http://nation.time.com/2013/08/20/australian-baseball-player-shot-dead-by-bored-teens-police-say/
Quote3 Teens Charged in Slaying of Australia Player
(DUNCAN, Okla.) — With a motive that's both chilling and simple — to break up the boredom of an Oklahoma summer — three teenagers randomly targeted an Australian collegiate baseball player who was attending school in the U.S. and killed him for fun, prosecutors said Tuesday as they charged two of the boys with murder.
Prosecutor Jason Hicks called the boys "thugs" as he described how Christopher Lane, 22, of Melbourne, was shot once in the back and died along a tree-lined road on Duncan's well-to-do north side. He said the three teens, from the grittier part of town, chose Lane at random and that one of the boys "thinks it's all a joke."
Hicks charged Chancey Allen Luna, 16, and James Francis Edwards, Jr., 15, of Duncan, with first-degree murder. Under Oklahoma law they will be tried as adults. Michael Dewayne Jones, 17, of Duncan, was charged with using a vehicle in the discharge of a weapon and with accessory to first-degree murder after the fact. He is considered a youthful offender but will be tried in adult court.
Jones wept in the courtroom after he tried to speak about the incident but was cut off by the judge who said it wasn't the time to sort out the facts of the case. Jones faces anywhere from two years to life in prison if convicted on the counts he faces.
The two younger teens face life in prison without parole if convicted on the murder charge.
"I'm appalled," Hicks said after the hearing. "This is not supposed to happen in this community."
In court, Hicks said Luna was sitting in the back seat of a car when he pulled the trigger on a .22 caliber revolver and shot Lane once in the back. Hicks said Jones was driving the vehicle and Edwards was in the passenger seat.
Edwards has had prior run-ins with the law and came to court Friday — apparently after the shooting — to sign documents related to his juvenile probation.
"I believe this man is a threat to the community and should not be let out," Hicks said as he requested no bond for Edwards. "He thinks it's all a joke."
The two younger boys were held without bond; bond was set at $1 million for Jones.
Before the hearing, Edwards' father, James Edwards Sr., said he knew where his son was 95 percent of the time and would call or text him. The 15-year-old was involved in wrestling and football, his father said, and was trying to forge the same sort of athletic career as Lane. He was heading into his sophomore year in high school.
Edwards Sr. said Luna was also like a son to him.
Luna's mother, Jennifer Luna, said her son likes to play basketball at a local court and play on his iPhone and Xbox.
"I know my son. He is a good kid," she said.
Lane played baseball at East Central University in Ada, 85 miles east of Duncan, and had been visiting his girlfriend and her parents in Duncan after he and his girlfriend returned to the U.S. from Australia about a week ago.
Duncan police Chief Dan Ford has said the boys wanted to overcome a boring end to their summer vacation — classes in Duncan resumed Tuesday — and that Jones told officers they were bored and killed Lane for "the fun of it."
Family and friends on two continents were mourning Lane, who gave up pursuit of an Australian football career to pursue his passion for baseball, an American pastime. His girlfriend, Sarah Harper, tearfully laid a cross at a streetside memorial in Duncan, while half a world away, an impromptu memorial grew at the home plate he protected as a catcher on his youth team.
"We just thought we'd leave it," Harper said as she visited the memorial in Duncan. "This is his final spot."
His old baseball team, Essendon, scheduled a memorial game for Sunday to raise funds for Lane's parents as they worked to have their boy's remains sent home. Meanwhile, Essendon Catholic School, where Lane was a student, planned to remember him at a memorial Mass in November.
Melbourne's Herald Sun newspaper reported that roses and a baseball were placed Monday on the home plate where Lane played as a youth with the message, "A wonderful young man taken too soon. Why?"
Former Australia deputy prime minister Tim Fischer criticized the National Rifle Association and asked Australians to avoid the U.S. as a way to force its Congress to act on gun control.
"Tourists thinking of going to the USA should think twice," Fischer told the Herald Sun. "I am deeply angry about this because of the callous attitude of the three teenagers (but) it's a sign of the proliferation of guns on the ground in the USA. There is a gun for almost every American."
They solved their problem, from now on they'll live in a very stimulating environment.
Let this be a call to arms to fix the inhumanity of American style settlement patterns.
No?
Ok then.
Quote from: Tyr on August 21, 2013, 03:26:57 AM
Let this be a call to arms to fix the inhumanity of American style settlement patterns.
No?
Ok then.
Lol, wut?
QuoteFormer Australia deputy prime minister Tim Fischer criticized the National Rifle Association and asked Australians to avoid the U.S. as a way to force its Congress to act on gun control.
