GUILTY FL - Michael Roberts, 53, homeless, beaten to death, Holly Hill, 25 May 2005

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lady-eowyn

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HOLLY HILL - Two teenagers have told Volusia County sheriff's investigators that they killed a homeless man ``for fun'' and ``something to do.'' Christopher Scamahorn, 14, and Jeffery Spurgeon, 18, said they beat the 53-year-old victim with their fists and sticks and kicked him, sheriff's spokesman Brandon Haught said Sunday. They went back to the woods three times after the initial attack to beat the man again, officials said.

A group of teenagers found the man Saturday, and the condition of the body indicated he had been dead for several days, officials said.

Spurgeon's mother told investigators Saturday that she heard there might be a body in the woods. She later told investigators that her son might have been involved.


http://news.tbo.com/news/MGB1QZVID9E.html


Glad that mother had the courage to step up to the plate and let LE know something. How bored can a teen get that they would have to resort to murder to entertain themselves??!!:sick:
 
This boy was convicted of helping to beat a homeless man to death. Now that he's had a taste of jail, he wants a lighter sentence. He said that he didn't feel bad when killing the homeless man. But I guess jail is a different story.

http://www.wftv.com/news/10458584/detail.html
 
Poor diddums......he is right where he belongs:behindbar.
Hes not sorry for beating the homeless man...hes sorry because he got caught.
 
Oh poor baby, isnt that sad. Owell. Too Bad...Dont be a sissy now.:rolleyes:
 
I have mixed feelings about these kids. I really think that young teenagers do not have fully developed brains; hence, they cannot fully comprehend the consequences of their actions.

That being said, I don't excuse murder at any age. However, I can see a pack mentality if one or two of the kids started the deadly fight with this defenseless homeless person.

Did this kid actively participate in the crime or was he just there? I have to agree with the judge, though. If this kid were to get off with a slap of the wrist, he would be killing someone again.

I just wish that these kids could be in rehabilitation and counseling while they are in prison.
 
Heaven help me for thinking like this, but my first thought is: man enough to do the crime, man enough to do the time. That having been said, I do believe he should be able to complete his education at least through high school. At least he is in a juvenile facility, not thrown in with adult criminals.
 
Opie said:
Heaven help me for thinking like this, but my first thought is: man enough to do the crime, man enough to do the time. That having been said, I do believe he should be able to complete his education at least through high school. At least he is in a juvenile facility, not thrown in with adult criminals.
Click to expand...
Yet! He thinks he has it bad now....just wait till he gets to big boy prison
 
nanandjim said:
I have mixed feelings about these kids. I really think that young teenagers do not have fully developed brains; hence, they cannot fully comprehend the consequences of their actions.

That being said, I don't excuse murder at any age. However, I can see a pack mentality if one or two of the kids started the deadly fight with this defenseless homeless person.

Did this kid actively participate in the crime or was he just there? I have to agree with the judge, though. If this kid were to get off with a slap of the wrist, he would be killing someone again.

I just wish that these kids could be rehabilitation and counseling while they are in prison.
Click to expand...
Messner is a big boy. He was 15 at the time he was brought into the woods to see the homeless man his friends had been beating. Even at that young age, he outweighed the victim, Michael Roberts, by 200 pounds when he jumped on his chest, crushing his ribcage. Roberts died.
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I think he is where he deserves to be. Hopefully the "tough time" he's having in jail will give him ample time to think about maybe how the homeless man felt as he was being beaten to death, begging all the time for mercy. I agree, though, that juvenile jail should be more about rehabilitation and counseling. Anne Perry committed a violent crime as a youth, and she seems to have been rehabilitated, becoming a positive, contributing member of society.
 
nanandjim said:
I have mixed feelings about these kids. I really think that young teenagers do not have fully developed brains; hence, they cannot fully comprehend the consequences of their actions.

That being said, I don't excuse murder at any age. However, I can see a pack mentality if one or two of the kids started the deadly fight with this defenseless homeless person.

Did this kid actively participate in the crime or was he just there? I have to agree with the judge, though. If this kid were to get off with a slap of the wrist, he would be killing someone again.

I just wish that these kids could be rehabilitation and counseling while they are in prison.
Click to expand...
I agree with so much of this post. Unfortunately, there is very little rehabilitation going on in juvenile prisons. Mainly, I think the kids there just learn to be "better" and more hardened criminals. It's very sad - a tremendous waste.
 
Linda7NJ said:
Yet! He thinks he has it bad now....just wait till he gets to big boy prison
Click to expand...
.
In America at what age do juvies enter adult prison?
Down here it is usually 18...depending on the type of crime committed.
 
...do the crime, do the time...

If he hadn't beat the homeless man, he wouldn't be with the psychos he's with now...end of story...

nan...this kid is gone already...waaay too late for "rehab."
 
agreed cappucinna--its too late for him--this sadistic kid needs to stay in prison as long as that poor homeless guy remains dead
 
Peter Hamilton said:
agreed cappucinna--its too late for him--this sadistic kid needs to stay in prison as long as that poor homeless guy remains dead
Click to expand...

Amen. Unfortunately he'll be out in 22 years. He'll be about 38 years old. Still plenty of years to commit more crime.
 
and this sort of crime is hardly unique-- crimes against the homeless have become a nationwide problem--A 42 year old homeless woman in Seattle was beaten and set on fire,she did not survive--A man in Texas some years ago murdered 4 homeless men--he was executed--
 
These thugs are cowards...picking on what they proberly consider easy prey.
 
From the link:
"Messner is a big boy. He was 15 at the time he was brought into the woods to see the homeless man his friends had been beating. Even at that young age, he outweighed the victim, Michael Roberts, by 200 pounds when he jumped on his chest, crushing his ribcage. Roberts died.
"Did you feel bad when you are doing it?" Messner was asked during questioning.
"Not really, no," he replied.
He didn't feel bad then, but he does now. He has been in juvenile detention for eight months, locked in a small cell and occasionally allowed to go to class."

He's not even in prison! I'm glad the judge denied the motion.
 
Peter Hamilton said:
and this sort of crime is hardly unique-- crimes against the homeless have become a nationwide problem--A 42 year old homeless woman in Seattle was beaten and set on fire,she did not survive--A man in Texas some years ago murdered 4 homeless men--he was executed--
Click to expand...
PEople se them as unimportant, like prostitues. It is sick that a child would walk down the street and see a homeless man and say "hey it would be fun to beat this poor man to death"
 
"Messner's parents broke down at the denial. His mother said it's unfair, that her son fell in with a bad crowd and prison is killing him.



"He's not getting the mental health, the schooling. He's not getting anything, anything but locked in a cell all day long," Lori Messner said."


I like how the mom says it was unfair that he was denied. UNFAIR is raising a lousy, punk, jerk of a son that would beat a man to death out of boredon. UNFAIR is having a boy who weighs 200lbs jump on your rib cage suffocating you. No mom, prison is not killing him, you are by raising him this way without common decency or a sense of right and wrong.
 
dingo said:
.
In America at what age do juvies enter adult prison?
Down here it is usually 18...depending on the type of crime committed.
Click to expand...
Either 18 or 21, depending on the crime, iirc.
 
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