"Too Difficult" 7-Year-Old Hangs Himself

[swivel]

I hope that he is happy where he is now.

Why would he be happy there? He was so miserable here that he hung himself.

If god changes him that radically in some new place, then he isn't the same person, and his soul isn't eternal.

Ah... doesn't matter. The kid is worm-food. Experiencing nothing, not even the nothingness. What he is feeling right now is the exact same thing that all of us were feeling back on August 12th, 1724.

[runecire]

What he is feeling right now is the exact same thing that all of us were feeling back on August 12th, 1724.

Actually, that was a great day for me! Enjoyed it immensely! Sorry yours didn't go so well. =)

[runecire]

You know the more I talk to you the less I think we're really that different, you know?

No, we're not all that different. We are both passionate about what we believe in. We just see the world in different ways, through different religions. I respect your right to have yours; I just could never see it as mine. It is the one true religion for you, but not for me. =)

[Rockin Ma]

I forgot the discussion this thread made before. Sorry for bringing it back up.

I posted an update on the stuff because I wondered if his death triggered more action for troubled children. I guess I just didn't want to see him forgotten so quickly.

[Jerri Blank]

Rockin Ma I seen you posted here about (DCF) Secretary George H. Sheldon establishing a work group / study. I ran across this and thought everyone might like to see they actually did follow through and it's on going.

This link has a ton of stuff on it, every news article, Broward County Medical Examiner's Report on Gabriel Myers, Case information etc..

http://www.dcf.state.fl.us/admin/GMW...up/index.shtml

...and this cute photo too (prior photo was from 2007, this must be more recent?)

[curethispain]

I've never read this one before and my heart hurts now. 7 YEARS OLD? My daughter is 6. I can't imagine any child, especially this young, feeling like their life is not worth living. There goes my day without crying. He was such a beautiful little boy.

[MC30]

I thought for a minute that I got lost and had accidentally posted this in Three Things. My bad. Last check a little boy hung himself because hell probably looked like a better option from his perspective.




More here:

http://cbs2.com/national/Gabriel.Mye....2.994826.html



More here:

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/communit...,2251150.story

wow. well. i could see how this could happen.

[this is going badly]

Wow, how sad this is. I have had more than one child under ten who was suicidal in my care. It is a difficult task even with lots of training and experience.

Sadly many seven year olds, especially those forced to grow up to fast, attempt suicide. Doctors load them up with drugs trying to get ahead of it, there are usually to many people and to much conflict and lots of talking around the kid in treatment. IMO the best treatment is a consistent and stable home. meaning a clean home and good nutrition and plenty of sleep and rest. No school, no pressure, no stress. The exact same things that adults need to start healing after a nervous breakdown. After in active pain and suffering is under control then a child can start working on the secret stuff that is eating him/her up from inside.

Also anyone who believes in the concept of punishment after death is not using te brain that God gave them. And anyone who really thinks believes that commiting suicide will send a seven year old to hell is an idiot. I could not even believe these shameful posts when I read them.

[Jerri Blank]

And anyone who really thinks believes that commiting suicide will send a seven year old to hell is an idiot. I could not even believe these shameful posts when I read them.

I didn't read allot of posts and must have missed that... I gotta agree that seems absurd to me.

Truthfully if my God would send a 7-year-old to Hell for any reason he isn't a God I want to worship.

[runecire]

...and this cute photo too (prior photo was from 2007, this must be more recent?)

Obviously a happier time in this child's short life. That is not a staged smile...he meant it. So sad to see what became of his existance.

Where ever you are, Little Man, you have not been forgotten. Hopefully some good can come from your tragic passing.

[Nell]

I am shameful and an idiot because I said that the God I don't believe in sent this kid to hell for offing himself? Uh, no, you are shameful for believing in that hocus pocus in the first place. I believe the kid is dead. Dead and buried and nothing more. Cause I don't believe in Hell. Simple as that. If you are now upset that a few of us pointed out that according to your bible he i will most certainly burn for commiting suicide, then I suggest you get pissed at your Pastor and your God. Not me for pointing out the truth of what the bible and most of Christians believe.

[Jessiesgirl1108]

A South Florida psychiatrist who was treating a 7-year-old foster child before the boy committed suicide last year has received a warning from federal drug regulators who say he failed ``to protect the rights, safety and welfare'' of children enrolled in clinical drug trials.