Really think highly of themselves, don't they?
QuoteFormer Australia deputy prime minister Tim Fischer criticized the National Rifle Association and asked Australians to avoid the U.S. as a way to force its Congress to act on gun control.
Oh no, what about our Yahoo Serious movies and Yahtzee Croshaw convention appearances?
Quote from: Razgovory on August 21, 2013, 04:34:37 AM
Quote from: Tyr on August 21, 2013, 03:26:57 AM
Let this be a call to arms to fix the inhumanity of American style settlement patterns.
No?
Ok then.
Lol, wut?
They killed the guy because they were bored, crappy American style urban design leads to bordom. I'm making a silly yet logical connection.
Quote from: Tyr on August 21, 2013, 05:53:31 AM
I'm making a silly yet logical connection.
you're half right.
Quote"Tourists thinking of going to the USA should think twice," Fischer told the Herald Sun. "I am deeply angry about this because of the callous attitude of the three teenagers (but) it's a sign of the proliferation of guns on the ground in the USA. There is a gun for almost every American."
:lol: Dude, we've been killing people out of boredom since the 1700's. Shit ain't new.
I think Australians, of all people, are very badly placed to judge on Americans' propension to kill random strangers for fun.
We've all seen The Road Warrior. We know how Aussies roll.
This is a damn sick thing done by these three jack assess. I can understand why some of the Australian news is hyped up over this senseless murder.
Quote from: Tyr on August 21, 2013, 05:53:31 AM
They killed the guy because they were bored, crappy American style urban design leads to bordom. I'm making a silly yet logical connection.
They live in Bumfuck, Oklahoma. I would not consider anything in Duncan "urban".
Quote from: Baron von Schtinkenbutt on August 21, 2013, 10:13:07 AM
Quote from: Tyr on August 21, 2013, 05:53:31 AM
They killed the guy because they were bored, crappy American style urban design leads to bordom. I'm making a silly yet logical connection.
They live in Bumfuck, Oklahoma. I would not consider anything in Duncan "urban".
Then I guess our crappy rural style is to blame :(
If it wasn't Oklahoma, I'd have figured the kid named "Dewayne" was black.
Quote from: Lettow77 on August 21, 2013, 04:36:10 AM
QuoteFormer Australia deputy prime minister Tim Fischer criticized the National Rifle Association and asked Australians to avoid the U.S. as a way to force its Congress to act on gun control.
Really think highly of themselves, don't they?
The Aussies are in election mode. This issue is very low hanging fruit.
Quote from: Peter Wiggin on August 21, 2013, 10:30:52 AM
If it wasn't Oklahoma, I'd have figured the kid named "Dewayne" was black.
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Black people in rural Oklahoma? My world is shattered. :lol:
DeWayne should have changed his name and tried to pass for white.
Quote from: Admiral Yi on August 21, 2013, 11:36:32 AM
DeWayne should have changed his name and tried to pass for white.
He should have said he thought the guy looked suspicious and started to run after him when he tried to check an address.
Quote from: Peter Wiggin on August 21, 2013, 11:35:19 AM
Black people in rural Oklahoma? My world is shattered. :lol:
They formed entire towns in Oklahoma (and Kansas) in order to escape discrimination and so forth. The Great Oklahoma Land (stealing) Run coincided with blacks fleeing ths South. Naturally lynchings and brutality followed. The whole history of Oklahoma is filled with suck.
Jesse Jackson has weighed in with a strongly worded statement on Twitter:
"This senseless violence is frowned upon and the justice system must prevail."
Will zombie Clarence Darrow save them from the DP?
Well, at least it's nice to see blacks and whites working in harmony toward a common goal.
Quote from: Valmy on August 21, 2013, 02:05:45 PM
Quote from: Peter Wiggin on August 21, 2013, 11:35:19 AM
Black people in rural Oklahoma? My world is shattered. :lol:
They formed entire towns in Oklahoma (and Kansas) in order to escape discrimination and so forth. The Great Oklahoma Land (stealing) Run coincided with blacks fleeing ths South. Naturally lynchings and brutality followed. The whole history of Oklahoma is filled with suck.
U just mad they were better than the Longhorns last year.
Bill in Sinton says wave your flags.
Quote from: Kleves on August 21, 2013, 04:48:40 PM
Well, at least it's nice to see blacks and whites working in harmony toward a common goal.
None of the suspects are white.
Quote from: Kleves on August 21, 2013, 04:48:40 PM
Well, at least it's nice to see blacks and whites working in harmony toward a common goal.
