GUILTY FL - Rodney, 38, & Jacqueline Almand, 38, shot to death, Melbourne, 29 Nov 2005

Terrified and her voice quivering, the 7-year-old girl cowered in a bloody bedroom, under a blanket near her mother's body, begging a 9-1-1 dispatcher for help.

"My mom is dead, and I'm the only one in the house . . . My brother shot my mommy," the girl said. "He walked into the room, and he left . . . and we didn't know where he was, and he came back and shot at us."

Her 18-year-old half brother, Matthew Wayne Almand, confessed to killing his stepmother and father at the family's secluded mobile home near Melbourne. He told investigators he shot his father and left him to die on the front steps. Then he went inside and shot his stepmother.

A recording of the sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes anxious 12 minutes between the girl and the dispatcher was released Wednesday, revealing clues to the sequence of events that led to the deaths of Rodney Almand and Jacqueline Almand -- the girl's parents.
http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051201/NEWS01/512010343/1006

A teenager was arrested and charged Tuesday with fatally shooting his father and stepmother in the family's trailer home.

Matthew Wayne Almand, 18, faces murder charges in the deaths of his father, Rodney Wayne Almand, and stepmother Jacqueline Almand, both 38, the Brevard County Sheriff's Office said.

Matthew Almand entered the trailer wearing a black bandanna over his face and shot his father and stepmother several times early Tuesday, the sheriff's office said.
http://www.sunherald.com/mld/miamih...8045.htm?source=rss&channel=miamiherald_state

Police say a Melbourne teen gunned down his father and stepmother because he was tired of being told what to do.

Matthew Almand, 18, who says he was recently in the Keys helping people make repairs after Hurricane Wilma, is charged with a double homicide.

Neighbors said that Matthew Almand had an ongoing conflict with his father because of the way he was being disciplined.

Police stopped and arrested Almand hours later. He was driving his parents' car.

When police led him away from the station, Almand smiled and told reporters that he was going away for a long time, so they should write to him.

As he was taken away, Almand said that he loved his grandmother and half-sister and other members of his family. As the cruiser pulled away, his last words were, "Don't do drugs."
http://www.local10.com/news/5430129/detail.html?rss=mia&psp=news

It is getting so scary- seems if a teenager doesn't want to follow the rules laid out by their parents the solution is to kill them-what is this world coming to?!:doh:

I know I will sound like my mother - but I'm going to say it anyway.... We can put a lot of the blame on violent music videos, violent video games, violent movies. Our kids are celebrating thugs who have become overnight sensations in the music industry - trading gunshots at recording studios, glorifying the victimization of others in videos, movies, and games. Our kids of today are so bombarded with these images that it has diluted the acts in their brains to being an everyday common occurence. My mother used to say that rock music was the culprit to the teens rebellion and misbehavior when I was a teen in the 70s. Now I'm saying it - 30 years or so later. I'm turning into my mother!!!

How sad, all the way around. The lives that have been destroyed because of this cruel act. Why would a child ever murder his or her parents? I just don't understand it.

This guy is so cocky. He makes me sick!

The little girl just broke my heart!
I wonder if there aren't some drugs involved in this. The boy's comment about don't do drugs, makes me wonder.

less0305 said:

I know I will sound like my mother - but I'm going to say it anyway.... We can put a lot of the blame on violent music videos, violent video games, violent movies. Our kids are celebrating thugs who have become overnight sensations in the music industry - trading gunshots at recording studios, glorifying the victimization of others in videos, movies, and games. Our kids of today are so bombarded with these images that it has diluted the acts in their brains to being an everyday common occurence. My mother used to say that rock music was the culprit to the teens rebellion and misbehavior when I was a teen in the 70s. Now I'm saying it - 30 years or so later. I'm turning into my mother!!!

Click to expand...

I have to disagree. Look at cartoons from 30-40 years ago... more violent than now. I do not believe violent video games can be blamed for this kind of thing. It is the loss of a nuclear family, structure and stability. Parents, grandparents, siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles are all interchangeable now. "Mabel was my mom when my dad was dating her and I had grandparents but dad broke up with Mabel and I have not seen those grandparents in six months. Now dad is dating Shelly so I have two new sisters, new aunt, and new grandparents (for a few months at least)."

Our traditions are no longer allowed in schools. When I was a kid we had halloween parties, Easter parades, Christmas parties in school (and no one killed their parents, became a criminal or had a nervous breakdown of any kind). Now schools can't celebrate those things because someone might be offended BUT you know what? I'm offended by crappy gay pride parades! (I don't give a rip what you do in your bedroom - don't make that your battle cry.) Can't have the ten commandments in the courthouse, can't have a Christmas event at school but respect and obey your mom's new boyfriend and "love" your new temporary family. Now kids, you must pretend we're all a happy family at holiday gatherings! Geesh... no wonder kids are so screwed up. What is steady and stable in kids lives now? My grandson has two half siblings.. so these kids have four sets of grandparents (the mom's parents and the parents of three different dads!). She lets the boyfriend of the month move in and play daddy to the kids. I'm worried about how these kids will turn out when my grandson only sees his father one weekend a month. She moves about every 3 months and sometimes we don't know where she is. These three little kids have different cousins, different half-siblings and when the dads have girlfriends with kids... oh you can just imagine the nightmare. I have sisters of my own, neices and nephews who want to see my grandson but then what about the other two kids? Sometimes they are at my house too and they call me grandma. I don't know what do - how are little kids supposed to comprehend the complexities of these situations.

