AL - Teen Kills Five Family Members, Limestone County, 3 Sept 2019 *mistrial, retrial 2023*

[enelram]

John & Mary Sisk Family: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know | Heavy.com

The Heavy article says that Mary had a Masters in special education and was a middle school special education teacher. It is hard to imagine that if everything the cousin said is true, especially the part about the animals, she would not have tried to get help for him.

Relative: Teen showed warning signs before Alabama family killings

Daisy McCarty is the teen’s first cousin and John Sisk’s biological niece. McCarty says there were warning signs that something was wrong, and that he had been acting out this past year.

She says his parents told her the teen started acting out a little less than a year ago. She said he would burn animals alive and broke into and vandalized his school.

McCarty says she knows there had been problems at home and is confused why his parents didn’t get him help.

It sounds like the information came from John, her biological uncle, who had plenty of his own issues, like the possibility of long term incarceration. It doesn’t seem possible that the mom would have done nothing, given her education and her career. She also has a baby and young children in the home, surely, she would have tried to get help for him.

With the ongoing criminal case against the father for armed burglary where he beat a guy
with a gun and the reported felony conviction
in Indiana for a Sex Crime, similar to statutory
rape, it seems like the father had a propensity
for violence and power over others.
Did he act on this with his son? Was he violent
towards MS? Was he a domineering, violent
husband who wouldn't allow his wife to get mental health help for his son? Some people still view mental health counseling for sissies
and don't want to admit they need help.

<modsnip: removed social media rumor>

MS had a hard, difficult family life, no doubt.
Did he just reach a breaking point and decided
he could take no more? Sounds like it.

 

[AzPistonsGirl]

I am so sad that this boy was failed. I am so sad that we (collectively, society) let him fall through the cracks. I am so sad for all the people this tragedy has and will continue to touch. Beyond devastating.

 

[Curious Guy]

With the ongoing criminal case against the father for armed burglary where he beat a guy
with a gun and the reported felony conviction
in Indiana for a Sex Crime, similar to statutory
rape, it seems like the father had a propensity
for violence and power over others.
Did he act on this with his son? Was he violent
towards MS? Was he a domineering, violent
husband who wouldn't allow his wife to get mental health help for his son? Some people still view mental health counseling for sissies
and don't want to admit they need help.

<modsnip: removed social media rumor>

MS had a hard, difficult family life, no doubt.
Did he just reach a breaking point and decided
he could take no more? Sounds like it.

Well the father is dead now at the hands of the son so any answers to those questions will come from lawyers and paid experts trying to mitigate punishment. Lots of not so borderline victim blaming in this thread

 

[Rosegold68]

wow that family has lost a lot due to gun crime.....even Daisy has suffered a loss of a small child

madness

 

[BlackCloud]

I don't want to hear about him treated as a juvenile. 14 year olds should know better than to murder people, and lie about it. He needs to be locked up forever. Unpopular opinion or not, no sympathy for the shooter here. JMOO.

They're gonna treat him as a juvenile. I'm pretty sure about that. I hope I'm wrong but I'm know how district attorneys are when it comes to "juveniles", "minors"....they're all sweet and tender.
This monster is gonna spend 4/5 years (maybe less) in a minimum security prison and then...free like the wind...
Disgusting

 

[BlackCloud]

Family members are saying that he has been "acting out" for awhile now, caused some damage at school and there was violence towards animals. I just think that the parents should've got him some professional help, especially with other children in the home. Plus, taken into consideration his violent behaviour, having guns inside the home was probably not a very smart idea, and yes I KNOW, that if he really wanted to kill he would've found other ways to do so, but why make it easier? I'm not saying that he shouldn't pay for the crimes he commited but something could've been done to, at least, TRY to prevent this tragedy.

Violence against animal at young age: typical sociopath behaviour

 

[SaguaroSpirit]

They're gonna treat him as a juvenile. I'm pretty sure about that. I hope I'm wrong but I'm know how district attorneys are when it comes to "juveniles", "minors"....they're all sweet and tender.
This monster is gonna spend 4/5 years (maybe less) in a minimum security prison and then...free like the wind...
Disgusting

That happened with Ed Kemper and we all know how that turned out.

 

[katydid23]

he burned animals alive - that should've been a really big clue that something serious is wrong - that requires inpatient care IMO and the person is still probably beyond help already JMO

Yes, that's way beyond just needing counselling or therapy. Burning animals Alive is shocking, startling, and downright evil. That calls for serious intervention.

