GUILTY IA - Jessica, 13, & Kaleb Dyess, 6, die in arson fire, Cass County, 31 March 2005

[fran]

NG discussed this case on her show last night. One of her guests said that, when looking at a picture of this young girl from her court appearance, the cutting of her hair and how she was dressed, (like a boy) was typical of children being sexually abused.

IMO, if she gets the right def attorney, she can get out of this, at least from completely ruining her life. She, IMO, could have 'post traumatic stress syndrome.'

http://www.wiit.com/

I'm a trauma survivor… actually, a sex abuse survivor. I had real serious depression. Some of my behaviors had one therapist telling me that I was Bipolar and another was thinking I might have a Borderline Personality. Then I met a therapist that said I had Dissociative Disorder and PTSD. This concerned her because some dissociatives have a history of ritual abuse and even multiple personality, which she called D.I.D. She said because of my vulnerability it would be best for me to go to a women's treatment program like WIIT.



Of course what she did was horrible, her poor brother and sister died. But, IMO, it wasn't her fault. I pray that she gets a public defender that's really on her side. She's been let down by all the adults in her life. Hope she doesn't end up in prison for the rest of her life. This really wasn't her fault, IMO.

JMHO
fran

 

[bbmcrae]

This case is so complex and twisted and tragic. I don't think this girl belongs in jail. A hospital for awhile. She is a poor broken kid. The mother belongs in jail, right beside with the *advertiser censored* pedophile. I feel horrible for the girl. She was pushed past the point of breaking and had nothing to save her. The mother is a piece of work. She had one job in life-take care of her children, and she threw them to a series of wolves. This makes my blood boil.

I'm making tea, dammit!

 

[ccs]

There was another arrest made in this case today. Now the biological mother of the 6 yr. old boy was arrested and sitting in our county jail. Mostly just misdameanor theft charges, the step father Brian Street is now charged with not only state charges of sexual abuse, he is also on federal charges of *advertiser censored*. I guess he also has to appear in district court in Des Moines. The federal charge carries up to 60 yrs. in prison, I guess I don't think that is nearly enough. This case just keeps getting more and more complex and bizarre every day. I heard that Tracey is to be arrainged May 2nd. I would think the trial would have to be delayed due to all the evidence out there yet.

I agree with the last post, the mother and step father should shoulder the blame in this case. I think those children suffered enough at their hands. They both deserve to suffer pure hell for the rest of their lives.

 

[mysteriew]

Has the mother been charged with anything in this case? Child endangerment or neglect or anything?

 

[ccs]

Nope she hasn't been charged with anything other than some theft charges. I can't believe they haven't charged her with anything yet. In the least child endangerment and it should be more than one count. I don't know if they don't have enough evidence or what. The state has dropped charges against the step father but, he will now face federal charges. The state can also come back and charge him later if need be. The way I understand it from our local paper is the federal charges can carry much more time.

 

[mysteriew]

The stepfather of a teenage girl charged with setting a fire in her Griswold home that killed two family members will face four additional charges.

A federal grand jury has returned an indictment against Brian Patrick Street, of Griswold, charging him with soliciting a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct and possession of child *advertiser censored*.

Two other charges included travel with intent to engage in a sexual act with a juvenile and transportation with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.

Street's stepdaughter, Tracey Dyess, is charged with setting her family's home on fire on March 31st. Her 13-year-old sister, Jessica Dyess, and her nephew, Kaleb Dyess, 6, died in the fire.

She says she set the fire to kill Street.

Tracey Dyess is awaiting trial on two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of attempted murder and one count of first-degree arson.
http://www.whotv.com/Global/story.asp?S=3660276

 

[ravenmad]

Tracey Dyess' mother was charged and sentenced yesterday. She will be sent to the same prison as her daughter but only for 2 days! More at the link below.


Link Here

 

[CyberLaw]

This kid was was given a bad hand in life. But she did take the lives of two children.

She should be held criminally responsible for her actions. She set the fire with all of the family inside the house including the kids......did she "hope" that everyone except the step-dad got out, including the six year old child.

She did have alternatives, then to kill.......go to the cops, CPS, school etc.......then to murder innocent children.

She was a desperate child, who did a desperate act. She will be convicted, but the state will take into consideration her "history" but will way those against the lives of the children.......

Think about the terror those children felt in their last moments of life......

My Dad abused me so I shot him...........

My mother beat me so I beat my own kids and killed them........

My husband beat me so I hired a hit man to kill him.........

My boyfriend cheated on me, so I killed him..........

My husband "cheated" on me so I ran him over with my car.

Don't get me wrong, this girl had a horrible family, a disgusting family, but she killed two kids.........who were innocent victim of her irrational choice.......

The Step-Dad is facing prison of his criminal acts. He would have still faced criminal charges over his criminal acts, without two kids dying.......