As a society we bend too much to be 'politically correct' and not offend anyone thereby losing the very things that held us up - stability and structure. Now everyone has some kind of 'condition' and no one is responsible for their behavior because their mom put cigarettes out in their eyes (or whatever). Did the dad in this situation have a new family he was spending all his time with and 'forgot' about his boy? Doesn't excuse what this 18 year old did but that type of situation can really mess a kid up. It's going to keep happening as long as we are bombared with "you can have it all" and "you deserve it" throw away society that we've become.

I believe it is a combination of all of the above. Video games put guns in a kid's hands at a young age. Their family lives have no reality as you described. Being "cool" is promoted by society, peers, and sometimes even families. Being cool means watching all the correct violent movies, music, and copying the lingo and attitudes. And since there is no reality and very little responsibility at home, then the kids have little to grasp to make them hang onto reality. Then when you combine all of that with drugs, it is a real mess.

what an idiot. He didn't want to follow his parents rules??? Wait til he gets to prison-he'll really be following rules then.

Yes this is very sad for that little girl.

The story says the 18 year old grew up with his mom in Arizona and just graduated high school last spring - so he wasn't with his dad and stepmom for very long. I divorced when my son was 4 and my ex moved to another state. He didn't want to have any contact with us for years. When my son was 8 HE tracked his father down through my ex-mother-in-law. Found out his dad had remarried and had another child. My son flew out there to visit for the summer and came home heartbroken. He was the stranger/outsider in their new little family. The new wife was nicer to him than he own father was. He tried for years to establish a relationship with his father but it was strictly one-sided. His father NEVER called, wrote, sent a birthday card - nothing. Last time he visited dad's new family my son was 15. Second child was perfect and of course my son felt especially left out when he found they had gone on a Disney cruise and never invited him. One night I get a call from the police that my son and his dad got into a fight and wife #2 called 911. My son flew home the next day and hasn't wanted to talk to his father since. It took him several hard years to figure out why I divorced the man and to get over the fantasy that his dad was perfect and I had messed up our family. He is 22 now and hates his father. We don't know where he is but he divorced wife #2 and is on #3 now.

I can see how a situation like this with the Almand's could happen. Personally I know divorced families where the dad goes off and starts a new life, makes a new family. They don't seem to consider or be aware of the damage they do to their kids (or maybe they don't care?).

To play devils advocate, for every kid who goes nuts and kills people, there are literally millions who don't, despite being exposed to the same cultural influences. I don't think that kids are getting crazier, but due to the expansiveness of the media we hear about these kinds of crimes more often (and often in a sensationalistic and fear-moungering way). People don't kill people because of tv or video games or even bad parenting (at least in most cases), and I think it really takes personal responsibility away from the criminal to suggest it is so. Killing someone is a result of a personal decision.

::just my opinion as someone who exited adolecence fairly recently, no flame intended::

captain exposition said:

To play devils advocate, for every kid who goes nuts and kills people, there are literally millions who don't, despite being exposed to the same cultural influences. I don't think that kids are getting crazier, but due to the expansiveness of the media we hear about these kinds of crimes more often (and often in a sensationalistic and fear-moungering way). People don't kill people because of tv or video games or even bad parenting (at least in most cases), and I think it really takes personal responsibility away from the criminal to suggest it is so. Killing someone is a result of a personal decision.

::just my opinion as someone who exited adolecence fairly recently, no flame intended::

Click to expand...

Very good post! I think there are a lot of influences kids have to face today and its got to be hard. However, I don't think that the influences will make a child do something he or she wasn't already prepared to do. Not to mention that there are just too many guns available. There's no cool down period it seems.

miimaa said:

Yes this is very sad for that little girl.

The story says the 18 year old grew up with his mom in Arizona and just graduated high school last spring - so he wasn't with his dad and stepmom for very long. I divorced when my son was 4 and my ex moved to another state. He didn't want to have any contact with us for years. When my son was 8 HE tracked his father down through my ex-mother-in-law. Found out his dad had remarried and had another child. My son flew out there to visit for the summer and came home heartbroken. He was the stranger/outsider in their new little family. The new wife was nicer to him than he own father was. He tried for years to establish a relationship with his father but it was strictly one-sided. His father NEVER called, wrote, sent a birthday card - nothing. Last time he visited dad's new family my son was 15. Second child was perfect and of course my son felt especially left out when he found they had gone on a Disney cruise and never invited him. One night I get a call from the police that my son and his dad got into a fight and wife #2 called 911. My son flew home the next day and hasn't wanted to talk to his father since. It took him several hard years to figure out why I divorced the man and to get over the fantasy that his dad was perfect and I had messed up our family. He is 22 now and hates his father. We don't know where he is but he divorced wife #2 and is on #3 now.

