Comments on: Life For Killing Boy Who Tread On Lawn

Ohio Man Sentenced In Shooting Of 15-Year-Old Who Crossed His Yard

[mjm117]

Everyone has dealt with punk kids. Doesn't mean they are all that way. Maybe the old man was mean and harrassed the kid every day just for being a teenager? Still doesn't justify his action. Kids are kids. It's not like kids were saints "back in the day". Kids in every generation have had their issues.

[wadyaknow]

Oh ADD my A S S.
I've known punks my entire life.
We had one in recent years who actually would stand at the end of your driveway and not let you get out. He also kicked a 90 year old man.
He went too far a couple years ago and stood in the street and was run down. We celebrated.
This old man was probably very lonely. He took pride in something and the smartass punk tormented him. Maybe the old man had ADD. I am sick of the punk kids always getting away with things and I have felt that way since I was a kid.

[phuong77-2009]

I read a few people defended the old man action... Please put yourself in this kid's parents shoe, and think how would you feel if someone murder your kid?

[mjm117]

What the hell is wrong with you people? Does anyone deserve to lose a life over stepping on someones grass?? I confront kids weekly for cutting through my yard to get to the next neighborhood. Never once have I even entertained the idea of sitting there for 3 hours with a loaded shotgun for them to return. This old man deserves every day he sits in jail. And to even bother speaking about the kid being a "punk" or "brat" without knowing him or even being able to hear his side of the story is ignorant. He is dead. A life is lost because some old man had a stick up his rear. It's grass people. Who doesn't mow their year every 5 days?

[processor2]

I had a little neighborhood brat (aka teenager) that always tearing up my fence.

But I didn't shoot the kid

Instead, I just put poison ivy all over my fence.

Problem solved

...

[processor2]

I had a little neighborhood brat (aka teenager) that always tearing up my fence.

But I didn't shoot the kid

Instead, I just put poison ivy all over my fence.

Problem solved

...

[missingamerica]

What makes me think this guy's neighborhood was zoned "no fences"...

[noplace2poop]

The ole man and the little brat were both doing something wrong. Maybe they should have read and believed Davy Crockett's statement when he said, "Always be sure you're right, then go ahead."
Or believed Jesus when he said, "You'll never overcome evil by doing MORE EVIL! But you'll certainly overcome evil with good!"

This advice from Jesus and Davy must be true! It's obviously true! See this--- If either one of these people would have taken this advice, the old man would not be in prison and the brat would still be walking around after school.

Whether you're a believer or not, you'll agree that Davy and Jesus were telling the TRUTH!

[mdc76082]

sandy19731, I couldn't agree with you more. I take care of my acrage not for me & my family to enjoy, but for everyone to enjoy. We always say hello, wave and could care aless if the kids cross it to retrieve their baseballs, frisbees, etc. They are always polite when asking to do so, because we are polite to them. This guy was just a cranky, mean, hateful, spiteful old geezer. I knew many of his type while growing up. They hate everybody, everything, and they are never at peace. To kill a person, especially a child over a blade of grass...you've got to be the meanest, sickest, most hateful, crankiest, SOB this side of He_ll. He got what he deserved. Let him become Bubba's 67-year old love machine. Out-of-control anger and revenge are never the resolve, unless a nice stiff prison term is worth it to you.

[mitywhity]

This old son-of-a-ditch should be gut shot with his .410 and left on his precious lawn to bleed out and die! "I cared about it..." speaking of his lawn. I believe him and I think that his corpse should fertilize it!

[djbrdr]

This should have never gone as far as killing, but since I've lived with my great nephew for 9 months I can really understand how it could come to that. Kids these days just have NO care about anything, anyone, nor anyone's belongings. They seem to think life should be handed to them. They have no respect for anyone, parents, school teachers, siblings - not even themselves. No discipline on the parents part along with counseling, ADHD drugs, NOTHING anyone did or suggested helped. There have been many many problems and all a long he just didn't care. Just this morning he was arrested and taken to a Juvenile Detention Center. He's 13. I hope THEY can help him. I really can understand this mans frustration about his lawn. I have many frustrations over my great nephew....and nothing could change him. A person can only take SO much.... I hate make it sound like ALL kids are the same - but it sure seems to me they are.