 

[Mabel]

It's such a shame that it had to come to this. What about the schools, didn't they notice problems with the kids? I feel so bad for the children who perished, of course, but also for Tracey. No matter what happens now she'll never have a chance at a normal life. The adults who forced her into this situation should be held at least as responsible as she is. The mother should be locked up for life.

 

[mysteriew]

This kid was was given a bad hand in life. But she did take the lives of two children.

She should be held criminally responsible for her actions. She set the fire with all of the family inside the house including the kids......did she "hope" that everyone except the step-dad got out, including the six year old child.

She did have alternatives, then to kill.......go to the cops, CPS, school etc.......then to murder innocent children.

She was a desperate child, who did a desperate act. She will be convicted, but the state will take into consideration her "history" but will way those against the lives of the children.......

Think about the terror those children felt in their last moments of life......

My Dad abused me so I shot him...........

My mother beat me so I beat my own kids and killed them........

My husband beat me so I hired a hit man to kill him.........

My boyfriend cheated on me, so I killed him..........

My husband "cheated" on me so I ran him over with my car.

Don't get me wrong, this girl had a horrible family, a disgusting family, but she killed two kids.........who were innocent victim of her irrational choice.......

The Step-Dad is facing prison of his criminal acts. He would have still faced criminal charges over his criminal acts, without two kids dying.......

I agree, but I think that some consideration has to given to the fact that the this was a child. A child who grew up being abused regularly. A child will usually look for help within the family, and there was no hope of getting any help there. She saw no options, and her anger continued growing until all she could see was revenge. Yes, she was almost an adult. But all the while she was being abused- she was probably thinking when I get big enough I will get even with you. I will make you pay. So finally she was big enough, and angry enough, to take that step. That step was planned as a child, and exectuted as a child- she could see nothing except destroying her stepfather.
Children don't ususally think of how their actions will affect others, children don't think of consquences of their actions. And as a result, she killed her siblings instead of her stepfather.
I agree she should be held accountable for what she did. But I think a hospital would be a more equitable action than a prison sentence.

 

[concernedperson]

Tracey was a broken person and I agree with Myst, a hospital is a better choice. She wasn't one of the entitled ones roaming around and surrepticiously murdering people she was a victim too. This wasn't a rational act but it is like Angela Yates in so many ways. Where the reality just breaks into the psychosis. The others we see so much of is the sociopathic kind with planning and forethought and knowing right from wrong.

 

[CyberLaw]

Andrea Yates and this 17 year old "child" are of no comparison.....

Andrea Yates had a "documented" history of mental illness and was an adult.

This "child" knew right from wrong. A person who is angry, wanting revenge, payback, retribution, is not mentally ill and they know what they are doing is wrong.

What if: She goes to hospital.....what "mental" illness would she be treated for.....she was not delusional, breaking with reality, psycotic, or anything else.

So lets just say she goes to hospital and then gets out and then maybe she wants revenge on another person and kills them.

People are sexually abused, physically abused, emotionally abused, etc. and they don't kill kids. She had a choice.......to kill or not to kill......

I don't see this 17 year old as a child........she is not 7, 12, 14,

She was only a very short time away from being an adult, that is why this was not transferred to a lower court.

I agree her horrible Mother(that is a stretch) was lousy. This girl was doomed from the start........and now the pattern has continued.......you are a product of your environment and your parents.

She should have been removed from the house and put in care long ago.

Hopefully she will get the help she need in prison........at least she won't have kids and the pattern of abuse and neglect will be repeated.....

Teach your children well.

 

[mysteriew]

Tracey Dyess is both a killer and a victim, court files assert.

The question is whether to lock her up for life or to give her a second chance after years of abuse.

Dyess is charged in Cass County with setting a fire two months before her 18th birthday that killed her sister and nephew. She told authorities she meant to hurt her stepfather because he was abusing her. Authorities say she set the fire March 31 at her Griswold home while her family slept. Her mother and stepfather escaped. Her sister Jessica, 13, and nephew, Kaleb, 6, died.

The next step in the case is a hearing on a request by Dyess' lawyer to move the matter to juvenile court, a court date that was postponed last week. She is charged as an adult with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of attempted murder and arson.
http://www.dmregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051016/NEWS01/510160349/1001

Page also contains updates to DEBBIE STREET and BRIAN STREET

 

[Bobbisangel]

I wondered what had happed to Tracey. I remember when this happened and it was a heartbreaking story. Afterward Tracey took the police to a safe that no one was allowed to get into except the dad. Inside were numerous pictures of Tracey naked at different ages...of her and her stepfather having sex, etc, etc. There was no way that the stepfather could call Tracey a liar. The proof was in the pictures.

It is so sad that this young girl didn't know someone that she could confide in.
It sounds like they did a lot of moving around and so she may have never gotten close or comfortable enough with a school counselor or teacher to tell what was happening to her.

