GUILTY FL - Tyler Rodgers, 22 mos, shot to death, Ocoee, 9 March 2008
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GlitchWizard
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There's nothing they could do to this man that would be worse than the torture he's going through now. Why can't we let people grieve?
tempusfugit
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How heartbreaking, I feel terrible for this family.
tempusfugit
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I absolutely agree with you. This poor man will live with the guilt the rest of his life.
GlitchWizard
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No kidding. The wife, being human, will most likely place the blame on the husband. The husband will bear the guilt. Marraiges aren't usually made stronger by this kind of thing, because you can't lean on each other and heal when you have so much blame/guilt. :-(
christine2448
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IMO, there is no reason for them to be grieving..this was 100% preventable....I find 2 problems and 2 reasons for lawful punishment, #1, why was everyone sleeping while a 22 month old was up and about? #2 Why was the gun not secured w/children in the home. I agree the man will have torture for the rest of his life..he and others that are this stupid should be made an example of and be punished by the law severly...maybe people that owned guns (and I do) would be more freaking responsible. This is just sickening!
GlitchWizard
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Accidents happen.
My biggest fear when my daughter was young, was she'd get up while I was sleeping. I literally sewed velcro into her jammies and onto the bedsheet. Thousands of "almost 2 year olds" get up when parents sleep.
I don't know why the gun wasn't secured. Locking up this man for not securing his gun isn't going to assist him to remember to do it next time, though. I also think your kid dying is way more of a deterrant than jail time. Just my opinion, since I love my kid more than my freedom.
christine2448
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You might be right, maybe it wouldn't help. I just get so angry when I read stuff like this. You stated that you had that fear so you velcroed, you did something. I have a monitor so I can hear mine....there is no excuse, IMO, none, for this accident to have happened...but I will say, you are prolly right and jail time isn't going to help anyone.
It's not about punishing the father as much as trying to prevent other such accidents from happening again. There's a good reason why negligent storage of weapons is a felony. I doubt the man will have to serve time but there has to be consequences if the law is to be enforced. It's difficult to comment any further without knowing the details of the event.
ever hear the story about the guy that killed both parents then asked the court for mercy because he was a orphan? in this case we have a parent accused of being so negligent that it resulted in the death of their child. the excuse of "i am suffering enough from the death of my child" does not fit here imo. when you cause the death of your child dont ask for mercy because of your grief. this is no different than a parent that gets drunk and drives with the baby in the car and wrecks and kills the baby. that parent did not think they are "that drunk" and god knows they did not think the would wreck. i am sure they feel horrible that their actions led to the death of their child but that does not mean society should not hold them accountable for their actions. if these parents are not charged why even have laws about child neglect. isn't knowing you neglected your child punishment enough?
tempusfugit
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The little boy has been identified as Tyler Rodgers. Here's another link
http://www.wftv.com/news/15553538/detail.html
http://www.wftv.com/news/15553538/detail.html
stories like this make me mad, too.
i was raised with many guns in the house. at one time we had 5 gun racks full, (15 rifles or shotguns.).the gun racks were over the doors, so you needed to be pretty tall to reach them. ( i was 10 before i could touch the gun racks, took a few more inches before i could actually lift a gun off) handguns were put on top of the china cabinet. there were 4 or 5 up there. the men in the family took them down for cleaning etc. then they were put back. all guns were unloaded. in fact, i didnt realize they were up there for safety, i figgered since they had to clean them, they didnt want messy kid fingerprints on them. you know, like kids cant take the good china and silverware to play house. we had play guns, or used all sorts of junk to make 'pretend' guns if there werent enough to go around when we played war.
one time my uncle and i went to his cousin's house, and he got very upset because his cousin 'stored' his guns behind the front door, which is way too common here. uncle laid into him hard, i remember him yelling 'why dont ya go ahead and take lacey (his 5 or 6 yr old daughter) out in the yard and shoot her so she dont make a mess in the house when she BLOWS HER BRAINS OUT!!!!' uncle never yells, so this left a lasting impression on me. apparently it made an impression on his cousin too. the next time we went over there, he had a brand new gun rack over the door.
there is no excuse for having a gun where a toddler can reach it. there is no excuse for having a LOADED gun if there is a child in the house.
i was raised with many guns in the house. at one time we had 5 gun racks full, (15 rifles or shotguns.).the gun racks were over the doors, so you needed to be pretty tall to reach them. ( i was 10 before i could touch the gun racks, took a few more inches before i could actually lift a gun off) handguns were put on top of the china cabinet. there were 4 or 5 up there. the men in the family took them down for cleaning etc. then they were put back. all guns were unloaded. in fact, i didnt realize they were up there for safety, i figgered since they had to clean them, they didnt want messy kid fingerprints on them. you know, like kids cant take the good china and silverware to play house. we had play guns, or used all sorts of junk to make 'pretend' guns if there werent enough to go around when we played war.
one time my uncle and i went to his cousin's house, and he got very upset because his cousin 'stored' his guns behind the front door, which is way too common here. uncle laid into him hard, i remember him yelling 'why dont ya go ahead and take lacey (his 5 or 6 yr old daughter) out in the yard and shoot her so she dont make a mess in the house when she BLOWS HER BRAINS OUT!!!!' uncle never yells, so this left a lasting impression on me. apparently it made an impression on his cousin too. the next time we went over there, he had a brand new gun rack over the door.
there is no excuse for having a gun where a toddler can reach it. there is no excuse for having a LOADED gun if there is a child in the house.
so using that theory we should just give everybody a pass as long as they feel sorry enough,
he was 2, he is dead, he is dead because he got hold of a loaded gun, it was not his gun, a 2 year old has no need of a loaded gun,
a 2 year old though does have need of responsible parents who do everything possible to prevent an accident,
this imo is a crime, one should never have a loaded gun in a home where a child could access it, if you feel the need for a gun then keep it away from the kids,
he will have to live with what happened, but the biggest thing he will have to live with is his actions caused the death of his child,
GlitchWizard
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I'm not an all or nothing person, so all or nothing doesn't explain what I think. I do think there is a world of difference between an accident and someone blowing the head off their kid on purpose, though, and motive (or lack thereof) should definitely be taken into consideration.
Heartbreaking.
lightwaveryder
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I am not positive about this but i think i just read a minute ago on a news site that they tested the father and he had the same gun powder residue on his hands that is consistent with shooting a gun, and he had altered the crime scene and handed the gun to the officers. Might be best to reserve judgement on whetehr or not more legal punishment is required. In any case, the poor child should never have gotten hold of a gun. Any idiot should know to put their weapon in a high place when you cant put it in a safe. Also, in arizona, you get a trigger lock when you buy a gun, i just bought one and i received a free trigger lock.
RIP little child.
~lwr~
RIP little child.
~lwr~
There is some question of weather a 22 month old child could actually pull the trigger of this type of gun. The gun, from articles I read would have had to have been "cocked" as the child probably did not have the strength to do so.
tempusfugit
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One article that I read stated, "Imagine lifting a 2 gallon size bottles of water with a finger, that would be equivalent of pulling trigger of a .38 caliber handgun." By the time police arrived the gun had been picked up and moved.
Police are investigating whether any gun residue is present on child hands.
chiperoni
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This is getting stranger and stranger. If it's negligence why would the dad have a loaded and cocked gun? He could've dropped it and shot himself. I agree with previous posters that a little active two year old should not be running around the house in the morning unsupervised. They needed a monitor. If the father has gunshot residue on his hands that is a whole different story. I haven't found any links reporting if the toddler or father had gunshot residue. The remaining fact is that an innocent child's life was snuffed out for no good reason.