8-YEAR-OLD CHARGED WITH MURDER OF 1-YEAR-OLD -- ALABAMA
Kelci Lewis was 17-months-old. Her mother, Katerra Lewis - 26 (pictured above with Kelci), took her children to a friend's house on October 11
th. The women then went out to the club, leaving the children home with no adult supervision. The children were aged 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, and 8.
When Kelci started crying, the 8-year-old beat her until she stopped and put her back in the crib.
The two women did not realize anything was wrong with the baby until the next morning. Kelci was rushed to the hospital, but the baby was pronounced dead. The six-year-old told police what happened.
The murder charge for the 8-year-old, who is in the care of Alabama’s child welfare agency, is unusual but not unheard of. In October, an 11-year-old boy was charged with first-degree murder after allegedly shooting an 8-year-old neighbor who would not show him her puppies.
There is no minimum age for prosecution in Alabama, said Tobie Smith, co-director of the Southern Juvenile Detention Center. The boy’s case will move through the state’s family court.
There “are going to be very serious questions about whether an 8-year-old has the rational capacity for the proceedings against him,” Smith told the AP. “… They’re gonna take a real look at whether maybe this is more a matter of parental culpability than child culpability.”
At a news conference Tuesday, Lt. Sean Edwards, a spokesman for the Birmingham Police Department, said that the 8-year-old probably will require “extreme intervention.” “I believe the 8-year-old is going to require some intense counseling for the next several years,” he said.
Kelci's Mom Katerra Lewis has been charged with manslaughter. Edwards said that the manslaughter charge is aimed at “sending a message that this type of behavior, this type of irresponsibility on behalf of a parent, is totally unacceptable.”
RIP Kelci Lewis.
Ref:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morn...ing-death/