They've been doing that for a long time. Haven't you seen any of the Death Wish movies?
Quote from: garbon on August 21, 2013, 04:56:36 PM
Quote from: Kleves on August 21, 2013, 04:48:40 PM
Well, at least it's nice to see blacks and whites working in harmony toward a common goal.
None of the suspects are white.
How do you classify the guy in the middle?
Quote from: garbon on August 21, 2013, 04:56:36 PM
Quote from: Kleves on August 21, 2013, 04:48:40 PM
Well, at least it's nice to see blacks and whites working in harmony toward a common goal.
None of the suspects are white.
The middle kid even has light colored eyes, even under the most stringent definition how is he not white?
Quote from: Jacob on August 21, 2013, 05:13:02 PM
Quote from: garbon on August 21, 2013, 04:56:36 PM
Quote from: Kleves on August 21, 2013, 04:48:40 PM
Well, at least it's nice to see blacks and whites working in harmony toward a common goal.
None of the suspects are white.
How do you classify the guy in the middle?
Murderer.
Quote from: Razgovory on August 21, 2013, 05:37:25 PM
Quote from: Jacob on August 21, 2013, 05:13:02 PM
Quote from: garbon on August 21, 2013, 04:56:36 PM
Quote from: Kleves on August 21, 2013, 04:48:40 PM
Well, at least it's nice to see blacks and whites working in harmony toward a common goal.
None of the suspects are white.
How do you classify the guy in the middle?
Murderer.
Reminds me of the guy Hattiesburg PD picked up for a human trafficking charge a month ago. On the custody form, the smartass cop wrote, under occupation, "Human Trafficker." The guy's attorney got a kick out of that.
Quote from: Scipio on August 21, 2013, 05:43:51 PM
Reminds me of the guy Hattiesburg PD picked up for a human trafficking charge a month ago. On the custody form, the smartass cop wrote, under occupation, "Human Trafficker." The guy's attorney got a kick out of that.
:lol: Awesome.
And this is why we have staff review, people.
Quote from: Razgovory on August 21, 2013, 05:37:25 PM
Quote from: Jacob on August 21, 2013, 05:13:02 PM
Quote from: garbon on August 21, 2013, 04:56:36 PM
Quote from: Kleves on August 21, 2013, 04:48:40 PM
Well, at least it's nice to see blacks and whites working in harmony toward a common goal.
None of the suspects are white.
How do you classify the guy in the middle?
Murderer.
Well played, Raz.
Quote from: dps on August 21, 2013, 05:57:14 PMWell played, Raz.
Indeed :lol:
... though he should probably wait until the trial is done. It's possible that one or more of the three guys is in fact not guilty of murder (or accessory to same).
Quote from: Jacob on August 21, 2013, 06:00:59 PM
Quote from: dps on August 21, 2013, 05:57:14 PMWell played, Raz.
Indeed :lol:
... though he should probably wait until the trial is done. It's possible that one or more of the three guys is in fact not guilty of murder (or accessory to same).
Probably the one who's best at stopping the run.
Quote from: Peter Wiggin on August 21, 2013, 07:11:30 PM
Probably the one who's best at stopping the run.
Are you kidding? It's Oklahoma. Those three guys, it's back to the Split-T.
Quote from: Jacob on August 21, 2013, 05:13:02 PM
Quote from: garbon on August 21, 2013, 04:56:36 PM
Quote from: Kleves on August 21, 2013, 04:48:40 PM
Well, at least it's nice to see blacks and whites working in harmony toward a common goal.
None of the suspects are white.
How do you classify the guy in the middle?
High yaller.
Quote from: DGuller on August 21, 2013, 05:02:58 PM
Quote from: Kleves on August 21, 2013, 04:48:40 PM
Well, at least it's nice to see blacks and whites working in harmony toward a common goal.
They've been doing that for a long time. Haven't you seen any of the Death Wish movies?
Fucking Jeff Goldblum. :mad:
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Quote from: KRonn on August 21, 2013, 09:55:39 AM
This is a damn sick thing done by these three jack assess. I can understand why some of the Australian news is hyped up over this senseless murder.
It was not senseless. These guys had all kind of gansta shit in their facebook page. They are Cribs, or Cribs sympathizers.
They didn't kill out of boredom, oh no.
They killed as a rite of passage, gansta shit, and according to their own statements, to gain notoriety and "respect", and "street cred".
By the way,
these were 3 black dudes doing the killing, so the mainstream media is not even mentioning all this shit.
