Dad accused of killing son over sex abuse claim

[Admiral Yi]

Under 14, the lower bound just excludes you from dating people your own age or younger.

Right, and it excludes anyone older from dating *you*.

[garbon]

Which iis how it should be.

[merithyn]

And Dad goes to trial. I've gotta' say, it's hard to fault him for what happened. I know it's wrong; I know he shouldn't have done it; but it's damn hard to fault him.

link

HIGHLAND PARK, Mich. — A 15-year-old Michigan boy admitted having sex with a 3-year-old girl, so enraging his father that the man pulled a gun, marched the teen to an empty lot and shot him through the head, the father's defense attorney said Tuesday.

The lawyer for Jamar Pinkney Sr., 37, said he will pursue an insanity defense as a judge in the Detroit enclave of Highland Park ruled that Pinkney should stand trial on first-degree murder, assault and firearms charges in his son's Nov. 16 death.

Defense attorney Corbett O'Meara said Pinkney's son's confession would have driven anyone crazy.

"There is no rational response to the rape of a child," O'Meara said after the hearing. "He was immediately remorseful and didn't seek to hide. He turned himself in to the police."

Authorities haven't said if they believe the teen raped the girl and police have said the matter is not part of their investigation. Wayne County prosecutor's office spokeswoman Maria Miller declined to comment Tuesday on the nature of the sexual contact.

Pinkney's confrontation with his son came a day after the 3-year-old underwent an examination at Children's Hospital of Michigan. Results of the exam haven't been released, but the teen's mother said they indicated her son "had molested" the girl. The Associated Press is not naming the girl or detailing her relationship to the teen to avoid identifying a victim of sexual assault.

Lazette Cherry testified Tuesday that her son told her about his contact with the girl in a conversation that stretched long into the night. She said her son called his father about 3 a.m.

"Daddy, can you please forgive me in your heart, forgive what I did?" she quoted Jamar Pinkney Jr. as asking his father.

The mother said the elder Pinkney agreed to come to the house later to talk further. Cherry's sister, Yolanda Cherry, testified that Jamar Pinkney Sr. arrived about 10 a.m.

Yolanda Cherry said she and her sister talked about getting help for the teen, while Pinkney Sr. said he spoke with the 3-year-old's mother and she wanted to press charges.

"Jamar, is there something you want to tell me?" Yolanda Cherry quoted Pinkney Sr. as asking his son.

"He got on his knees in front of his dad and said, `I'm sorry,'" the aunt said.

"What did you do?" she quoted the father as asking.

"I humped (the girl)," the teen replied. "I need counseling."

Pinkney Sr. didn't immediately respond, Yolanda Cherry said, and she left to visit her mother's upstairs apartment. She later heard screaming and banging and rushed down to find Pinkney Sr. holding a handgun and beating his son.

Both sisters testified Pinkney Sr. ordered his son to undress and marched him outside. The teen's mother said Pinkney Sr. ordered the boy to kneel in the grass, ignoring his pleas for mercy.

"I said, `Jamar, stop. Don't do this. Think about what you're doing,'" Lazette Cherry testified.

She said Pinkney Sr. stood behind the boy and shot him in the head, then walked around still grasping the gun.

"He didn't want anybody to go back and help him," the mother said. After Pinkney Sr. left, she rushed to her son's side.

"He's bleeding, blood coming out of his mouth," she said. "Somebody said, `Get some covers, cover him up, keep him warm.' So that's what we did."

[Martinus]

Really? It's hard to fault him for a cold blooded murder? Are you fucking crazy?

[DGuller]

Really? It's hard to fault him for a cold blooded murder? Are you fucking crazy?

It was cold blooded in the heat of the moment, though.

[Ed Anger]

Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?

I so want to use that line one day. 

[merithyn]

Really? It's hard to fault him for a cold blooded murder? Are you fucking crazy?

