Boy accused of trying to shoot aunt on The Murfreesboro Post

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Boy accused of trying to shoot aunt

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By: Lisa Marchesoni

Posted: Monday, April 6, 2009 1:29 pm

A 16-year-old male accused of trying to shoot his aunt during an attempted robbery Friday described the incident as “funny,” a sheriff’s deputy reported.

The boy was charged with aggravated domestic assault after his Deborah Mason Ring obtained a juvenile petition against him, accusing him of trying to shoot her but the handgun jammed, Deputy Sedric Fields reported.

“While serving the petition, (the boy) stated that the incident was funny,” Fields reported.

Juvenile Court Judge Donna Scott Davenport didn’t think the incident was funny at all.

Davenport released the boy from detention on another offense near Spring break on house arrest to his mother’s custody with the warning he must be “attached to her hip” and could not go anywhere without her. He is on state probation because of prior convictions.

The judge asked the mother why he left the house.

She replied she allowed him to go to a friend’s home.

Davenport reminded the mother her son was supposed to be on house arrest.

“If you had done what I told you to do, attach him to your hip, we wouldn’t be here,” Davenport said.

“I can’t chain him to a bed,” the mother replied.

“You let him go somewhere,” Davenport replied.

Ring testified she was on the couch of her Halls Hill Pike home about 10:30 p.m. when she heard someone banging at her door. She opened the door to find her nephew who pointed a semi-automatic handgun at her.

Her nephew pulled a red, blue and black bandana over his nose and mouth.

“He started firing,” Ring said. “It jammed.”

She asked him what he was doing but he hit the gun. When she started toward him, he ran. She and her boyfriend saw a vehicle leaving the home.

Sgt. Kenneth Barrett, Cpl. Tom Bunch and Deputy Roscoe Sanders went to the boy’s home where they interviewed him.

Fields reported the boy told deputies he planned to rob his aunt of guns in her home and admitted pulling the trigger in an attempt to shoot her, Fields reported. He said three boys in the getaway car accompanied him.

While Deputy Matt Clagg drove the boy to the Juvenile Detention Center, the boy told him Ring was lucky the gun jammed.

Ring, who was extremely upset, told deputies she wanted to prosecute.

Deputies charged him with possession of a firearm by a minor. The handgun was not recovered.

After hearing testimony, Davenport reviewed his record and the boy stuck his tongue out at Ring’s husband.

Davenport said the court tried in house services and made reasonable efforts to help him. He committed a delinquent act within the last year. She ruled he must remain in detention because he’s a risk to himself and the community.

Tagged under JUVENILE CRIME

Member Opinions:

By: emw247 on 4/6/09
Please tell me the mom had to go to jail too.

By: Trvlace on 4/6/09
What a twerp! Lock him up and toss the keys to the dogs.

By: mm123 on 4/6/09
Lock him up and keep him. The problem with juveniles is they won't keep them incarcerated, and he probably knows this. This punk shows no remorse, and deserves to be incarcerated with adults. Will someone like this ever straighten up?

By: barrettbear on 4/6/09
Limit the laws a bit, I will take him for a month.

By: devolver on 4/6/09
Yeah, mom should be in big trouble for all of this. He was released to her custody, meaning she is responsible for everything he does. She allows him to leave, where he then attempts murder.

I can't imagine how/why they charged him with "aggravated domestic assault". He told an officer that she was lucky the gun jammed. That alone should prove that he intended to kill her, and should bring about an attempted murder charge. Unbelievable.

And this kid, sounds like a lost cause. Put him to work in a field under armed guard.

By: enoughisenough on 4/7/09
One more example of the need for a restructuring of juvenile laws. These are not kids breaking a window playing baseball. These are criminals who have no regard for human life. They are raised to believe that society "owes" them, and if they are not getting what they want they will take it. This individual should have been charged with attempted first degree murder. He should be imprisioned until he turns 18, and then transferred to a state prison for the remainder of his sentence. Until we show these criminals that society will NOT tolerate this behavior, it will continue...

By: devolver on 4/7/09
Yep, it's time for violent criminals to be sentenced appropriately. I'm sick and tired of non-violent criminals getting harsher treatment by the "justice" system. Its a shame that you can get busted for being in possession of a controlled substance (a non-violent, victim-less crime) and receive a stiffer sentence than if you were to rob someone at gun point or beat someone with a shovel (both violent crimes with victims).

With the decriminalization of drugs, our courts and our jails wouldn't be clogged up with as many non-violent offenders so we could then concentrate on bringing about REAL justice to violent offenders, people who should be removed from society.

By: enoughisenough on 4/7/09
devolver
All Americans should read Peter McWilliams book "Ain't Nobody's Business If You Do." Subtitled "The Absurdity of Consensual Crimes in Our Free Country."
It was an eye opening read for me, as I have voted conservative in most of the last 30 years worth of elections!
If you don't want to purchase the book, it is available online free of charge, so no one has an excuse...lol

By: UnionLady1055 on 5/7/09
Excuse me... If you whip your child.. you go to jail.... That is part of the problem with today society.... Children get away with all kind of stuff that my Mother and Daddy would of busted my butt for! As I get older I realize what a WONDERFUL up bringing I had! I know the difference between right and wrong and my parents did their BEST. You tried hard at school and if you didn't... the parents were there to back up the teachers... of course we had REAL teachers too! What did this kid think he was doing... awhhhh he sees it on TV everyday and there is not much they are gonna do to him because he is a juvie!