Teenager, Defends his mother, kills her abuser boyfreind....

[virginia mountainman]

Good Son....

Curran said the victim and his girlfriend had had a "violent fight," witnessed by the 17-year-old boy, who followed Davis outside and shot him, Curran said. The Sheriff's Department is not releasing the woman's name because she is not a suspect and is a victim of domestic violence.

Davis had a history of domestic violence in Sacramento County, according to Superior Court records. Most recently, he pleaded no contest to misdemeanor domestic violence in September 2004 and was sentenced to 365 days in jail.

http://www.sacbee.com/ourregion/story/1880096.html?mi_rss=Our%2520Region

He has beaten his last woman....

[vadawg]

1. mountain justice, N/T

[47of74]

2. The kid got a murder charge as thanks from the state

However the police believe the shooting to be justified and assuming the local D.A. isn't a complete idiot the charges may be dropped soon.

[vadawg]

4. yeah i think they had to as he followed him outside, no idea if he has a defense

i guess we will see, dont blame him though for defending his mother.

[virginia mountainman]

5. Even if he followed him outside..

IF the abuser, turned back toward him, or his mom... It would still be clear cut self defence..

The article does not give enough information, but the fact that they let him out of juvy, says allot.

Nice to see another Virginian in here!

[vadawg]

11. Nice to see mountain folk here, though im a virginian by choice not birth

virginia first and last as far as my kids are concerned.

[Ken Burch]

18. Why does it matter if he followed them outside?

If that's where they went as they were fighting, how else could he stop the abuser?

Was it only self-defense if he shot the bastard from INSIDE the house?

[EFerrari]

19. It doesn't look like his self defense is vitiated because he followed

the guy outside. Seriously, if a danger to you happened to step outside, wouldn't it be stupid not to follow and see what's he doing? He might be getting a weapon or setting the house on fire or any number of things, getting ready to come back inside.

[virginia mountainman]

20. Because...

Most of the time, if you are FOLLOWING someone, they are not a mortal threat (their are exceptions)

Was he going outside, to LEAVE??

Or

Was he going outside to get a shovel, or axe??

The article does not give enough info, but the fact that the cops, are saying it was justifiable, and he was released from custody, says allot..

[EFerrari]

25. Exactly. It looks like this kid might get a break from the cops.

If this went down as reported, I sure hope he does.

[quiller4]

28. The kid doesn't have any charge yet - just an arrest.

He'll have a charge if and only if the prosecutor decides to file.

[iamtechus]

31. I think it's wrong for the state to take a life, for any reason but ..

It's perfectly OK to kill someone as a matter of honor, whether or not it's "legal".

[Optical.Catalyst]

38. Ask the severely beaten woman about matters of "honor". n/t

[Drunken Irishman]

3. Not a good situation, however.

This ruined his life. A good son? Maybe, but now this is going to follow him for the rest of his life.

[virginia mountainman]

8. Watching an asshole beat his mother to death,

Would have been the worse outcome...

I know, I have seen family members die....

[Drunken Irishman]

10. Of course, but that doesn't make killing a person any easier.

That isn't something you just get over. It's going to stay with him for the rest of his life. Even if the person was a complete asshole and worthy of death, it doesn't change the fact he took a life and for most of us, that would be hard to move on from. I know I couldn't and trust me, my dad was an abusive drunk with PTSD -- so I've thought about doing it.

[virginia mountainman]

14. Agreed.....NT

[EFerrari]

9. Too soon to tell. He's out, and the case is being reviewed

to see if it was justifiable homocide.

[Drunken Irishman]

12. I'm not talking about the legal aspects.

Even if it was justifiable, it still will follow him around for the rest of his life. It's not easy to take a life, justified or not.

[EFerrari]

15. People do what they have to do, even at that age.

And at every point, we have a choice. We can let the past follow us around or we can make peace with it. It's not easy but, that's the job.

[Drunken Irishman]

16. I don't believe it's that easy.

Especially since I've seen my dad fight the Vietnam War demons my entire life.

He killed someone and he still hasn't gotten over it.

[EFerrari]

17. It's not easy, I agree completely. But that is the deal.

I'm 52 and looking back, am surprised at all the stuff that hasn't followed me around forever and equally at the stuff that has. The night I knee capped my mom's drunken, butcher knife waving boyfriend, I've never lost a minute's sleep over. If I had to kill him that night, I would have and still felt fine about it and that's with hating violence of any kind.

It's pretty clear that you defend your mother. Maybe that's different than what happens to you in a war. I don't know. :shrug:

[Drunken Irishman]

22. All I know is that I've had a drunk father who suffers from PTSD.

And I've thought about killing him. I've told my mom about my thoughts and she's pleaded with me not to do it because she doesn't think it's something I would ever get over.

Maybe it's different because it was a boyfriend and not a father. But I think any time you take a life, regardless of the situation, it's not something you can easily just forget about. Maybe you can, but I think for a vast majority of us, it wouldn't be easy.

[EFerrari]

23. Living with drunks tends to drive you in that direction, father or whoever. n/t

[ProgressiveProfessor]

21. The military is still trying to figure out why so relatively few had PTSD type of issues

out of WWI and WWII, but starting in Korea and blossoming in Vietnam they became so much more common. I wonder that myself. Perhaps its how your are reared or wired.