I can see how a situation like this with the Almand's could happen. Personally I know divorced families where the dad goes off and starts a new life, makes a new family. They don't seem to consider or be aware of the damage they do to their kids (or maybe they don't care?).

Click to expand...

Thanks for sharing your story. I wonder why we teach kids in school Home economics and shop class....but we don't teach girls in particular how to determine if a boy/man they are dating is a good choice.

What I mean is that I think there should be classes that make girls/young women really THINK about the qualities they want in a future husband. And teach them to look for the "red flags"....like verbal abuse, general laziness, drug use, etc.
Too many times girls think that the first boy who pays them any attention is the one they cling to. We need to teach our girls/young women that dating is about discerning if the guy has the qualities you want in a husband. In other words - we need to teach them to be pickier and not to "just settle" for whatever the guys willing to give.
We need to teach girls to be stronger emotionally - so they make better choices for husbands. And pick better father's for the children they plan to have.

Just my opinion

Sherry67 said:

Thanks for sharing your story. I wonder why we teach kids in school Home economics and shop class....but we don't teach girls in particular how to determine if a boy/man they are dating is a good choice.

What I mean is that I think there should be classes that make girls/young women really THINK about the qualities they want in a future husband. And teach them to look for the "red flags"....like verbal abuse, general laziness, drug use, etc.
Too many times girls think that the first boy who pays them any attention is the one they cling to. We need to teach our girls/young women that dating is about discerning if the guy has the qualities you want in a husband. In other words - we need to teach them to be pickier and not to "just settle" for whatever the guys willing to give.
We need to teach girls to be stronger emotionally - so they make better choices for husbands. And pick better father's for the children they plan to have.

Just my opinion

Click to expand...

Good post. I think if the "first boy that pays them any attention" is their father, they have less of a chance of looking for the wrong kind of attention from boys they meet later on.

Jeana (DP) said:

Good post. I think if the "first boy that pays them any attention" is their father, they have less of a chance of looking for the wrong kind of attention from boys they meet later on.

Click to expand...

Depends on the father. If the father is demanding and abusive, then that is all they know to expect.

Prosecutors have offered a plea deal that would save the life of a teen accused of killing his father and stepmother in front of his younger sister, according to Local 6 News.
Matthew Almand faces the death penalty on two counts of first-degree murder for allegedly gunning down his father Rodney and stepmother at their home last November.
His 7-year-old sister was in the home at the time of the shooting and witnessed the shooting, police said.
"Police said he has admitted to the murders, saying he was tired of his father and stepmother's controlling ways," Local 6 reporter Donald Forbes said.
Tuesday morning, assistant state attorney Gary Beatty offered Almand a plea bargain.
"The state is willing to waive the death penalty in exchange for a plea in order to spare his 7-year-old sister the need for having to testify," Beatty said. "She was an eyewitness in this case."
http://www.local6.com/news/8316117/detail.html
..............................................
I hope his sister is going ok.

captain exposition said:

To play devils advocate, for every kid who goes nuts and kills people, there are literally millions who don't, despite being exposed to the same cultural influences. I don't think that kids are getting crazier, but due to the expansiveness of the media we hear about these kinds of crimes more often (and often in a sensationalistic and fear-moungering way). People don't kill people because of tv or video games or even bad parenting (at least in most cases), and I think it really takes personal responsibility away from the criminal to suggest it is so. Killing someone is a result of a personal decision.

::just my opinion as someone who exited adolecence fairly recently, no flame intended::

Click to expand...

:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

I so agree with you...there are kids that live in the best of homes and go off of the deep end, and those that live in hell on earth and work hard and thrive.
I think that the media does like to sensationalize, and knows that we will eat this stuff up.

I have to giggle when I watch old western's on TV...always shootin' em up! Taking law into their own hands...man, we would never get away with that kind of justice today!

I do agree that there is a lot more violence these days be it tv, games or music. And I do agree that in the wrong hands kids can get the wrong idea and do stupid stuff.

But, being a volunteer in high schools/middle school in my little corner of the world I see some awesome stuff being done by some great kids. Don't give up on them for they are fantastic!

Jeana (DP) said:

Good post. I think if the "first boy that pays them any attention" is their father, they have less of a chance of looking for the wrong kind of attention from boys they meet later on.

Click to expand...

what do you mean jeanna?

my husband pays alot of attention to our daughter..........

j2mirish said:

what do you mean jeanna?

my husband pays alot of attention to our daughter..........

Click to expand...

I'm not Jeanna, but I took it to mean that if their fathers paid attention to them and actually took an interest in them, they were less likely to fall for the first idiot boy they met.