In a strongly worded letter dated Feb. 4, regulators at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Dr. Sohail Punjwani over-medicated children who were enrolled in clinical trials for undisclosed drugs. One girl, the letter said, slashed her wrists while hallucinating.

Another, a 13-year-old, ``experienced sedation and dizziness during the study,'' the letter said.

The warning letter, a harsh and rare form of discipline by the agency, says Punjwani failed to ``adhere to the applicable statutory requirements and FDA regulations governing the conduct of clinical investigations.''

``Your failure to conduct the requisite safety measures contributed to the unnecessary exposure of pediatric subjects to significant overdoses, which jeopardized the subjects' rights, safety and welfare,'' the letter says.

Punjwani did not return calls from The Miami Herald seeking comment.

Punjwani, who practices in Tamarac and has offices elsewhere in South Florida, was treating 7-year-old Gabriel Myers when the boy hanged himself with a shower cord in a Margate foster home. The boy's death prompted a yearlong probe by a Department of Children & Families task force, as well as proposed legislation before the Florida Senate.

Before Gabriel's death, Punjwani had prescribed several powerful mental health drugs -- some of which had not been approved by the FDA for use on children and had been linked to dangerous side effects, including an increased risk of suicide among children.

Punjwani also was sued last summer by a Tamarac mother who claims her son, 16-year-old Emilio Villamar, died after being over-medicated with a group of mental health drugs at a Fort Lauderdale psychiatric hospital.

The letter mailed to Punjwani does not specify the names or types of drugs the doctor was testing, and a spokeswoman for the FDA, Sandy Walsh, said such details are kept confidential to protect drug companies.

Walsh said the FDA does not send out such warning letters often, and the agency considers breaches of its regulations to be ``very serious.'' The letter was signed by Leslie K. Ball, a doctor who heads the compliance office of the Division of Scientific Investigations, and Constance Cullity, a doctor who is also a compliance officer.

For years, drug makers did not study most medications on children, largely due to ethical concerns over using kids as test subjects. More recently, however, Congress passed laws to encourage pharmaceutical companies to test their drugs for safety and efficacy with children by extending patents on drugs approved for adults.

In a trial for one drug that was not identified, Punjwani gave one child dosages ``in excess of... specified limits,'' the letter says.

The child was discontinued from the trial before it was completed, the letter says, ``due to worsening auditory hallucinations that apparently caused the subject to lacerate her wrists.'' The girl was ``overdosed'' on the drug for more than two weeks.

The letter says Punjwani submitted a corrective action plan to the FDA and revised his procedures to better protect his research subjects from dosing missteps. ``However,'' the letter says, ``we are concerned that the response is not adequate to prevent future recurrence of the violation.''

The clinical trials for a different drug were to adhere to a series of protocols that specified what dosage of the drug was to be used, depending on the child's weight, the letter states. But for six of seven children -- chosen at random -- who received one of the tested drugs in Punjwani's study, the dosage exceeded what was spelled out in the protocol.

One child who weighed 103 pounds, for example, ``was overdosed on study medication for 20 consecutive days while participating in the study,'' the letter states. The child is identified only as ``Subject 1001.''

A child identified as ``Subject 1003,'' who was 15 at the time of the trials, ``was overdosed on study medication for 21 consecutive days while participating in the study,'' the letter says. ``Subject 1004,'' a 16-year-old, ``received doses in excess of the maximum target dose for 3 consecutive days while participating,'' the letter says.

A 10-year-old, identified as ``Subject 1007,'' was ``overdosed'' for nearly two weeks while on the study, the letter states.

Department of Children & Families Secretary George Sheldon, who appointed a task force last year to study Gabriel's death, said Monday he is asking the FDA to compare a list of Florida foster children with lists ofchildren enrolled in Punjwani's clinical trials. Sheldon said he was acting on concerns that children in state care may have been involved in clinical trials, which is against state law.

The FDA letter, Sheldon said, ``raises clear ethical issues and judgment issues that we need to clearly understand.'' If foster kids were enrolled in clinical trials, he said, ``we will need to take it to another level.''

http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/03/1...ning-from.html

[Abroad]

That is outrageous! These children are vulnerable already. I understand that they have the problems that may eventually be treated with certain psycho-active drugs once trials have deemed them safe; but surely people should be looking out for and taking care of them all the more during such trials for this reason?