No. The boy raped a 3-year-old girl. I didn't say that I agreed with what he did, but it's really hard for me to judge him for it. I don't know how I would react if one of my boys did something like that, but I can assure you that the police would likely be called, and I'd be arrested alongside my son.

Would I march him outside naked and shoot him in the head? No, not likely, but I do understand the emotion that led the father to do such a thing. Plus, we don't know who the three-year-old girl was. It could well have been the father's daughter, too.

[grumbler]

Really? It's hard to fault him for a cold blooded murder? Are you fucking crazy?

It was cold blooded in the heat of the moment, though.

Not very heat of the moment, though.

Gotta agree with Marti on this one.  Dad shot the kid to avoid the humiliation of the trial, sounds like to me.  That's a pretty selfish and despicable reason to murder someone, if I have pegged it right.

[grumbler]

Really? It's hard to fault him for a cold blooded murder? Are you fucking crazy?

No. The boy raped a 3-year-old girl. I didn't say that I agreed with what he did, but it's really hard for me to judge him for it. I don't know how I would react if one of my boys did something like that, but I can assure you that the police would likely be called, and I'd be arrested alongside my son.

Would I march him outside naked and shoot him in the head? No, not likely, but I do understand the emotion that led the father to do such a thing. Plus, we don't know who the three-year-old girl was. It could well have been the father's daughter, too.

I daresay you don't know the nature of the "sexual contact" any more than the dad did.

The son's actions are pretty hard to stomach, but the dad's are even more over the line than the kid's (and so would yours be, if you followed dad's example).  The son didn't kill anyone, and dad did.

[Neil]

If the kid had any self-respect, he would have killed himself.  Fucked for life on a victimless crime?  Just do yourself a favour.

[merithyn]

I daresay you don't know the nature of the "sexual contact" any more than the dad did.

The son's actions are pretty hard to stomach, but the dad's are even more over the line than the kid's (and so would yours be, if you followed dad's example).  The son didn't kill anyone, and dad did.

The aunt testified that the boy told the father that he "humped" the girl, and somewhere in the article it mentioned actual intercourse. I'd say that qualifies as rape, and crosses this line of yours.

I don't expect everyone to agree with me; I simply said that it would be difficult for me to judge the father on this. What he did was awful, but I can at least understand why he did it. And again, we don't know the relationship of the girl to the family. She could well have been the 15-year-old boy's sister.

If the man who killed the boy had been the father of the girl - and not the boy - would it be more "acceptable"?

[merithyn]

If the kid had any self-respect, he would have killed himself.  Fucked for life on a victimless crime?  Just do yourself a favour.

Victimless?

[grumbler]

The aunt testified that the boy told the father that he "humped" the girl, and somewhere in the article it mentioned actual intercourse. I'd say that qualifies as rape, and crosses this line of yours.   

No, it didn't mention "actual intercourse" and we don't know what the kid meant, because he is dead (with your seeming blessings).

I don't expect everyone to agree with me; I simply said that it would be difficult for me to judge the father on this. What he did was awful, but I can at least understand why he did it. And again, we don't know the relationship of the girl to the family. She could well have been the 15-year-old boy's sister.

It isn't that hard to judge the dad for cold-blooded murder.  Not for those of us with any sense for the sanctity of life.  The relationship of the girl to the kid isn't really relevant.  Dad would be no more, nor less, liable to the murder charge if it was a cousin or a stranger.  Dad doesn't get to kill people, period.  Why do you think the dad did it?  Because he thought it would restore the "virginity" of the three-year-old?

If the man who killed the boy had been the father of the girl - and not the boy - would it be more "acceptable"?

Understandable, yes.  Acceptable, no.

This was an "honor killing" as far as I can tell.

Care to defend it further?

[Neil]

If the kid had any self-respect, he would have killed himself.  Fucked for life on a victimless crime?  Just do yourself a favour.

Victimless?

Victimless.

[dps]

Neil, are you suggesting that the 3-year old was able to give meaningful consent?