Lionel Tate, the 18-year old man who killed a little girl when he was 12, is just beginning a life in and out of the criminal justice system. A wasted life.
This young idiot, convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison, got a second chance at freedom after an appeals court threw out the conviction. He won a new trial and plead guilty to second-degree murder. Tate was sentenced to time served (3 years) and was put under house arrest for one year and 10 years probation. So what does the young fool do with this gift? Flushes it down the toilet. For a pizza.
Tate ordered a pizza and pointed a gun at the delivery guy. I don’t know about you, but I sense an IQ deficiency.
So Tate eats the food, waits for the cops to arrive and denies he has a gun. He’s been charged with armed robbery. I hope the judge sends him back to jail for a long, long time.
{ 27 comments }
Toss him under the jail! He has psychotic tendencies. Perhaps he should have never been released.
I think a lot of criminals hide behind the IQ defense, to avoid hard time.
I think it’s more arrogance, especially with teens. They know, because of their age, they’ll never be held accountable.
That Native American kid, living on the Reservation, who killed all those people—- That smirk on his face during the mug shot said it all: Pure arrogance.
I can get away with it. I’ll get off. You can’t touch me.
Maybe he thought Tribal Law would get him off, and guess what?…… I’m not so sure it won’t, considering Native Americans are a “Sovereign” Nation and not subject to U.S. Law.
Sigh. Who knows these days. Kids see everyone else walk, and nobody takes responsibility for anything. They think they, too, can get away with it.
And they can, I guess.
This young “boy” is a product of poor parenting and having his ego stroked by family, not being held truly accountable for his dastardly actions. He only served 3 years and 10 more on probation? He just doesn’t appreciate the full breadth of what he avoided, this is why he would do something as blatanlty stupid as this! There must not be a “real” daddy around to teach him what is right. Mental problems are a scapegoat, I have several relatives who are developmentally disabled (pc term for retarded) and I assure you, they know right from wrong, and in many instances have excercised more common sense than many of my so called “normal” relatives and siblings! Having never gone to prison or been convicted of any crime while I have several normal relatives who have been convicted several times over!
He should pay for his crime to the full extent, period. More Probation is merely perpetuating that victim mentality in him even more.
lashawn, please dont use fox news as your reporting source… why don’t you read this report which sounds a lot different than what fox reported:
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/front/11721515.htm
There’s nothing in that article that’s different from the other stories. If you want to comment on this blog, I suggest you drop the accusations and sarcasm (which I deleted). – Admin
It’s good that it happened the way that it did and nobody got hurt. There’s no question that this kid is going to kill again someday. He should never have been released to begin with.
I live in South Florida, and everyone here knows that the kid is just a a rampage waiting to happen. Hopefully now they’ll return him to the cell he long ago earned.
Wow…
The kid was 12 when the young girl died…do any of you know anything about psychological development? Next you will be advocating the death penalty for unborn babies whose birth causes the mother today…
Granted, robbing the pizza guy is absolutely stupid, and he should be held accountable through the justice system…however all of this kill em rhetoric makes me sick…
“Toss him under the jail! He has psychotic tendencies. Perhaps he should have never been released.”
“Fry him and screw what those idiots in the supreme court say. ”
“It’s good that it happened the way that it did and nobody got hurt. There’s no question that this kid is going to kill again someday. He should never have been released to begin with.”
All I can say is wow, maybe Christ shouldn’t have died for your sins…
Now the “fry him” comment was deleted because it was out of line. Still, I predict that without spiritual intervention, the kid’s lost. I’ll pray for him.
Yes, Christ died for man’s sins, but no one else should have to die for Tate’s sins. He couldn’t behave for just one year of house arrest (out of his home with a knife during the night). Now, it took him only 4 months to violate his probation (that we know of). He will kill again. We have a way to stop it. Lock him up.
Hang him.
Dell Gines wrote (# 6);
“The kid was 12 when the young girl died…do any of you know anything about psychological development?”