We have no way of knowing what was going through her mind when she set the fire. We don't know if her mind just snapped...if the stepfather had been in to visit her in the early morning hours and she couldn't stand it even one more time. We don't know.

I know I will follow this case because to me it is just the saddest thing. It is to bad that it wasn't the children who all got out of the house and the pervert stepfather left to burn. Evidentally Tracey couldn't talk to her mother.
It wasn't like the sexual abuse just started. She must have had a good idea how her mother would react if she told her. From what I remember Tracey didn't seem to hang out with any kids her age but was seen at the store with her stepfather off and on. Sounds like with all of the moving she was pretty isolated from others. I also remember the neighbors saying they would see her in the yard with her dog and she would speak to them and seemed like a nice young girl.

I don't know how the mother can even look Tracey in the eyes. When your husband tells you that you aren't allowed to get into the family safe wouldn't you wonder why? I would have made darn sure I got in there. Sad all the way around. If memory serves me I believe Tracey has a twin sister that lives with the bio father. Wonder why Tracey couldn't live with him too?

 

[Linda7NJ]

Most violent criminals were horribly abused as children, most child victims of sexual abuse & physical abuse do NOT grow up to be murderers. This girl doesn't deserve a free pass because she's a 17 yr old girl. What about 22 yr old boys?

I have enormous sympathy for her and also feel her step-father should be charged with facilitation of murder since he helped her reach the desperate point she found herself.

 

[Jeana (DP)]

I don't think she deserves a free pass, but neither do I think that she should rot in jail for the rest of her life. We're the greatest country in the world, but we can't rehabilitate a teenager who suffered horrific abuse? I don't buy that. I'm not ready to throw the towel in on any kid who can be saved.

 

[Linda7NJ]

I don't think she deserves a free pass, but neither do I think that she should rot in jail for the rest of her life. We're the greatest country in the world, but we can't rehabilitate a teenager who suffered horrific abuse? I don't buy that. I'm not ready to throw the towel in on any kid who can be saved.

I am. What if after all that saving when they are free to walk, you discover the hard way that your efforts have failed?

Charles Manson comes to mind.

 

[Jeana (DP)]

I am. What if after all that saving when they are free to walk, you discover the hard way that your efforts have failed?

Charles Manson comes to mind.

Well, whether we like it or not, most of the people in our prisons will one day walk out of those doors. We can either cage them like animals and "deal with them" when they're free to commit other crimes, or we can find out and try to treat what made them commit the crimes in the first place and try to make them better than they were when they went inside. If we're not even willing to try and make the "KIDS" inside better people, what does that say about us?

 

[anneoakley63]

I've come to this topic and left it three different times because this case really gets to me. I am a SURVIVOR of repeated sexual abuse, so my opinion may be somewhat biased. Anyway...here goes...

No, she doesn't deserve a free pass...but she doesn't deserve prison either. Yes, she murdered her siblings...but prison is only going to offer MORE abuse. This girl needs to be in a mental hospital. And for those who have never suffered through sexual abuse, you have no right to say she doesn't have a mental illness. You have no idea how this type of abuse can affect you mentally and physically. I've seen several people ask about teachers, etc. I don't know how things work in the town she was living in....but where I lived...no one would listen. I went to several adults and received no help. I can't say if I would have killed the one man who abused me the most, because he didn't live long enough to give me the opportunity to make that decision. But honestly...the thought has crossed my mind on several occasions.

This child (and yes, mentally she will still be a child) needs help. She needs love and support from the community. This whole family seems to have been screwed up and the mother should be sitting in prison as well. She is partially responsible for what has happened. The step-father should rot in jail.

(stepping down off soap box)

 

[mysteriew]

I am afraid that I come off on the side of the child. And a child she was. A child who was being abused by her stepfather, with a mother who would not listen or respond to her, who was being isolated from others. She was also being manipulated by an adult. Why would she tell anyone? The one person who was responsible for caring for and protecting her- didn't. Why would she think anyone else would? So instead she was full of rage, that was being fanned every time she got abused again. No end to it that she could see. He was the all powerful one. She saw her family being physically abused by him. She was being sexually abused by him. And no one seemed to intervene. So one day she says enough. She felt powerless against the stepfather, so that ruled out attacking him directly. So she started a fire- hoping he would die in the fire. She knew that fire dept and police dept. would show up. People who might protect her. There was no intention of killing her siblings- she probably felt that she would be saving them too. She was thinking, feeling and reacting at the age she was when the abuse began. When the rage began. She was responding at that age level. Did she think of the other possible consequence's? No probably not. Kids that age don't think of those kinds of things.
What happened was tragic. But I don't think that she needs prison. She needs treatment to learn to deal with that rage. She needs to learn what a "normal" life is like. She needs the opportunity to learn that she is more than just a body for someone to use.