What do you do when your lies kill someone?
The father, who was not identified, was notified by one of his children that there was someone in his 16-year-old daughter's room, the report said. He reportedly found his daughter in bed with the teen.
The confrontation occurred around 2:20 a.m. The father had a gun and asked the teen to identify himself, police said, according to the report. His daughter reportedly told her father that she did not know the teen and that the two were not in bed.
The father said he told the teen not to move, but reportedly saw the teen reach for something, at which point police say the father opened fire. The teen did not have a gun. His daughter later confessed that she did indeed know the teen, the report said.
There's more at the link.
How many lives have been destroyed or ruined because this girl lied?
- The boy's, of course.
- The boy's family, who've lost him for no good reason.
- Her father's, because no matter what the legal situation, he knows he killed someone who didn't deserve to die.
- The rest of the girl's family, who'll be forever torn by what happened.
- The girl's own life is ruined. Her father will never be able to trust her again, and she'll never forget that he killed what seems to have been her boyfriend. (If I were her father, I don't know that I could ever stand to look at her again, knowing what she'd caused.) If the description of the incident is correct, she may have opened herself to a charge of at least manslaughter, if not some degree of murder, because the death happened at least partly as a result of her lies. (Frankly, if I were the DA, I'd press charges against her.)
All because she couldn't, or wouldn't, or was too scared to be honest. It's just too sick and tragic for words.
I'm afraid all we can do is pray for all involved. I doubt they'll ever get over this.
Peter
EDITED TO ADD: A follow-up news report may be found here.
Agreed, a truly SAD situation all the way around... The truth would have saved his life, and not destroyed the families...
ReplyDeleteThere was a similar case a few years back, where a husband came home and found his wife engaged in some amorous play with a man.
ReplyDeleteShe screamed that she didn't know the man, and the husband shot and killed what he then thought was a rapist.
The wife was charged with second degree murder, as it was her lie that was the cause of the shooting. It may turn out to be the case here, as well.
Truly a sad situation. My heart breaks for everyone involved.
ReplyDeleteThat is f'd up beyond belief. Wow.
ReplyDeleteMy guess would be that the daughter may well be charged with murder or manslaughter. If it is all as was reported, she is certainly responsible for the way the father reacted to the situation.
Clearly the young man did not deserve to be killed. The young woman should not have lied. Lives are ruined.
ReplyDeleteIt all started with a young man doing something he should have thought about 3 or 4 times. Somehow, someway, he entered a home he should not have been in and engaged in an activity he could reliably have estimated the "man of the house" would strongly disapprove of. Very risky behavior that is the stuff of jokes - until somebody gets killed.
A sad situation, indeed. But in the modern enabling / victimized / "for the children" era, I suspect the girl will not be charged, she'll claim to be a victim of circumstance and go her merry way not learning a thing, and her friends will learn that to survive you have to be the first one to throw the accusation rather than the proper lesson of "tell the truth."
ReplyDeleteThe boy's family will blame a trigger-happy dad for not being more careful, and likely sue him, looking for a payday because they didn't take the time to teach their son how to behave properly around females and dads. The legal bills will hurt, if not cripple, one or both families. Gun-controllers will dance in the boys blood, loudly proclaiming that is why we need to ban them.
A sad day indeed, but one that I'm sure is not the first event of its kind in humankind's sordid history, and I'm sure it won't be the last.
Divemedic, do you recall the outcome on that case?
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid Rolf has it right though. On all counts.
This is especially scary right now for me, as a friend of mine's son was just caught in a similar situation. He managed to get out of the girl's bedroom, but was minus his shirt and wallet.
ReplyDeleteWhen he went back the following day to apologize and to retrieve his belongings, the girl's father told him that he was very lucky that he (the father) hadn't had a gun in hand when he threw open the door to his daughter's bedroom that night.
A male (of any age) in a 16 year old girl's bedroom at 2 AM without her parent's knowledge and consent is rolling the dice on a Statutory Rape charge, if nothing else.
ReplyDeleteDepending on how Texas' Castle doctrine is written the father might be legally immune as well since he can argue he was protecting his daughter from a rapist (per her denying knowing the boy)...
Truly a father's worst nightmare for both of them..
OK, Folks, but the BOY'S responsibility goes beyond his being where he shouldn't - far as his "mother" was concerned, he was in NOLA, visiting his sperm donor-sperm donor allowed "son" to leave without letting "mom" know he was homeward bound? Sure, just let the kid bail with Uncle Stupid, who will drop him off wherever he demands .................. Sorry, too damn much of this whole mess was self-imposed .................
ReplyDeleteSemper Fi'
DM