Lynn Geter Forced Son to Kill Hamster with Hammer Over Bad Grade, Say Georgia Cops

By: Edecio Martinez
Topics: Daily Blotter

(AP Photo)

(CBS)

WARM SPRINGS, Ga. (CBS/WGCL/AP) Georgia mom Lynn Geter forced her son to smash his pet hamster to death with a hammer when the boy presented her with a bad grade, according to police.

Photo: Lynn Geter's mug shot provided by the Meriwether County, Ga., Sheriff's Department.

The 38-year-old faces one charge each of animal cruelty, child cruelty and battery.

Meriwether County sheriff Steve Whitlock told CBS affiliate WGCL that the 12-year-old boy told his teacher about the killing.

The Atlanta affiliate asked Whitlock, who knows the mother personally, if this is something that the son could have made up, but the sheriff says it happened.

"The mother was really upset and she proceeded to punish the child in a strange manner," Whitlock told the station.

Geter is a dental hygienist and a former daycare provider who used to care for kids out of her Warm Springs home, about 80 miles south of Atlanta. She has three kids including the 12-year-old son who came home from Manchester Middle School last week with bad grades.

A neighbor who's known the Geter family for almost 20 years can't believe it happened.

"I've known Lynn...Good people far as I'm concerned," Ken Brock told WGCL. "I'm not convinced of any of it."

The sheriff told WGCL that the mom has been arrested before for minor crimes, but nothing violent.

Geter was arrested last Friday. It was not immediately known if she had a lawyer.

Her children are now in the custody of the Division of Family and Children Services

Story Contributed to CBS Affiliate WGCL

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by paca33 January 27, 2010 11:46 PM EST: I have 7 hamsters and if any one told me to kill even one of them they would DIE instead. I would like to smack her with a hammer. Do the same to her that was done to the hamster. Bury her up to her shoulders but put her in the hole head first.; Reply to this comment


by andimaggie January 27, 2010 7:16 AM EST: To zzgomer- Yes, this is not the most important news in the world today but it still is a absolute tragedy. Hamsters are not mice. Hamsters have been pets for many young children throughout generations. They do develop a bond and hamster are extremely intelligent. But even regardless of this important fact, would you have your child beat a mouse to death with a hammer for punishment? If so, you sir, need therapy!! This woman had no regards for her son emotional health. This kind of action can cause serious mental disturbance without some therapy. And I am totally convinced that this did actually happen. The police are not going to arrest this mother just on the say so of a little boy. The probable other evidence disgustingly enough would be a bashed in animal with obvious signs of trauma. She deserves to have the book thrown at her. As for the neighbor who called her "good people", maybe he should re-evaluate his sense of intuition and gut reaction. Sad story all the way around.; Reply to this comment


by cidaia January 27, 2010 2:25 AM EST: I hope this woman gets a fair trial.

Today in the news: a 14 year old kills his parents because he doesn't want to do chores.

Today in the news: should we pay our children to do their schoolwork?

I'm not saying I think the mother is innocent. I don't know. I am only saying that the testimony of just one child, with or without a hammered hamster carcass, is not enough evidence.

We have been saturating our children in their own sense of entitlement, their "rights", nurturing narcissism instead of empathy.

Add to spoiled, self-centered kids a culture where authority figures allow, even encourage children to tell tales - without any sense that there will be any cost if they are discovered to be lying.

There have always been abusive parents. There have also always been the sorts of kids who pull body parts off animals. I hope these cops have more evidence than just one kid's say-so.; Reply to this comment

by porcine_aviator January 27, 2010 12:20 AM EST

One look at the picture of this stone cold loony B! says it all.

I say beat her head in with the hammer. She could use a taste of her own quack medicine.

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by SuzieQzie1112 January 27, 2010 12:14 PM EST: poor kid

by mtw646 January 26, 2010 10:15 PM EST

Kid gets a bad grade so you have him kill an innocent creature that has nothing to do with it.

The next time your kid brings home a bad grade, punish yourself for not helping him with his homework.

Reply to this comment


by RoboBlogger January 26, 2010 10:50 PM EST: thats what is taught nowadays didn't you know? if you have a problem take it out on something/someone else but never on yourself.


by tmittelstaed January 26, 2010 8:40 PM EST: My wife and I have kids and one of them is a terror when it comes to homework we regularly have to literally stand over him every night to make him do it, and the second that we turn away he is screwing off and not doing it. So I understand completely the frustration of a parent with a kid who gets bad grades because face it, it's not like they are giving kids today in school work that would take a rocket scientist to do. But making a kid hit or abuse an animal in any way is not something that we have ever done or would ever do, and in fact the few times we have caught either kid doing anything to the dog that is the least bit mean, it is like getting a Go Directly To Jail card in Monopoly in our house, they have plenty of time to contemplate their sore backside in their room, if you get my meaning.

I have no compunction in setting mouse and rat traps, I've done it before and will do it again if needed, and felt no remorse whatsoever. But a pet rat, or pet mouse, or pet hamster is genetically different than a wild mouse or rat or hamster, they have been bred as pets, they have even been bred to show affection, for that matter.

Scientists have cross-bred lab rats with wild rats as experiments and have found that it takes a minimum of TWENTY GENERATIONS before the wild rat tendencies will breed out of the cross. There is absolutely NO WAY to socialize a wild rat, hamster, or mouse, you can trap them and cage them but no matter what you do to them, the second you put your hand in their cage they will bite your finger as hard as they can and scratch the crap out of you if they can - you could starve them for a week and take them out of the cage and set them next to a plate of their favorite food and the second you let them go they will run in the opposite direction.

Mice and rats sold as feeders for snakes and suchlike are NOT pets, they are wild, as it's cheaper to trap wild ones than raise them - and they are always killed with ether or chloroform before feeding because if not they might fight and damage the snake.

Conversely, if you take a pet rat, pet hamster, or pet mouse and let it go in the forest, it's gonna be dead in a day. They cannot survive without the aid of humans as their survival skills have been mostly bred out of them. They are totally dependent on humans and just like a pet dog, when you buy them or any pet, (save perhaps a cat, hah hah) you enter into a contract with that animal to care for it the rest of it's life, because it's humans who make them to where they can't fend for themselves. Violating that is horrible, the mother is mentally sick.; Reply to this comment


by ksmit2 January 26, 2010 7:43 PM EST: ..And now, "formerly a dental hygienist" or any other job for that matter.
Honestly, how can people even get near this level of existence. I have
heard of every kind of mind numbing act, and then someone somewhere
comes up with something like this. I wish that she could be sentenced to
harvesting wheat with rusty scissors the rest of her life, supervised.
A report card? Folks, this isn't a good day to quit drinking.; Reply to this comment

by FauxNews January 26, 2010 7:38 PM EST

Kids, there's a lesson to be learned here. If you want your parent in jail, just smash your hamster and say Mommy told you to.

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by RoboBlogger January 26, 2010 10:54 PM EST: yeah or something like what the kids did on SouthPark which is not at all funny.


by writer10 January 26, 2010 7:05 PM EST: It doesn't matter if it were a hamster or a dog, it's about the nature of the act and the trauma she inflicted on the boy having to kill his 'pet' over bad grades.

Whatever happened to a good old fashioned grounding or taking something away for a period of time, like his video games or phone privileges? She's the one who needs help for sure; Reply to this comment


by beaukitty January 26, 2010 5:25 PM EST: This is utterly appalling! What kind of message did this woman think she was sending her child? I grew up near Warm Springs and the people in that area don't look kindly on this sort of thing. She should be locked away for life and never allowed to see her children again.; Reply to this comment