[Echo]

Big Pharma is Pure Evil.

[Hellsbells]

Gabriel Myers suicide case reopened

After more than a year of soul searching, investigations, hearings and report writing, Florida child welfare administrators last year formally closed their investigation into the death of 7-year-old Gabriel Myers, who hanged himself in a Broward foster home.

Their conclusion: None of Gabriel's caregivers had abused or neglected him.

''Circumstances and evidence indicate that his actions caused his own accidental death,'' an investigator wrote.

But months later, agency heads did an about-face. In an unusual epilogue to an unusual case, DCF administrators reopened the closed investigation. They then verified allegations that Gabriel's foster parents and their then-19-year-old son, who was babysitting that day, were responsible for Gabriel's death — one of the most controversial in agency history.

Discussions leading to the new outcome centered on a series of difficult questions that confronted the child welfare agency as it was seeking to redefine itself and promote a greater sense of family among foster children: What is the appropriate level of supervision for a young foster child —even as leaders strive to promote "normalcy'' among foster kids? Is a teenager a proper caregiver for a profoundly troubled child? What if the teenager himself faces challenges that would make it difficult for him to make decisions that would bedevil a mature adult?

The investigation's final chapter turned on a startling new finding: the teenager left in charge of Gabriel as he stayed home sick on April 16, 2009 was of "limited'' intellectual capacities himself, according to a report by the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit, which was asked by police to determine whether the teen intended to harm Gabriel.

"The average 19-year-old would encounter difficulty dealing with the complex issues presented by Gabriel at times,'' DCF's final report said. "At the time of the incident, [the teen] was not prepared to provide the needed level of care. He became overwhelmed by events and was unable to intervene appropriately to prevent Gabriel's death.''

Jim Sewell, a former assistant commissioner of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and a DCF child welfare consultant who chaired a task force that studied the case, said that most parents raising a troubled and volatile child would think twice before leaving such a kid home alone with a teenager.

"Normalcy applies to the vast majority of our cases,'' said Sewell. "But I'm not sure you can apply it easily to all of them.''

A bright but troubled boy, Gabriel was removed from his mother's care in June 2008 when his mom was found slumped inside her car at a Broward County restaurant, a stash of illegal narcotics surrounding her. As his 10 months in foster care unfolded, caregivers realized the youngster's difficult past portended a rocky future.

Investigators determined that in the summer of 2008, a 14-year-old boy in Ohio had reached inside Gabriel's pants and molested him. Gabriel, reports say, had now begun to act out sexually on other children with whom he came into contact.

And as Gabriel's behavior became more and more challenging, his caregivers resorted more and more to punishment — which caused the boy to act out yet again. The cycle, records show, had made Gabriel profoundly unhappy, and profoundly troubled.

Gabriel moved from a foster home to a relative's home, and back to a foster home by the time foster dad Michael McGuigan asked DCF to remove him. Gabriel, he wrote, "has always had behavioral issues, and I have always risen to the challenge in the past.''

Gabriel had stolen from classmates and lied about it. He threw epic tantrums that included screaming, yelling and throwing dirt and mulch at other kids. He told a therapist ''he was evil and born to lie." He trashed his room. But what happened in late March 2009 was unprecedented: He told McGuigan he would ''hurt'' both him and a foster baby McGuigan was caring for.

"When he's good, he's an angel,'' McGuigan wrote in a March 20, 2009 email to DCF.. "And when he's bad, he's really, really bad, and his mood can change suddenly.''

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/bro...0.story?page=1

Page 2 at link

[Aena]

This is the first I had read of this, thanks for the update @hellsbells ! How horrific can your life be at 7 that would make you want to commit suicide? At 7 I was playing with barbies, safe, happy, secure. My heart breaks for this little boy. RIP Gabriel.

[brokenandtwisted]

I'm wondering how many times his ass has incinerated in the depths of Hell. Depending on how hot the lake of fire is (assuming it's molten) it would be instantaneous, no? That's quite a burn.

[badfish76]

I have a hard time buying that a 7 year old could formulate the appropriate state of mind to take his own life.

That is a complex decision and it also involves being able to formulate that it can be done and how to do it.

I hope they take a long, hard look at the circumstances surrounding this incident because I think there is a good possibility that there was a lot more going on than meets the eye.

[VXIII]

Im wondering the same thing badfish...

