tell.  Maybe a younger sibling will threatened/killed, or another family member, or a pet.  When you're in a situation like that, sometimes death--yours or theirs--can seem like the only option.

And I agree that a few years of supervision is a good idea.  There are a lot of social and coping skills she's going to need to relearn, if she was ever taught them in the first place.

reunification (with her mother) is one of the goals of court supervision."

Any bets that the daughter's abuse started when the mother fled herself?

[RevDisk]

Some thoughts:

First, let me say I feel bad for the girl, and not her father. However, from what I've read, it doesn't sound like she killed her father in self defense. That makes it murder, and retaliation. A call to DSS or the police would have stopped the abuse, too.

It sounds like removing such a problematic person from her life gives her a shot, at least, at leading a "normal" life, which is good.

A call to DSS or the police might, MAYBE, possibly would have stopped the abuse.  The odds are so so.  You'd honestly be surprised how many kids are tossed back to the wolves.  Care to imagine what would happen to the kid if she tried running to the cops and got thrown back?   

A 12 gauge properly applied works 100%.  I don't exactly advocate it as a first choice, but I'd say it was a stretch to call it retaliation.  If the father had repeatedly raped her, what exactly makes you think he'd stop anytime soon?  I'd have to say the DA called it right.  "Involuntarily manslaughter", not murder.  Yes, it was premediated, but it stopped a monster from continuing his crimes.

However, she lied to the police about what happened, which is a sign of guilt. People lie to avoid problems. She lied because she knew what she did was wrong.

Still, I feel bad for her, but wish she had found a "better" way around the problem.

Or have I misunderstood the article?

I'd bet you a case of whatever caliber you want that he did his best to indoctrinate her into believing no one would believe her.  That telling would cost her dearly.  etc, etc.   

[Hawkmoon]

The part that concerns me is that she may end up in the custody of her mother. That would be the same mother who left the kid in the custody of an abusive father.

I don't get good vibes about that possibility at all ...

[gunsmith]

She shouldn't be charged at all, they should dig up the father
sperm donor
and charge him...middle ages style!

[member1313]

Hm, thanks for the criticism. I think fistful was right that she would lie, for the very reasons he stated.

It's good to hear, though, that the girl will have a decent chance at a "normal" life. I wonder how much the abuse has scarred her, though.

[Hawkmoon]

I wonder how much the abuse has scarred her, though.

Not much. He started abusing her when she was seven, she was thirteen when she shot him. Heck, that's only six years, at the most impressionable time in her life.

No big deal.

[Ex-MA Hole]

...And almost half of her life.

[Perd Hapley]

Hm, thanks for the criticism. I think fistful was right that she would lie, for the very reasons he stated.

"fistful was right"?  I'm going to have to frame that and hang it on the wall. 

[The Annoyed Man]

Emotional scars? Nah... THOSE won't be any real problem. Not at all! She was only raped for half her life (and the most formative years, to boot), which culminated in her having to kill her own father in cold blood.

 In all likelyhood, this girl will never have a healthy relationship with a member of the opposite sex.

 My heart goes out to the girl...

[Tallpine]

They should have given her a medal