Had this been 3 white dudes shooting a black student, the media would have been on fire by now.
Now, the aussies are blaming this on gun control. I can't see what this have to do with US gun laws. These dudes were teenagers. There is no law in the US that allows teens to buy and own firearms. They got their guns illegally. This have nothing to do with gun laws.
How many goats in wells did it take to establish your West Bank cred, Siegy? WESSIDE
So, you are a racist now Siege?
Quote from: Siege on August 21, 2013, 07:46:06 PM
By the way, these were 3 black dudes doing the killing, so the mainstream media is not even mentioning all this shit.
Um.. no. It was two black kids and one white one. Not to rain on your racist rant or anything.
Quote from: Capetan Mihali on August 21, 2013, 07:26:11 PM
Quote from: Jacob on August 21, 2013, 05:13:02 PM
Quote from: garbon on August 21, 2013, 04:56:36 PM
Quote from: Kleves on August 21, 2013, 04:48:40 PM
Well, at least it's nice to see blacks and whites working in harmony toward a common goal.
None of the suspects are white.
How do you classify the guy in the middle?
High yaller.
With brown hair and light green eyes? :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
Quote from: merithyn on August 21, 2013, 07:59:36 PM
Quote from: Siege on August 21, 2013, 07:46:06 PM
By the way, these were 3 black dudes doing the killing, so the mainstream media is not even mentioning all this shit.
Um.. no. It was two black kids and one white one. Not to rain on your racist rant or anything.
Someone has been a bad influence on our Siege. Last week he linked us to some Neo-Nazi bullshit.
Quote from: Siege on August 21, 2013, 07:46:06 PM
They are Cribs, or Cribs sympathizers.
Crips I believe.
Quote from: Admiral Yi on August 21, 2013, 08:05:01 PM
Quote from: Siege on August 21, 2013, 07:46:06 PM
They are Cribs, or Cribs sympathizers.
Crips I believe.
In rural Oklahoma? Wannabes, I'd think.
Then again, my knowledge of Oklahoma comes largely from viewing tornado damage on The Weather Channel.
Quote from: jimmy olsen on August 21, 2013, 08:01:41 PM
Quote from: Capetan Mihali on August 21, 2013, 07:26:11 PM
Quote from: Jacob on August 21, 2013, 05:13:02 PM
Quote from: garbon on August 21, 2013, 04:56:36 PM
Quote from: Kleves on August 21, 2013, 04:48:40 PM
Well, at least it's nice to see blacks and whites working in harmony toward a common goal.
None of the suspects are white.
How do you classify the guy in the middle?
High yaller.
With brown hair and light green eyes? :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
if black kids with green eyes blow your mind don't go to brazil.
Quote from: dps on August 21, 2013, 08:07:12 PM
In rural Oklahoma? Wannabes, I'd think.
Then again, my knowledge of Oklahoma comes largely from viewing tornado damage on The Weather Channel.
I have no idea if they are wannabe Crips or not. Just pointing out to Seeb that he probably got the spelling wrong.
Quote from: HVC on August 21, 2013, 08:07:48 PM
Quote from: jimmy olsen on August 21, 2013, 08:01:41 PM
Quote from: Capetan Mihali on August 21, 2013, 07:26:11 PM
Quote from: Jacob on August 21, 2013, 05:13:02 PM
Quote from: garbon on August 21, 2013, 04:56:36 PM
Quote from: Kleves on August 21, 2013, 04:48:40 PM
Well, at least it's nice to see blacks and whites working in harmony toward a common goal.
None of the suspects are white.
How do you classify the guy in the middle?
High yaller.
With brown hair and light green eyes? :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
if black kids with green eyes blow your mind don't go to brazil.
His skin doesn't even look Mediterranean in complexion, you're probably darker than him and you're white, where is this idea that's he's black coming from?
CNN reported it as 3 black kids. My guess is he's half white.
Quote from: Admiral Yi on August 21, 2013, 08:23:13 PM
CNN reported it as 3 black kids. My guess is he's half white.
One drop bullshit.
Quote from: Admiral Yi on August 21, 2013, 08:23:13 PM
CNN reported it as 3 black kids. My guess is he's half white.
Both of Edwards' parents were black. Luna's mom was white and dad was black. Both of Jones' parents were white. This is according to the Duncan Chief of Police.
This was another case where I struggled... at first. Then I read the reports of Edwards strutting into the jail after he was arrested, dancing and singing. Given his background (his mother has multiple drug convictions and has served jail off-and-on all of Edwards' life), I don't believe that boy understands right from wrong. I think he's a sociopath in the truest sense of the word, and I can't see how that can or will change.
