Boy Charged With Killing Baby Sister After Becoming Frustrated With Video Game

Morbid I have to agree with you.Being that he is only 13. I doubt if he knew you don’t shake babies, that it could kill them.Some 13 yearolds are immature and should not be caring for babies.I feel the parents as well should share in the blaim here.He looks like he would be the impatient type and iam sure his parents had witnessed that countless times.Sad story either way.

Yeah the parents should be in jail. The 13-year old should not have been expected to care for a 9 month old. I hate people like this that procreate and expect older children to raise the younger ones. Funny how they tried to cover the story with a fall, the covering up reeks of guilt.

As a gamer I know how easy it is to get pissed and want to shoot a bow and arrow at your television so I can’t fault the boy for that. Plus he’s 13 with hormones raging and doesn’t know how to control things yet.

What he did was horrible but I don’t believe he meant to cause any harm. I hope he’s about to get out when he’s 18.

As for the parents there’s no way in hell I would let a 13 year old anything babysit my child for long periods of time. It’s not fair of them to treat their son like a nanny at an age when he should be out playing with friends. 

I knew better when I was 13 … so this kid gets no sympathy  from me.I do agree that the parents suck.Why have kids if you are not able to care and provide for them yourself ?

i would never let my 13 year old babysit his younger sisters. I think the 3 year old acts more mature than him sometimes. Pretty sure the boy knew not to hurt the baby, but crying babies are stressful for people 3x his age, and that was too much responsibility for someone his age. Sad

So did I Cedric,Having older siblings makes one mature faster.Not all 13 yearolds are mature enough to handle constant baby sitting of a younger sibling.To many parents do this and it is not fair to either sibling.

What shame.  That boy should have NEVER been in charge of that baby.  Does the story say anywhere if he had other siblings or if there was an empty 12 year gap between kids?   Imagine- 12/13 years old you have been an only child, no responsibilities, no other siblings to care for so you know nothing about caring for younger children and all of the sudden you are stuck as the primary caregiver of an infant with, I’m sure, little to no instruction on HOW to care for an infant!  These parents should be strung up. 

I’m sure he knew better.  It’s called social learning.  I’ve seen countless “CSI” and crime-shows where infants die of shaken-baby syndrome, so even if he didn’t know the exact trauma that occurs when babies are shaken, he would have enough sense to know it’s something you “don’t” do because of repeated warning messages in the media. 

I can’t imagine a 13-year old boy babysitting a 9-month old infant.  Feeding, changing diapers, being an alert caregiver.  Infants are too much of a responsibility for anyone who’s going to lock themselves into a game all day long.

unless he is a sociopath the agony he will endure over killing his sister will be a terrible punishment in itself.  He should never have been put int his position.  

I can’t believe the people here who feel sorry for this kid. He killed his sister! He’s 13 years old AND HE IS OLD ENOUGH TO KNOW THAT WOULD HARM THE BABY IN SOME WAY. Don’t give me that crap he didn’t know. Don’t take this out on the parents. That kid shouldn’t have been playing the stupid video game while he was watching his sister.  As for him being too young to watch a 9-month-old…well maybe. But you know what? Parents do what they need to do to survive. Maybe they couldn’t afford a babysitter. It’s so easy to lay blame on the parents. But the fact remains that THIS kid CHOSE to shake the baby. He deserves consequences for his actions. If that means, jail then so be it. 

I have two 11 year olds that know you never shake babies. However, I would never leave them with a 9 month old. I don’t even trust them with their 7 year old brother. They’re good kids, but they’re just that–KIDS. They want to play and have fun, not be saddled with responsibilities. It’s not fair to expect a 13 year old child to give up his summer to watch his infant sister. I’m not saying his actions were okay, but the parents really are to blame in this situation.

So take a child that acted out of the immaturity that comes with being 13 and put him in jail for a severe moment of stupidity, most likely turning him into a hardened criminal before he’s old enough to vote? That’s a great idea.

Maybe they couldn’t have afforded daycare for both kids but I’m sure they could have found someone for the baby other than their son who was not an age that can handle babies consistently like that. Maybe a few hours here or there but not everyday while the parents work. People in their thirties have a hard time with babies day in and day out, how is a 13 year old supposed to handle that? 