[jelh2602]

As a parent of a child with ADD, who is old enough and generally capable of taking care of himself, I am apalled that so many people want to identiy a child as a disrespectful punk when the reason could verily easily be that a distracted child (or adult) with ADD, ADHD, or other learning disability simply FORGOT about an encounter earlier in the day or never realized what was going on. If you have never dealt with children with these disabilities you may not believe it, but many times it takes patterning to get them to hold something in memory. If he was focused on where he was going earlier in the day, he may not have even processed the discussion/encounter with the man who shot him. The man may have yelled at him from the porch and he may not have even known what was said. The thought process for an ADD kid would be something along the lines of "my neighbor yelled something at me when I crossed his yard - I guess he's upset - I wonder what his problem is" because he never was focused on the words in time to understand them. This child could be all the bad things being suggested, but I can see this being my son who would have never had a clue that there was a problem.

[sandy19731]

I am appalled at the comments that in any way defend this murderer.

I hope the young man's friends have fun doing wheelies on that murderers lawn while he's in prison.

I just got done mowing mine, it looks nice. I hope some neighbor kids cut across today so that I can tell them, "Hi".

[susieq_13]

How sad is that...I thoughts and prayers to the victims family. I hope the ol' man gets what he deserves.

[noplace2poop]

.

[plplearecrzy]

They couldn't agree on aggravated murder...he waited for three hours to shoot this young man; seems planned to me. Let's hope he is never paroled, he clearly cares more about things than human life.

[ralphj53]

May 25, 2007

Hello;

When I was in the Navy in 1962, in Norfolk, Virginia, I was walking through a well kept neighborhood, I came upon a sign that said..." Sailors and Dogs keep off the grass."

Clearly, this family... or one man... didn't have much of an opinion on the men who served in the armed forces. The very men who would fight a war to guarantee his rights as an American Citizen.

I think that the Prison sentence passed on this old man of 67 was very justified. How he was even gurranteed parole in 18 years, I will not understand.

When in prison, I hope he thinks of his lawn... and how many kids in the neighborhood... wil NOW step on his lawn. Maybe even take their dogs to do their "doo-doo" on it.

So, in the end... he LOST the battle of wills. At his age.. that setence should be about equal to a life stretch. He'll never get out alive.

I can probably understand if the kid started throwing gasoline on the old man's lawn. THAT would immediately YELLOW the grass and ruin it. That would probably in part justify his actions with his shotgun.

In any case, one moment of emotion... is NOT worth a lifetime of GRIEF.

Remember that... everybody.

Thanks,
slim6744

[zoltaric]

How much damage can a kid do walking on the man's prescious lawn? I hope the old man rots in hell.

[greydane]

The gun lobby should hold some responsibility also. Yes guns do not kill, but guns do make it easier to over react like this, and harder for the victim to escape. The kid could have probably run from a knife attack or a car zooming at him. Even a bow would have taken more time to aim and the boy would have seen the effort and could have ducked for cover. The gun was mostly likely not visible [i.e. in a lap below/behind a porch railing] to someone not expecting to be shot, and could have been raised and used in a moment without warning.
I am not for banning guns, but I believe in reasonable laws regulating responsibility for your actions and ensuring minimum safety standards. Although I don't know what gun law could have helped here. He was using a weapon easily defended as one commonly used for hunting, not one just for mass killing such as an automatic. He had plenty of time to get and load the weapon [yes some indication of premediatation!], so laws about locking up unused weapons and/or storing the ammo separately would not have helped. I wonder if there was any history in the old man's history that would have shown up in a background check. Maybe something as simple as a recommendation he take an anger management class.

[greydane]

There is plenty of blame to go around, but like the horror of the case most of it is lopsided toward the old man.
I don't know if the kid was provoking the old man, or just being a thoughtless kid going about his business without regard to others, and being a little lazy cutting through yards to get where he was going. Either way he was very slightly in the wrong.
On the other hand the old man was very much in the wrong. His reaction was not proportional to the threat. The perfect punishment for him should he ever be paroled would be for him to tend the grass on the boy's grave, for the rest of his life.