Failing foster care system: Family members fight at funeral of 13-month old Christopher Thomas, murdered in foster care

Another child has become the victim of a failing foster care system in this country, and that is not the worst of this tragic story:

The 13-month-old Thomas died as a result of severe child abuse in a Milwaukee foster home.

His foster mother, Crystal Keith, who is also his aunt, is charged with murdering him. […] Case workers are also required to pay monthly visits to foster homes, but in this case, 48 days went by without a visit. Keith told police she’d been abusing the boy for months. Source: TMJ 4 Milwaukee

It appears as if everyone failed this child. Those who should have protected him, his parents, his extended family, the foster care system, allowed this child to be murdered.

To make matters worse, the family broke out in a fight at the child’s funeral (see video below of the fight) as raw emotions got the best of the mourners. I want to make it absolutely clear that I have absolutely NO sympathy for the family members who allowed this child to be bounced around, and ultimately murdered. Perhaps if they had fought over the child in life as they did after his death, he might still be alive today.

Another interesting detail of this story is that little Christopher was wanted by another family who was denied multiple adoption requests. I can’t help but wonder if the fact that the family who wanted the child was white had anything to do with the rejection. It should be clear that any loving family (regardless of race) is better than an abusive family or institutionalization for the child.

I have no doubt that Christopher would be alive today if he had been placed with the white adoptive family that loved him and wanted him. What a tragedy!

Filed under: By Cheri Thomas, child abuse, Christopher Thomas, Crystal Keith, foster care, Murder, Social Commentary

Laid-off worker kills CEO and two others

Should we expect to see more workers go “postal” as the economy continues to deteriorate, and jobs are lost?

A laid-off worker returned to his former office in Northern California and opened fire Friday, killing three people before fleeing and leading police on an intensive search. The suspect was identified as 47-year-old Jing Wu of Mountain View, who police say was an engineer at SiPort Inc., a semiconductor company.

Authorities identified one of the victims as Sid Agrawal, SiPort chief executive officer. The identities of the other victims were not released pending notification of family, said Santa Clara Police Sgt. Jerry Rodriguez. Source: New York Times

At this time, Jing Wu the suspect, is considered to be armed and has yet to be apprehended. My heart goes out to the families affected by this tragedy.

I truly hope that this incident doesn’t mark a rise in workplace violence due to job loss. Unfortunately a fledgling economy has many victims…

Filed under: By Cheri Thomas, Jing Wu, Mountain View CA, Murder, Sid Agrawal, SiPort Inc, workplace violence

8 Year-old kills father in premeditated act after father teaches him to use gun

UPDATE: This is the most egregious display of poor judgment by the prosecutor’s office to release portions of the taped confessions of this little boy. What is also shameful is the fact that there was no-one in the room with the little boy except two female cops. They have blundered this case from the start. This poor boy needed an adult or a lawyer with him during his interrogation. They should not get away with this. What happened to this little boy is unprecedented. How do you prosecute a little boy for murder? This is a sad case.

I came across the story of a young boy, who apparently killed his father and another man in a premeditated murder:

The father, Vincent Romero, 29, was from a family of avid hunters and wanted to make sure the boy wasn’t afraid of guns, said the Very Rev. John Paul Sauter of St. Johns Catholic Church. The boy’s stepmother had suggested he have a BB gun, the priest said.

Romero taught his son how to use a rifle to kill prairie dogs, Sauter said. Police say the boy used a .22-caliber rifle Wednesday to kill his father and another man, Timothy Romans, 39, of San Carlos. Source: Huffington Post

Obviously this is a tragic story, which should have been prevented. First, I think that eight is far too young to have a child handling a gun of any kind. It’s my personal belief that children have no business using guns, because they lack the adult judgment to use them responsibly. Someone in this man’s life owed it to him to intervene and recommend that he not teach a CHILD to use a GUN.

Apparently, Romero conferred with his priest, John Paul Sauter, to determine whether he thought the child was too young to handle a gun. It’s unclear exactly what the priest advised him to do. In addition, the police are investigating whether abuse of some sort led to the murder.

At a minimum, why wasn’t the gun locked up,with the ammunition stored separately from the gun? How does something like this happen?

So my question to you is, do you think that children should be allowed to handle guns? If so, what is an appropriate age?

Filed under: By Cheri Thomas, In the news, John Paul Sauter, Murder, Social Commentary, Vincent Romero

South African Reggae Artist Tiny Motho Siluma Gunned Down Outside Home in Johannesburg

Another South African reggae artist has been gunned down. Tiny Motho Siluma has been shot dead. His family said that he was gunned down outside his flat on Wanderers Street in Johannesburg last night. His brother, Richard Siluma, said he was shot three times and died on the spot. Silumo was best known as Tiny in advertisements of a popular chicken fast food outlet. According to media reports, Siluma started his music career in 1985. He’s known as the first person in South Africa to do the now popular rap music.

His two brothers, who arrived at the crime scene in Joubert Park last night, said the whole family was shocked by his death. In 1989, Siluma toured Japan with his brother Richard and the late reggae star, Lucky Dube, who was also gunned down in South Africa. His death came on the eve of the anti-crime Million Man March in Pretoria today. Police are still investigating the matter.

Lucky Dube was shot and killed last October in a suburb of Johannesburg. Police said Dube’s son and daughter were already out of the car as he dropped them off one evening, when three shots were fired through the car window killing their father in Rosettenville. Witnesses said that the wounded singer tried to drive away, but lost control of his car and hit a tree. South Africa lost a great reggae singer then and has lost another national treasure with the murder of Tiny Siluma. The gun violence in South Africa has been escalating in recent years and the country has one of the highest crime rates in the world. It seems though apartheid in its true sense has been eradicated, the people, particularly the poor, are still living through an economic apartheid in every sense of the word. South Africa has a lot of resources that could benefit the poor and working class better, but it is concentrated in the hands of a few, which is unfortunate. For a country that grappled and lived through the nightmare of racial unrest, it is, indeed, a real travesty that the hardship continues for so many. Just my thoughts, you be the judge…..

Filed under: Crime rates, Johannesburg, Lucky Dube, Murder, South Africa, Tiny Motho Siluma