commentary by Patrick H. Moore
Sibling rivalry is a clear and present danger in many (most) families and the only sure-fire solution may be to have only one child. In my own family where I was originally 1 of 6 (we later expanded to 9), I had two brothers who feuded virtually every day of my childhood. They were both large for their age and when they would go at it, it was like two great and hairy mastodons trying to gum each other to death. Since one large brother was slightly bigger than the other large brother, he usually had the upper hand by just a whisper, which meant my job as the peacemaker and equalizer was to intercede when Extra Large Brother was about to kill (or seriously injure) Large Brother. I would get a good running start and fling myself (I was small) at Extra Large Brother’s head with all my might which would give Large Brother a split second to get back on his feet and then it would start all over again. Ah, those were the days!
I’ve often wondered how seriously Extra Large Brother would have injured Large Brother if I hadn’t been there to serve as equalizer. I suspect Extra Large Brother actually liked having me there because it meant he could inflict plenty of punishment on Large Brother without there being much danger of him going too far because he knew I would even things out when it got too dicey. Weird, huh?
In a case that comes to us out of Mundelein, a suburb of Chicago, which first emerged in January of last year, an older sister, who was 14, became enraged with her younger half-sister, who was 11, for a variety of reasons, not the least of which was Big Sister felt under-appreciated for doing the lion’s share of the shores and helping Little Sister with her homework.
Things came to a violent head when Big Sister stabbed Little Sister 40 times with a kitchen knife. Unfortunately, there was no wise and judicious third sibling to disarm big sister or otherwise talk her out killing her sibling.
An 11-year-old Illinois girl was stabbed 40 times by her 14-year-old (half)-sister, police say, and the reason why has many in the small Chicago-area community of Mundelein reeling in disbelief.
Police found the 11-year-old girl unconscious and in need of medical attention in an upstairs bedroom of the dwelling Tuesday morning. She later died.
At first Big Sister concocted a tall tale concerning an intruder who she claimed had broken in and attacked her sister. The authorities bought it at first and three local area schools were placed on lockdown.
Under pointed questioning, however, Big Sister quickly caved and the lockdown was lifted after only 15 minutes.
The community was aghast. Mundelein Mayor Steve Lentz made the following statement:
“This incident is a heartbreaking tragedy that defies understanding. I am asking the Chicagoland area, please pray for us. Pray, first of all, for the family that has been devastated by this.”
It appears that at the perpetrator’s initial detention hearing, she displayed considerable candor, albeit in a juvenile way, making the following statements. She said that “her sister didn’t appreciate all she did for her”, stating that “she cooked dinner for her younger sibling and performed other chores”. She was also mad that the younger girl had recently hit her.
According to the prosecutors, the accused teen reported that the night before the attack, after thinking it over for 10 or 15 minutes, she grabbed the knife from the kitchen, which she apparently used the following morning. She then took a shower to wash off the blood, and called the police, initially reporting the cock-and-bull story about the intruder.
The strange thing is that according to the neighbors, the girls — who lived with their mother – seemed close. According to WLS, they played together all the time and practiced cheerleading routines.
“They would always be together,” Mary Ann Gryder, a neighbor told the affiliate.
“The older one would be taking care of the younger one, and vice versa.”
After she came clean, Big Sister was arrested and charged with murder. Although there was talk about moving the case to adult court, but this was circumvented, presumably by the spirit of reason on the part of both sides.
Mark Guarino of Reuters reports that the perpetrator, who is now 15 years old, was allowed to plead guilty to the fatal stabbing in juvenile court on January 21. Based on the terms of the plea deal, Big Sister will remain in juvenile detention until she turns 21, unless she receives parole before then which she will be eligible to seek in five years.
Lake County State’s Attorney Mike Nerheim reportedly agreed to drop two of the three charges of first-degree murder in exchange for the guilty plea.
Lee Filas of the Daily Herald reports that after the hearing, Nerheim refused to go into detail as to why he chose to keep the case in juvenile court. He did say that the guilty teen “will be able to better receive the extensive mental health treatment she requires in juvenile prison”.
“We did an extensive psychological evaluation,” Nerheim said. “After completion of the report, we are as convinced as we can be that she will get the treatment she needs in the juvenile department of corrections.”
He added the plea agreement ensures justice for Betancourt and safety for the community.
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So what happened here? Why no 50 year sentence for the troubled child? After all, she murdered her sister? Why this European style sentence here in the American Heartland?
I would suggest a few things. One, the child must have shown genuine remorse. Two, she must have had an excellent defense team. Three, there must have been intangibles we know nothing about; and four, the prosecution must have dug down deep to find that sliver of mercy which all prosecutors must possess if our justice system is to be deserving of our full faith and trust.