There isn't much on the other two. Luna's father was apparently killed in a motorcycle accident a year ago, and his mother is engaged to be married. He's the one who pulled the trigger.
Jones' girlfriend is pregnant. He's the one who rolled over on the other two. Apparently, he lasted about a minute and a half before doing so.
All of this leaves me feeling sick.
Quote from: merithyn on August 21, 2013, 09:21:02 PM
He's the one who rolled over on the other two. Apparently, he lasted about a minute and a half before doing so.
Punks usually do. All smack talk and tough guy bullshit until they're in the box, and then it's all crying for Mommy.
Quote from: merithyn on August 21, 2013, 09:21:02 PM
Quote from: Admiral Yi on August 21, 2013, 08:23:13 PM
CNN reported it as 3 black kids. My guess is he's half white.
Both of Edwards' parents were black. Luna's mom was white and dad was black. Both of Jones' parents were white. This is according to the Duncan Chief of Police.
Ah, I stand corrected.
Quote from: merithyn on August 21, 2013, 09:21:02 PM
Quote from: Admiral Yi on August 21, 2013, 08:23:13 PM
CNN reported it as 3 black kids. My guess is he's half white.
Both of Edwards' parents were black. Luna's mom was white and dad was black. Both of Jones' parents were white. This is according to the Duncan Chief of Police.
This was another case where I struggled... at first. Then I read the reports of Edwards strutting into the jail after he was arrested, dancing and singing. Given his background (his mother has multiple drug convictions and has served jail off-and-on all of Edwards' life), I don't believe that boy understands right from wrong. I think he's a sociopath in the truest sense of the word, and I can't see how that can or will change.
There isn't much on the other two. Luna's father was apparently killed in a motorcycle accident a year ago, and his mother is engaged to be married. He's the one who pulled the trigger.
Jones' girlfriend is pregnant. He's the one who rolled over on the other two. Apparently, he lasted about a minute and a half before doing so.
All of this leaves me feeling sick.
Well they aren't exactly adults. Kids are often stupid.
A couple of teens in Spokane beat a wounded WWII vet to death in another apparently random murder:
QuoteAn 88-year-old wounded veteran of World War II died Thursday after he was brutally beaten, apparently at random, in the parking lot of his lodge in Spokane, Wash., authorities said.
Spokane police said they were seeking two suspects in the attack Wednesday night on Delbert "Shorty" Belton, a retired aluminum company worker who'd lived in the city for most of his life after he was discharged from the Army after the war. Belton died of his injuries Thursday morning, police said.
The suspects were described as black males of average build, 16 to 19 years old, wearing black clothing and red sneakers. Police Lt. Mark Griffiths said they apparently attacked Belton at random.
"It appears he was assaulted in the parking lot, and there was no indication that he would have known these people prior to the assault," Griffiths said at a news conference.
As police released surveillance camera photos of two young men believed to be the suspects, a makeshift memorial overflowing with flowers, U.S. flags and messages of sympathy sprouted Thursday outside the Eagles Lodge in North Spokane.
Friends and family remembered Belton as a warm, generous man who helped many people over the years.
Belton was waiting for a friend at the lodge because he didn't want her to walk in alone, Lillian Duncan, a longtime friend, told the Spokesman-Review of Spokane.
"He was so awesome," Duncan told the newspaper. "Anybody that didn't get to know him missed out on a wonderful angel in their life."
Many others told similar stories.
"If it wouldn't have been for him, I wouldn't have been able to get my life straight," Belton's great-nephew Allen Hills told NBC station KHQ of Spokane.
Hills said he had hit bottom about 10 years ago in California, where he was unemployed and sleeping on his mother's sofa. That's when his great-uncle stepped in with the offer of a car and a new life in Washington state.
"It seems trivial, but he really did save my life," Hills said. "He made it possible for me to get a job and find work."
Ted Dennison, a friend, called Belton "a tough old bird" who was shot in the leg in the 1945 Battle of Okinawa. His experiences in the war didn't appear to have dampened Belton's instinct to help others, Denison said.
"He was always there any time I needed anything," Denison told KHQ.
Belton died the same day another Spokane man was killed in a confrontation with police, a manifestation of what Hills said was the "senseless violence" plaguing the city of 210,000 in eastern Washington.
"It's too much, and it's constant and never-ending," said Hills, who said Belton was just the latest victim.
"He wasn't just my great-uncle," Hills said. "He was a great person, and he didn't deserve to die like that."