Sigh… This seems to be a favorite cry of the left: we need to *understand* the criminal because:
a) abused as a child
b) unfortunate socio-economic background
c) mother drank while pregnant
d) father abandoned mother and child
e) etc, etc, etc
This is the kind of thinking that turns our prisons into revolving doors, so that violent, repeat offenders keep being released until the finally do something so heinous that they are locked away for life… or executed. This is the kind of thinking the lets criminals off on probation so they’re free to commit other crimes. And ironically, this is the kind of thinking that causes mandatory minimum sentences and ‘three strikes you’re out’ laws, because citizens get sick and tired of parole boards coddling psychopaths and demand that the criminals be put away no matter what the circumstance.
Unless it can be demonstrated that the criminal was insane (i.e. could not tell the difference between right and wrong) when a crime was committed, I DON’T CARE ABOUT HIS ‘PSYCHOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT.’ I care that he’s put into prison for a long, long time… or swings from the end of a rope. I’m not really choosy.
To equate that Christ shouldn’t have died for our sins becuase someone advocates a criminal being locked up is, for lack of a better word, offensive. There is plenty of room for this young offender to be forgiven, by those he has brought pain and suffering to, and by God. Forgiveness doesn’t mean that a second chance should be given in lieu of consequences for poor choices or behavior.
Forgiveness does not equate a free ride. Not in the Bible, and not here either. This young criminal will only see true spiritual freedom by repenting his crimes. Then he can achieve the other freedom by being held accountable.
Chris uses the “R” word! Gutsy move.
Jail is where he belongs. This is another instance of judicial advocacy thwarting the will of the people–who were represented in the jury–that sent this violent bastard to jail for life.
He already MURDERED someone. He only got three years and then is threatening people with guns.
This only supports Sowell’s claim that liberal judges let the killers and drug dealers go because they never go to the Judges’ neighborhood but terrorize everyone else.
I find it funny. When it comes to employment or education the MSM denies that intelligence can be measured and denies that intelligence tests are relevant. Yet let a perp commit a crime and all of sudden intelligence can be measured and intelligences tests are important. Sure.
“The kid was 12 when the young girl died…do any of you know anything about psychological development?”
I know this: I was twelve once, and so was every other adult or teenager on planet Earth. Twelve-year-olds play with six-year-olds all the time, without killing them. It is not a normal phase of development for a twelve-year-old to kill a six-year-old.
That’s the nature of the politically correct beast, David.
I propose a rule, that when a judge (or governor) reduces the sentence of a guy like this for any reason other than strong evidence of innocence, then the person who reduced the sentence should have to live with the person for a year. The state will pay rent for a spare room in the judge’s house.
Let’s see how eager they are to let violent criminals go when they have to live with the consequences of their high-minded attitudes.
South Florida is a very liberal area, they want to release every criminal. (This is the area that had the problems in 2000) I am sure they are already trying to figure out how to free the 17-year-old who raped the eight year old and put her in a dumpster. The paper already mentioned how the guy had a hard upbringing.
LB-
I think most of us are tired of forgiveness being used like a rented tux. People cheapen it by equating it to a free pass to continue bad behavior, and when they use it to mean that it replaces consequences for poor choices.
A little more Bible reading would help people out, but that’s a little too hard to do.
There seems to be a serious lack of understanding about forgiveness. It is, first of all, a totally selfless act. It is an act of love. It doesn’t erase whatever wrong has been done. Young Mr. Tate is going to have to face the consequences of his actions. That is just and right. Forgiveness doesn’t remove punishment or abolish the need for justice. (A born-again believer should understand that even though his/her sins have been forgiven, there was a price paid for them. That forgiveness wasn’t free.)
I dare say that for human beings, forgiveness–the singular act of forgiving–is more important for the forgiver than the forgiven. Why let anything cause you to become bitter? Harboring unforgiveness can breed hate. Why should you carry that in your heart?
I know what I am talking about scripturally and experientially. I could have chosen to hate the man who murdered my uncle in cold blood for NO reason. I could have exacted revenge on him and may have even gotten away with it. I thank God for showing me that would serve no purpose. I forgave him. In doing so, I spared myself a life of grief.