[EFerrari]

24. It may be partly due to the fact that more guys survived inuries

long enough to develop PTSD symptoms starting with Korea.

[bertman]

26. I wouldn't discount the fact that WWII and Korea were wars where the vast majority

of the warriors felt that they were truly fighting to save the world or the South Koreans, and possibly whoever else the Chinese decided to back. Vietnam and Iraq are wars of choice. For the men, and now women, who fought and are still fighting in those wars, it became obvious that the altruistic reasons they were given for fighting were just propaganda. But propaganda or not, they still are in a war, experiencing the horrors, but without the sense of self-worth and true personal sacrifice that a "noble cause" engenders.

Fighting to protect someone or something from a true enemy is different from fighting to protect the right of Big Oil to dominate the Middle East.

[EFerrari]

27. The old lie / Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori.

[bertman]

32. Many years ago i took Latin. 44 to be exact. Here's a try: Sweet and honorable is

a death for one's country?

[EFerrari]

33. Yes. It's a poem by Wilfed Owen.

Wilfred Owen

Dulce Et Decorum Est

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of disappointed shells that dropped behind.

GAS! Gas! Quick, boys!-- An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And floundering like a man in fire or lime.--
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.

In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,--
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.

1917

[juno jones]

39. Wow.

That was jaw-droppingly good.

Thanks. I'll be looking that up.

[EFerrari]

44. He was a helluva poet. He died in battle a week before the war ended.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilfred_Owen

[Are_grits_groceries]

40. There was PTSD.

They called it shell-shocked. My Daddy was in the artillery in WWII. He would jump suddenly for no apparent reason.
Lucky he didn't do more.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

42. I agree, but at no where near the percentages that we see today

It could be under reported. Also the nightmares about killing people etc were almost unheard of then

[EFerrari]

45. The nightmares were there, too. From Owen:

"In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning."

[sandnsea]

6. tragedy, nothing "good"

in the situation at all. It's sons like that that grow up to be violent men because it's the only model they know. Violence perpetuates more violence.

[Hanse]

7. That's fairly common.

Something on the order of 90% of teenage murderers, who the media love to scare people with, are in prison for murdering their mother's abuser.

[AlCzervik]

13. this has been all over the news up here and i read 2 days ago the police said

it was justifiable so i don't where the investigation is right now but i suspect i'll be reading more about tomorrow, anything new comes out and i'll post it.

i am the one that still gets the Bee delivered.

[southerncrone]

29. So, he's done this "woman beating" before & served one year.

This kid should never have been placed in the position of feeling like he needed to kill someone.

These abusers should be tattooed (or better yet branded), so future women who meet them will know they are abusers & should stay away from them. This goes on way too much in our society!

Does anyone know what the success rate for "counseling" abusers is? Domestic violence is one of the biggest plagues on our society, but is not getting the funds or attention it needs to be eradicated. So much is learned, multi-generational disdain for women & will take a long time to "fix".

I wonder if he had beaten this woman before? If so, she put her son in an impossible position.

[EFerrari]

30. It may not have been entirely a choice she felt she had.

[LeftyMom]

36. When women stay with abusers it's usually because they have no resources to leave.

Women aren't dumb. They figure out pretty damned quick who the abusers are in most cases. The issue is generally a real or perceived lack of alternatives.

[southerncrone]

46. Yes, I realize the plight of women who end up in these relationships

& don't have the resources or support system to get out.

Thus, my idea of BRANDING. This warns them from getting into the relationship to begin with.

[EndersDame]

34. I would have done the same

Good for him. He is a hero

[proteus_lives]

35. The police look for any way not to charge him....

And if they're forced to, no jury will convict him.

I wouldn't. The kid defended his mom, give him a pat on the back and send him home to his mom. Let them rebuild their lives.

[LeftyMom]

37. I hate to quibble, but there's an error in the article.

The article describes the location of the shooting as being in South Sacramento. South Sac is the unincorporated area in between the Oak Park and Elk Grove south of Sacramento. I grew up there.

The shooting took place just across the American River from California State University Sacramento, in a narrowish strip of unincorporated land east of Sacramento proper and a bit west of Rancho Cordova, but several miles to the north and a bit east of any area that's even arguably part of South Sacramento.

Thus ends LM's lesson in Sacramento geography.

PS Anybody working for the Bee should know that. I wonder if they're outsourcing stories, if the author just doesn't bother to get out of downtown/midtown, or maybe just fell off the turnip truck and doesn't know the area. Considering how many people they're laying off I might suggest anybody too lazy to look at a map might be a good place to start.

[Deja Q]

41. In this instance, vigilante justice is

accepted.

No prison time IMHO.

Such abusers, especially chronic ones, have no place in any society.

[LWolf]

43. I had to click the link and check the location to be sure

this wasn't a story about my former student, who killed his mother's boyfriend with a sword in self-defense during a family brawl.

His trial begins in August.

I can't celebrate the killing of anyone, although I'm glad, of course, that the abuse was stopped.

[mackerel]

47. The abuse has stopped for now. No guarantees though.