8-year-old boy killed

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by article

An 8-year-old Brooklyn boy who got lost while walking home alone from day camp in his Orthodox Jewish neighborhood was killed and dismembered by a stranger he had asked for directions, and his remains were found stuffed in a trash bin and the man's refrigerator, police said Wednesday.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/...membered_n.htm

This story has bothered me all morning. His parents never let him walk alone but the boy insisted. So, they let him walk home alone for the first time and awaited his arrival. He got lost and happened upon a killer.

These types of killings are so rare yet we never know when such rare occurrences will happen. I am sure the parents are not only angered by the killer but feel extremely guilty as parents.

[AZTheta]

My heart is broken. This, I do not understand. I will pray for his parents, family, and friends, that they may find some solace and comfort in their suffering.

And I mourn for the loss of carefree childhood freedom. My friends and I went everywhere, on bicycles, on foot, on horseback, or in a canoe on a river, without a second thought. We were only told "be in by dark."

[SWTXBelle]

I too mourn the loss of carefree childhood - but am unwilling to run the risk of anything happening to my children. I remembered the writer who stirred up a controversy when she let her son (forget the age - 9? 10?) use the subway system to go home. He was fine - but this poor child? So tragic.
The risk is just too great. I am so heartbroken for that family.

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by SWTXBelle

I too mourn the loss of carefree childhood - but am unwilling to run the risk of anything happening to my children. I remembered the writer who stirred up a controversy when she let her son (forget the age - 9? 10?) use the subway system to go home. He was fine - but this poor child? So tragic.
The risk is just too great. I am so heartbroken for that family.

I know what you mean, but I can think of at least one other murder story off the top of my head that began just like this. That time, the child was murdered by a 12 year old. The kids who safely walk home usually don't make the news.

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by AzTheta

And I mourn for the loss of carefree childhood freedom. My friends and I went everywhere, on bicycles, on foot, on horseback, or in a canoe on a river, without a second thought. We were only told "be in by dark."

My siblings and I walked everywhere but my parents and neighbors were extremely attentive. We lived in very socially organized neighborhoods where random people couldn't just sneak up on us without an adult asking who the hell they are. I was also always an observant and challenging person and, although that often annoyed the adults and children around me, my parents now reflect on how often that saved my siblings and me from getting into some crazy stuff.

That didn't prevent things from happen: We had wild dogs who terrorized us at the bus stop; we seriously injured ourselves while swinging from those harsh metal monkey bars that should've never been created; there were kids who thought they were going to use and sell drugs and get away with it;....

...and pedophiles and murderers still existed. Thank the Lord they didn't get us but they got other adults and children in my city. The news agencies weren't covering local and national news as much as they do now. That includes how news agencies only covered/cover the missing and murdered who they believed/believe the mainstream viewers and listeners wanted/want to hear about.

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

The kids who safely walk home usually don't make the news.

Good news tends not to make the news.

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

Good news tends not to make the news.

Right. My point, of course, is that we have the impression that any child this young who walks home alone will wind up murdered. Who knows how many kids this age have this kind of freedom. Surely it's a lot less than when I was a kid. I was riding my bike back and forth from my friends house by myself early enough to have broken my skull at age 4.

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

Who knows how many kids this age have this kind of freedom.

I agree.

Yet, giving a child this type of freedom has always come with risks. Kids got abducted and murdered when I was a kid despite the freedom we were given. And my parents didn't give us the ultimate freedom. We were allowed to roam the neighborhood while playing different sports. We weren't allowed to hang out at each other's houses without parental supervision, be around adults without preapproval, or be in any environment that could defy the freedom our parents gave us.

Before the information superhighway, what happened to this 8 year old boy would not have been on my 7:00am news and on the Internet-accessible news agencies.

[Munchkin03]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

I agree.

Yet, giving a child this type of freedom has always come with risks. Kids got abducted and murdered when I was a kid despite the freedom we were given. And my parents didn't give us the ultimate freedom. We were allowed to roam the neighborhood while playing different sports. We weren't allowed to hang out at each other's houses without parental supervision, be around adults without preapproval, or be in any environment that could defy the freedom our parents gave us.

Before the information superhighway, what happened to this 8 year old boy would not have been on my 7:00am news and on the Internet-accessible news agencies.

This is so sad. Apparently he took him out of town, hung out with him, and even made him lunch. It wasn't until he realized how extensive the search effort was that he panicked and killed the little boy.

One thing to know about this neighborhood is that it's extremely homogeneous and close-knit and, frankly, a little insular. It's probably one of the safest neighborhoods in Brooklyn in part because "outsiders" are not trusted. Thousands of Orthodox Jews from all over the Tri-state area volunteered and scoured the neighborhood within hours of his being reported missing. I did not know it had made the national news--where was Nancy Grace?

The killer, who's given his confession, is also Ultra-Orthodox (I'm not sure if they're Hasidic), and I'm sure that was a factor in why the little boy approached him. He most certainly would not have reached out to someone who did not look like he was "of the community."

[LXA SE285]

The kid was also autistic, which makes this even sadder to me.

[Munchkin03]

Originally Posted by LXA SE285

The kid was also autistic, which makes this even sadder to me.

Where did you hear that?

Most of the local news sources have refuted reports that the boy was autistic or developmentally disabled. The perpetrator had been brain injured in a car accident when he was younger.

[SWTXBelle]

"Three rabbis spoke at the funeral service. The boy's father also spoke briefly, thanking God for such a "beautiful child" with a "beautiful soul." The boy's burial will be in Laurel Park, N.J."


http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_1...35-504083.html

[LXA SE285]

Most of the local news sources have refuted reports that the boy was autistic or developmentally disabled.

I was just going by the initial reports I've read online—I'm not in NYC, so I'll take your word for it.

In any case, incredibly horrifying and sad.

[Xidelt]

I saw this on GMA this morning. The funeral footage broke my heart.

[WCsweet<3]

Originally Posted by Munchkin03

One thing to know about this neighborhood is that it's extremely homogeneous and close-knit and, frankly, a little insular. It's probably one of the safest neighborhoods in Brooklyn in part because "outsiders" are not trusted. Thousands of Orthodox Jews from all over the Tri-state area volunteered and scoured the neighborhood within hours of his being reported missing. I did not know it had made the national news--where was Nancy Grace?

Behind it being a horrific crime, it is also crazy to think that this guy was random. It seems that in cases such as these, the perpetrator was looking for a victim. How many people did the child walk by before choosing to talk to this one? It seems so weird and random.