 

[IHAVENOCLUE]

Oh - thank you! I should mention that my first work out of graduate school was in medical/psychiatric anthropology. I got to interview some violent offenders and continued to work in jails (and still interview violent offenders outside of jail, when I can).

I also speak to a couple of psychiatrists who specialize in adolescent psych.

Adolescents today, in the West, are more than angtsy. Suicide rates are going up among teens and twenties. However, it's hard to actually kill oneself (psychologically). Getting enraged at others, and wanting to kill everyone is a frequent rage-state. Some teens really hate their parents for bringing them into the world. This is one of the most common themes in adolescent psychiatry (teens are focused on how rotten their parents are, how their parents should never have had kids, how their whole life is effed up, and they wish they weren't alive, and their parents have too many kids). They're usually in the psychiatrist's office because of a court order.

So, violent acting out by teens should involve the police. The police are not the enemy here (for the parents). But, in a case where one parent may be in trouble with the law or opposed to police, that doesn't happen.

Family annihilation can happen anyway (even if the police are involved) but if the kid is really violent and is convicted of assault, they'll be spending some much-needed time away from the families they hate so much.

The family annihilator's first task is to get rid of that horrible family. The one that should never have been, the one that resulted in their own existence. Then, they'll go to jail OR they'll get up the courage to shoot themselves OR they'll get the death penalty. They will be barred from being part of society and reproducing their parents' errors.

Adolescence is, psychiatrically, a time of high risk. If the person can get to 30 without killing anyone or themselves, or committing other serious crimes, they typically chill out a little. They may still be harmful, but they won't be 14 year olds who hate their families, themselves, and want to cauterize a psychological wound.

IOW, they don't look forward to any kind of life, they simply want the unbearable pain gone, they want to be locked up, they are going to be generally calm and happier in jail (or dead), that's what they're thinking. Not that they'll get away with it or that things will go swimmingly.

Fascinating post!!!:thumb up:

 

[Swirlz]

The overwhelming majority of so-called familicides are committed by adults. Children are killed by their parents far more often than the reverse. Sibling killings are the least common form of domestic homicide.

We're all talking about this because it is so rare. If it were the kind of thing that happens all the time, it'd just be local news.

 

[YESorNO]

Mason Sisk: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

Sep 4, 2019

"Mason Sisk, only 14, was identified by family members to WAAY 31-TV as the teenage boy in Elkmont, Alabama who is accused of shooting five members of his own family to death, including his father, stepmother and three young siblings.

One of the siblings was only an infant. Heavy has also confirmed that the adult male victim, John Sisk, had a 14-year-old son named Mason Sisk. However, authorities have not yet officially named the suspect in the family murders because he’s a juvenile and only facing juvenile murder charges at this time. They said, though, that this could change and the suspect could be waived into adult court and even theoretically face the death penalty....

Here’s what you need to know:..."

Mason Sisk: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know | Heavy.com

(Mason Sisk's father, John Sisk, and stepmother, Mary Sisk.)

(6-year-old Kane, five-year-old Rorrie and six-month-old Colson.)

 

[katydid23]

^^^^ Young children including babies who do not have stable, adequate nurturing and parenting during certain periods of their life
often have "attachment" issues which continue to plague them the rest of their lives.
There are developmental 'windows' where these
stages of attachment w/ caregiver or parent is
crucial for normal emotional development.
I believe I've read it's prior to age 5 which is the
crucial time period. So if the primary parent/caregiver was unavailable or zoned out
w/ drugs or alcohol, the child is left to fend for themselves. Like the older latch key kids.
Too many kids raising themselves= too many
future problems.

Seems like people outside of the family who spent time with this kid have a whole different view on him. I'm not saying that it's not possible that he was a good boy around his babysitter and a nightmare at home, but it's hard to understand. Also, the friend saying that he never even had any interest in guns is very telling, teen boys talk about the stuff they like with each other.

If he did have reactive attachment disorder, then he may have seemed like he was protective and loving when others were around him. But in reality that is sometimes a symptom but not sincere feelings and emotions of love and attachment. Hard to explain but I have seen it in action.

Kids will reach out to others and 'be loving' and kind and appear to be fine, but it can be just a mimicking of loving behaviour, and below the surface, they do not have those concrete feelings and emotions and bonding with their family. It is eerie when you see it play out that way.