This story is filled with so much wrong, it’s sad that in all came to a head in this way. I have to agree that leaving a kid to care for an infant is not the smartest move. They know what causes pregnancy now and I strongly feel that if you don’t have the means to care for a kid you shouldn’t have one. Who can say if the parents were unable to afford day care or were just being cheap, either way it’s just irresponsible. 
What really worries me is that they were willing to cover this up and go on like nothing had happened. You killed your little sister in a fit of anger, no worries little angel, just hush and mommy and daddy will make it all better. Again poor decision making on the parents part. I seriously doubt with parents like that this kid has had to answer for much.
And, you can’t tell me he didn’t know not to shake the baby, when my second nephew was born that and several other rules were drilled into his big brother’s 7 year old brain and he grasped the concept that babies are delicate. I am sure someone somewhere probably told these things to this boy as well.

Maybe the parents couldn’t afford having kids but they did. Fuck them, just because you have a child does not make them your nanny or servant. They didn’t ask to be born. The probability is good that had these children been watched by a babysitter the boy wouldn’t have gotten frustrated and lashed out at the baby. Therefore baby is dead because parents were too fucking cheap to pay someone to watch their kids.

This from someone who at age 10 watched her 5 year old brother all day. Big difference between a 9 month old baby and a 5 year old.

I’m not saying the boy is free of all guilt, I just think he was put into a situation he should never have been put, and the situation caused the death.

When my sister was 14 (I was long gone by then) my mom had her regularly babysit our 4-year-old sister, who screamed incessantly until my mom came home or she fell asleep, whichever came first.  My mom was going to college.  My 14-yr-old sister said she often locked the baby in the basement because she was afraid she’d lose it and punch her.  At least she knew better than to hit her, but how sad for both of them.  Children should not be regular babysitters.  It’s completely unfair to expect adult behavior from a child.

I don’t get why anyone shouldn’t feel some sympathy for this kid. He’s a 13-year-old kid who, for all we know, never intended to seriously harm his sister, and now must live his life knowing he killed her.

Sorry, but I’m not lighting any torches and sharpening any pitchforks over this boy.Let him get checked out by the professionals and if he is deemed ok and not a danger to society, get him some counselingtherapy and get him out of our prison system.  

Actually, now I AM curious to learn about his past behavior. If this was a one time thing and he snapped, then that sucks.  If he has past behavior issues, then the parents really fucked this one up.

“That’s not to say that I would ever chuck the nearest baby into a wall in a fit of frustration, but the same cannot be said for a variety of my game controllers and keyboards over the years.”
I know all about this my mom wouldn’t buy me new controllers so I became a master of fixing NES, SNES and N64 controllers. The N64 controllers were kind of tricky because you had to get the joystick just right.

Parents are not always to be blamed for things their children do. 13 is old enough to know better. I feel he has gotten angry over game playing before. It just got out of control this time.  Yes to know his past behavior would need to be considered if he goes to trial. But then again can they use that? One never knows.

You are correct. Parents can’t always be blamed for their childrens behavior. But if he had past behavioral issues (my money is on yes), then they shouldn’t have been leaving a 9 month old with him. 

wow, I need to take Mothering lessons like that from you!!  you go girl

Perhaps they couldn’t afford a babysitter.

I wish I could l “like” your comment several times.

We have seen shit here before regarding adults playing facebook games and abusing their children.

I don’t think that all kids are cut out for babysitting do to age, maturity level, patience level, etc., but I honestly think this was a rare instance in a world where 10, 11, 12, and 13 year olds are put in charge of younger children.

I have great kids but I do need to get firmer.

I was actually speculating about the age gap myself?  And wondering about….  New family?  New baby?  Feeling displaced….  If there is more to the story kind of thing.  Especially if the responsibility of caring for the child that just displaced you is a full time job.  Holes in info make me itchy.

My daughter was babysitting her nieces at 13- hell i was babysitting for $2.00 an hour at 13 in the 80′s. My daughter who is now 19 went thru the whole Red Cross training to watch her nieces, of course she also showed an interest in being a responsible caregiver.
What this boy lacked was compassion, not just skills but basic compassion for your fellow human being.
I’ve heard it said the age of reckoning is 7. This little fellow is well past 2nd grade ( 7 being the average age of 2nd graders) going into 8th grade at 13 years old. In 5 more years he’ll be able to vote in 3 years able to drive.
At 13, he is unable to distinguish between the importance of caring for a baby and a video game….. not a good sign considering he only has 5 yrs until adult hood. He’s shaking babies to death at 13, what do you really think he’s gonna do as he gets older?
I can only imagine that he’ll become more fodder for these pages.

