He doesn't necessarily serve another 40 years, but the system allows that when he turns 18, it can reconsider whether or not he should be released. I would rather have a child re-evaluated at that age, than a blanket "He's fixed!" and release into society again. We all know of serial killers who went wrong at an early age--Ted Bundy was suspected of killing a neighbor's child when he was a teen. Other children deserve a second chance. I'm all for a system that allows for an individual decision.
I don't think the boy was abused, by his father. Perhaps by someone else, but not by the dad. The charges were found to be unsubstantiated and in fair defense of the dad, that should be noted. The boy's story changed substantially.
I've read a lot of the coverage and I think this was a divorce turned ugly. Really ugly. Police had been called previously to the home, the children were clearly and obviously troubled by the situation, and this poor little boy was caught in the middle between two parents.
No child should be able to access a gun, let alone a loaded one. That is far more frightening to me than the Texas legal system. The fact that he knew how to get the gun is very, very suspicious. I grew up in a home with a handgun and I promise you I had no idea where it was--and I could not have found it in a few minutes.
This case makes me physically ill, I think of one of my students caught up in something like this and I am just sick. I have been witnessing a child in my own neighborhood falling apart due to a divorce and it is just a nightmare. I know how parents can end up seeking up a divorce, but when you see these fragile children falling apart, it just makes me weep.