[crimsonsorrow]

I have a hard time buying that a 7 year old could formulate the appropriate state of mind to take his own life.

That is a complex decision and it also involves being able to formulate that it can be done and how to do it.

I hope they take a long, hard look at the circumstances surrounding this incident because I think there is a good possibility that there was a lot more going on than meets the eye.

With a "mother" like that, he could see she was killing herself, in a sense, with the drug usage. A kid can make sense of someone being sick, and with the turmoil he had with the system he could have very well been exposed to the theory of death by any of the people he was in contact with. He probably felt like a chore and everyone was treating him as such.

The poor kid just needed someone to listen to him. Spend time with him. Be consistent with him. That's all..

And the religious debate here is completely irrelevant. Its a kid hanging himself. There are adults who can't even commit suicide successfully, and when they are in hospital they have all the attention in the world. While this kid never had a chance in the first place...
Bless him, poor little guy. Look at that smile..

[Robynne]

Okay, I have skipped tons of posts, but this part caught my attention.

Gabriel had been on several strong psychiatric drugs before he hanged himself last week at a Margate foster home.

Anyone who has taken antidepressants or any behavioral meds must have read the information packets and found something along the lines of this.....
"Thought of suicide are greater in children and young adults."

Now, I believe it was the states' incompetence, because they wouldn't keep him in a place long enough for a psychiatrist to correctly monitor him on his meds. They should have committed him to a psychiatric facility where he could be monitored and under a doctor's constant care. BS on the not meeting criteria.

As for all the BS about Hellfire. I am so glad I am not religious. The kid was 7. I believe that everyone has the right to their own beliefs, but I can't believe people would even say this.(whether they believe it or not) He was a depressed and hurting child. The meds probably made him crazy, and I don't think that your God would condemn him because he was fucked up in the head.
Oh and the whole destroying a temple of God thing. Piercing ears, getting tattoos, etc. That would be considered the same fucking thing.

As for the sexual abuse, he was acting out, and I will bet anyone here that he was abused by others. With the right help, he could have been saved in more ways than one.

If a couple are fostering a child, they are being paid for it. I personally don't think that both parents should be working while fostering children. But if it needs to be done, when a child is sick, one of these parents should stay home and take care of that child. The parents are the ones who a screened, and they are the ones who agree to taking care of foster children, not their 19yo son.

[princessgrandma]

7 years old is a baby.

And that's the whole of it. Poor little guy.

rip Gabriel

[Obsolete]

I have a hard time buying that a 7 year old could formulate the appropriate state of mind to take his own life.

That is a complex decision and it also involves being able to formulate that it can be done and how to do it.

I hope they take a long, hard look at the circumstances surrounding this incident because I think there is a good possibility that there was a lot more going on than meets the eye.

About a yr ago, here in Eugene...an 8 yr old boy killed himself by tying a cord to the hanger bar in his closet and then wrapping it around his neck. He knelt down on the ground and let his body slump forward causing the rope to cut off his air flow. He left a suicide note behind for his family. No one suspected anything was wrong with him. It happens...unfortunately.

@Nell - do you remember that boys name?

[Nell]

No, and this is all i could come up with.

http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/daily...x-years-ol.php

[Obsolete]

That's not it but ty.

My friends son was friends with the boy, but I would feel weird asking her out of the blue. Ah well.

that link you posted....damn 6 yrs old? Fucking heartbreaking.

[Momzilla]

[QUOTE]

I don't think Gabriel intended to kill himself. Depressed, likely, acting out certainly, but at this age and with the difficulties before him, I think his intent was to get the much need attention he was craving. At such a young age, he would not completely comprehend the gravity of taking a life much less his own. I don't think he thought it was a done deal, more a cry for help and that he would get just that. Anyhow, that is my take on it. The alternative is so distressing, that a child of 7 yrs. knowingly and willfully took his own life. This maybe true, but the consequences would have been unclear to him. Unknowing that it would be so final.

I definately agree that I don't think his intention was to actually kill himself- I think that the word suicide shows a degree of intent that a 7 year old is not yet capable of having.

He was having a temper tantrum....over SOUP! Like many 7 year olds (mine included) they can be very dramatic over the smallest disappointments. Combine that with this little guy's lack of a stable, loving family environment, and the result was this tragic accident.

So sad and so preventable. I hope at least something can be learned by the foster system from this situation.