He’s acted like a hardened criminal before he’s old enough to vote- we got folks in prison serving ten years that never killed anybody.

Only a sociopath would shake a baby so hard her brain smashes against her skull hard enough to kill her- this kid already had problems big ones.

Ha! I used to think “gah, it’s just a game” when people would get mad and throw controllers…until I played Oddworld 2 on ps1. That game had me throwing controllers and cussing left and right! Ever since then, I’ve totally understood.

Yeah I agree. It’s one thing for young teens to babysit, but babysitting infants is a whole other ball of wax. They’re extremely labor intensive and I feel like it’s really too much to ask of a young kid. Especially for long periods day in and day out.

Yep I watched my sister every afternoon after school for hours when I was 10 and she was 5. If I got frustrated with her and gave her a smack, she’d either run to the phone and call mom or smack me back. You do that with an infant and you might well be in this kid’s shoes. Even at the ages of 10 and 5, I felt a bit overwhelmed with all that responsibility. I can’t even begin to fathom having been stuck with a 9 month old.

Wow, my 18 year old told me she hated me just yesterday. I must be doing an awesome job! GO ME!

Um no, the person answering for this come judgement day if there really is such a thing will be none other than the boy that CHOSE to do the shaking.

I agree with Melb1970…I don’t blame the parents just by virtue of the fact that their 13 year old was babysitting his baby sister. That, in and of itself, is not unusual or too difficult for most young siblings to do. My nephew is 12 and has lovingly helped to care for his sister from birth (she’s 3 now), and relishes watching her for short amounts of time when my SIL has to run across the street to the store or downstairs to do laundry. HOWEVER, I do think the parents hold blame for another reason…if this kid got that hot over a video game, I’d bet dollars to doughnuts that the parents have seen him act like that more than once…a very good reason NOT to leave the 9 month old alone with him, and in my mind, making them partly to blame. I have two stepdaugters who I love dearly, and who love my 2 1/2 year old very much, but I wouldn’t leave her alone with them (they’re 13 and 17), b/c, bless ‘em, they’re clueless. One time for a few hours I let them watch her, only to come home to find they younger one asleep and the older one upstairs chatting on phone with her boyfriend, door shut, and my toddler wandering around the house by herself. Lesson learned. So if these parents had any inkling of this kid’s temper, I feel they’re just as much to blame.

i think u have to know the relationship and how the kid interacts with the other kids…im sure the kid really didnt interact with the baby in the first at least not in a omg heres i baby i love babies way…i think he was forced into it…resented it and would rather have been doin something else obviously!

My brother has long been a kid who loves babies. I remember that I was 7, he was 5 & our cousin was born. He loved her. As we grew up he still loved little kids & babies. At 13 he thought throwing them in the air & catching them was fun & the tots liked it. He therefore thought that babies liked it too.

I knew it wasn’t good for the baby. My mom didn’t tell us that you had to be very careful with babies, but I just knew somehow. My brother however wasn’t very careful while playing with them but he didn’t want to hurt them. He never hurt a kid.

My mom also raised children that knew how to manage their anger. No one in our family has anger issues nor are we prone to break anything when mad. No one in our house/family has ever gotten mad at someone or something & thrown/broke/smashed or ANYTHING.

My mom also knew that even though I was old enough at 13 to babysit alone I was NOT old enough to fully babysit by myself a baby.

In order for this kid to get mad enough to shake his own sister cause he lost at a game, no matter how mad he was, he must’ve seen that THAT behaviour was ok to do when you got mad. I mean I remember that my mom was mad & when she carried my cousins she never hurt them even though she was gonna spank us.  There’s more that’s not being told.

yeah i agree. it makes one wonder how many times the child tried to tell the parents he DID NOT want to do this anymore, changing diapers and the crying and all and they did not listen or see signs of frustration. Invalidation in families causes a lot of rage.

Would you expect a 13 year old boy to be a good father? Of course not. Yet watching a child for 40 hours a week or whatever is more than MOST fathers have ever done.At the very least, the parents should have discussed what to do if he felt overwhelmed or frustrated. They really dropped the ball on this one and now everyone loses.

He’s an ugly little potato head from Oklahoma.  I say we make mashed potatos.  off with his head.