 

[beatrixpotter]

My sense is that very little was done in this situation and, instead, a gun was left available to the member of the family who was doing the acting out. Opposite of "doing something."

This is like cases I've seen where a kid is suicidal and a parent says, "I hope you DO kill yourself! You should never have been born!" and then leaves a knife or access to pills lying around.

I think it's hard for those of us with normal or relatively normal families to realize how terrible some families are. In this case, it's possible that one or both adults in the home were also drug addicts (just a hunch). I did fieldwork in the 90's involving meth and crime in a low income area, when one of my students invited me to "come live with her to see what it's like." Eye-opening. Scary. I spent several months visiting that home off and on, often staying overnight (which is when it's really obvious who is a crazy meth-head in the household, and the neighborhood).

There are also genes involved in antisocial behavior and the father, in this case, looks as if he may be involved in antisocial behaviors through his biker affiliations. Bikers were the scariest of the bunch (and the main meth suppliers), which is the main reason this study remains unpublished. Enough time has passed now that some of the participants are dead and others are in jail, and being on WS is making me think that I should probably go ahead and write it up. However, the biker club in question would probably have to be left out, even now (or I'd have to say it was based somewhere that it's not, as I still live in SoCal and the club is still a major criminal gang).

You are likely right. I have a hard time with so many of these cases because I can't relate at all. I came from a good and stable home. Same with my husband. We provide the same for our kids. Our entirely lives revolve around our children's needs. And I tend to assume the best of people when they don't necessarily deserve it. There are a lot of people who come from horrible backgrounds and probably have no idea how horrible it really is. I'm just reading of that poor little one Skylea. Everyone in her life was just garbage and ok with it and clearly thought they were normal.

 

[claudianunes]

I don't think the cousin made up all of this stuff about the boy, if she's making these statements it's because someone told her that.

 

[katydid23]

I don't think the cousin made up all of this stuff about the boy, if she's making these statements it's because someone told her that.

That might be true.
I wonder who told her that he just found out his stepmom wasn't his real mom? Because didn't he live with her until he was 6yrs? Confusing...

 

[Lillymac]

I don't think the cousin made up all of this stuff about the boy, if she's making these statements it's because someone told her that.

You could be right. But until it's confirmed it is only rumor. I thought that rumor was not allowed on WS anyway. We need an approved source.

 

[lonetraveler]

"

Absolutely NOT victim bashing but Dad had a couple of arrests. Menacing in 2014 and 1st degree burglary in 2018. Just for info only about why the gun was in the home "illegally"

14-year-old charged with killing 5 members of his family in Elkmont
The sheriff's office said the handgun was illegally in the home but would not elaborate. Records show John Sisk pleaded guilty to a felony charge of sexual misconduct with a minor in Indiana in 1999, and it is illegal for a convicted felon to possess a gun. It's not clear who the apparent murder weapon belonged to.

 

[Swirlz]

This is kind of off topic but Reactive Attachment Disorder as it appears in the DSM is characterized by either overly withdrawn or overly affectionate behavior and needs to be diagnosed before age 5. It doesn't involve any aggressive or violent behaviors.

 

[LadyL]

You could be right. But until it's confirmed it is only rumor. I thought that rumor was not allowed on WS anyway. We need an approved source.

it wasn't rumour - she was quoted in the linked MSM article - now going back to that link, they have apparently deleted it

 

[oceanblueeyes]

The overwhelming majority of so-called familicides are committed by adults. Children are killed by their parents far more often than the reverse. Sibling killings are the least common form of domestic homicide.

We're all talking about this because it is so rare. If it were the kind of thing that happens all the time, it'd just be local news.

Thank you for stating the facts that it IS extremely rare.

Imo, just by reading some of the posts here it gives the false impression, imo, the millions of children who are abused, and traumatized during their childhood will grow up to wipe out their entire families including their siblings. As if they all are somehow doomed as if they are all the same.

Rarely do children who have suffered abuse kill anyone, much less their entire families.

In fact the vast majority go onto be productive adults in society... who are law abiding citzens never harming any humans nor animals either. Most may become what is unknown as helicopter parents, and be overprotective when raising their children.

From what little we know about this mass murdering teen his serious issues began when he was quite young.

Imo, burning defenseless animals alive has much more to do with the scary psychopathy of this offender.

That is certainly a strong trait of a budding psychopath. Imo.

Jmho