So no, forgiveness isn’t some sort of rented tux. It is one of the bedrocks of my Messianic (you’d call it Judeo-Christian) faith. Had God chosen not to provide a vehicle for my salvation in Jesus, I’d be hopeless. In Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, there is forgiveness of sin. He paid the price for my forgiveness. So I can’t begin to regard such an act of love as insignificant by failing to imitate it in my own life.
Bible reading isn’t the hard part: it is bible LIVING that is the issue. Bible LOVING causes folks to faint. Without it forgiveness is FOREIGN. Forgiveness and logic are often complete strangers, just as logic and love are.
So, Mr. Tate will have to deal with his actions. Personally, I will be praying for his redemption, no matter what the court ultimately decides. Why? Because, if not for the GRACE of God, I could have been in an even worse scenario. You too.
Something is not “right” with him.
He must do time.
Rafael-
Well said.
With reference to the intelligence factor, I was indeed saddened back then that a 12-year old imitating big time wrestling couldn’t perceive that body slams could be lethal.
I don’t even let my kids watch that silliness — nevertheless, my 6 year-old son manages to find stupid & painful things to do to his siblings without realizing the consequences due to some idea he picked up from the neighborhood. But granted, given his present intelligence, there would be no excuse for my boy were he to pull something similar at age 12.
I felt that if that kid really didn’t know what he was doing due to mental impairment equal to that of a 6 or 7 year-old, then putting him in jail wasn’t really justice. All the same, putting a “retarded” boy with hardened criminals, are we surprised when this happens? Also, how did the boy get his hand on a gun?
But I also picked up on MSM snippets that the IQ deal was a defense ploy. But not “knowing” the truth and all the facts, I could only shrug my shoulders and hope for the best.
Apparently, the jury cut thru the smoke and mirrors and properly convicted the 12-year old.
Dell,
Even at 12 I knew right from wrong. And guess what, my parents were divorced, living in seperate states and gasp! My Mom had to work to support my brother and I. This from the time I was 5. I *KNEW* right from wrong. WITHOUT parental guidance. I KNEW killing ANYONE was wrong. Psychology is a farce, as far as I’m concerned, used by the liberal elite to condone their behaviour when it’s morally and ethically repugnant…”oh, it’s not his fault because” add your favorite defense there. Abused by parents, neglected by parents, no friends, etc etc….Bipolar, etc…
Whatever, it’s all garbage. I can forgive him for his behaviour, but that doesn’t absolve him of culpability and the punishment that goes with it.
He DESERVES HARSH punishment, moreso for killing the child than for the robbery …But the robbery exacerbates the situation and he deserves MORE punishment, not “oh he was abused! whine whine whine, we need to understand him!” ….get real. You’re type cause more problems than you solve with your ‘understanding’.
Dan
“Psychology is a farce, as far as I’m concerned”—-Dan
Dan, you are quite right. And, there is some scientific evidence to back that up. I suggest you read some of Thomas Szasz. He’s on the Internet. Dr. Szasz (I hope I’m spelling that correctly) is a psychiatrist who blew the lid off all the psychiatric games the Mental Health Community plays.
Much of Psychology says you don’t have a choice.
It’s not your fault.
You couldn’t help yourself.
That’s the sham of the Mental Health Community, and their philosophies. And, it’s in direct contradiction to the Judeo-Christian Bible, which says we do have a choice, and can always choose between good and evil.
Not all psychology is bad, though. Christian counseling, coaching, mentorships, groups……are great.
Unfortunately the mainstream Mental Health Community has written off all of those things, above, and instead, has become obsessed with normalizing deviant behavior so they can drug everyone—-and have even less accountability.
IMHO IMHO IMHO
Sad.
Glamchild, what’s that verse about Man being wise in their own eyes!
That’s the problem with the liberal tendency to fix man’s problems with man-made solutions.
The animal should have been in prison.
There’s a 17 year old who raped and left a little girl for dead in a dumpster. He put cement blocks on her.
Thanks to the infinite wisdom of the Supreme Court he won’t get the death penalty because it’s cruel and unusual. Unlike what he did to that child.
He commited murder and so he should never be allowed to see the light of day he should be hung from a tree i mean like they did when they had the neck tie parties from the back of a horse and with a rope and a good stout tree
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