Guess who’s back…

August 20, 2007 (270 days ago) at 6:22 pm
Posted in Controversy, Newsworthy, Opinions

That’s right, it’s meeeeeee! After an unusually long break from the blogosphere, I’m back with a long over-due post. Finally. I could go on and ramble off excuse after excuse, bitch and moan about my ‘lack of time’ and ‘no motivation’ but honestly, it’s always the same. :) So, blah blah blah blah, I’ve been busy, blah blah blah. Blah. On with the post.

Remember in my last post when I mentioned that it hadn’t rained in 2 weeks? Yeah, well up until last night it still hadn’t rained. It’s been sooo ridiculously dry in this county lately, that there’s a fire ban in effect until further notice…that means it’s pretty bad. We got about 1/2 inch of rain last night, but it hardly made any difference…it dried up almost as quickly as it was falling. So, instead of the storm bringing a steady rain, that we badly need, it brought strong winds and blown over trees…resulting in power outages. See where I’m going with this? Our power was out for 3 1/2 hours last night. Talk about major suckage. None of us were particularly happy about the situation, and spent the time bitching and moaning about the incompetent electric company workers. Ironically enough, just before the power outage, we got our August electric bill in the mail equaling a grand total of $290.00. Nice.

Sometime last week, I reeeeeeeally started craving pancakes…I have no idea why. So, the other day while at the grocery, I picked myself up an electric griddle so I could go home and whip the family up some breakfast - pancakes, french toast, bacon, sausage, western omlets, hashbrowns, the whole 9. I’ve already got my money’s worth out of it, I can say that much right now. I just love a home cooked breakfast - even if I’m the one that has to cook it. I guess I need to do some research and see what other delicious foods can be cooked on an electric griddle. :)

On a more somber note, there’s been a terrible tragedy in my hometown. It happened sometime last week, and not a lot of details have been released to the public. Take a look at this excerpt from an article found on our local news website:
City names and locations have been edited out for privacy.

15 Year Old Charged with Murder in [——] County, KY

A 15 year old [——] County boy is in the [———–] County Juvenile Detention Center Tuesday night. He faces murder charges in connection to the shooting death of his 11 year old neighbor.

Dustin Doughty was found shot to death Monday night in his Country Court neighborhood. Investigators say Doughty was shot in the head with a 12 gage shot gun. The suspect, a teenage neighbor, is the youngest person ever to be charged with murder in [——] County, KY.

[——] County Sheriff’s deputies are releasing very few details leading up to the shooting.

The Coroner told [news station reporters] this afternoon that this case is being investigated as a homicide.

This was such a senseless tragedy. An 11 year old shot in the head with a 12 gauge…I just don’t understand why things like this happen, much less to a child. Rumor has it (but you know how rumors spread like wildfire and can’t necessarily be credible) that the 11 year old and 15 year old were friends and were together playing some video game…I guess the 15 year old got out a shotgun to do God knows what with…show off? Intimidate? Threaten? He shot the 11 year old from less than 3 feet away. For those of you that don’t know or understand the severity of a shotgun wound, I’ll put it simply. When a shotgun is fired and the shell leaves the barrel, there are lots of high-powered pellets that spread out from the shell and cover a fairly large area. That means that getting shot with one from such close range will obliterate whatever it comes in contact with…in this case, it blew the boy’s head clear off. It makes me sick to even think about it. My heart goes out to the families.

Notice that I said families. The courts are debating on whether or not to try the 15 year old as an adult…and if they can prove intent, then that’s what they’re going to do (or so I’ve read). I’m actually torn in this situation…on one hand I feel for the victim and I want him and his family to receive justice for this crime. On the other hand, my heart goes out to the 15 year old, carrying the haunting weight of the fact that he murdered someone on his shoulders for the rest of his life, possibly spending the rest of his life in prison. Instead of one life lost, there would be two.

BUT, there are lots of things influencing my thoughts right now. For instance, no one knows right now if he did it intentionally, or if they were just messing with the gun and it went off. If it wasn’t an accidental shooting, then my heart will get a little colder toward the shooter. I’m having trouble believing that a 15 year old wouldn’t know any better than to play with a gun. The authorities are being so hush-hush about the situation, I don’t know if they’ll ever release any concrete details. Accident or not, it’s a horrible situation for both families…mostly the victim’s.

So, let’s get some conversation started. This whole incident sprouted from the fact that an obviously angsty teen had access to guns. Should he have to take responsibility for his actions and face the life altering consequences? Should the courts spare him and instead of prison, send him to a juvenile detention/psychiatric center, ultimately letting him get away with murder? Is the victim’s family entitled to some kind of compensation for the crime, at the very least? I want to know your thoughts on the matter, and I’ll be sure to post the details, whenever they’re released.