Teenage Girl Kills Abusive Father

[lizbud]

I read this story a few days ago & felt so bad for her & her brother having
to depend on this guy for their lives. The story was sad enough, but to read
some of the comments by people to the story was shocking. They had no
sympathy for the girl at all. :(

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=3454218

[Karen]

Very, very, very sad. Both the girl and her brother will need extensive counseling after living in such awful conditions, and surviving the abuse.

[mrspunkysmom]

If I read this right, Animal Welfare had been to the house the week before to remove pets from the squalor. If this is true, why didn't they call child services? She wouldn't be up on murder charges and the father (hopefully) would have to pay for his crimes. I thought they usually did. Perhaps I watch too much TV.

Anne

[Catty1]

I read a lot of the posts there...I gather that Children's Services had been contacted at one point...yet another person who had experience with one area's CS said they don't do anything unless someone DOES die. Sad case of understaffing with poorly qualified staff in some areas.

Maybe the poor girl no longer had reason to believe anyone would help them.

One poster on the blog...she said she was raised in far worse conditions, never killed anyone, and that this girl should be tried in adult court: "Murder is murder." That is REALLY sad...I suspect she wanted to kill, but didn't, and is lashing out here...I am TOTALLY guessing, her reply just stunned me.

The girl is in a psych ward now. Clean sheets, regular meals, nice people...a psych ward is heaven compared to where she was. I hope she heals!

[Laura's Babies]

Even if she has to spend the rest of her life in prison, she will be far better off than she was living like that. The whole adult community there failed her, no one came to help so there is no wonder she took things into her own hands.

I don't think she should be put on trial for anything. She has already been punished all her life for NOTHING. She has paid her dues! Let her go!

[crow_noir]

Murder? I'd call that self-preservation. ...or justice (vigil-anti style.)

[wombat2u2004]

Even if she has to spend the rest of her life in prison, she will be far better off than she was living like that. The whole adult community there failed her, no one came to help so there is no wonder she took things into her own hands.

I don't think she should be put on trial for anything. She has already been punished all her life for NOTHING. She has paid her dues! Let her go!

I don't think she will do time.
Wom

[CathyBogart]

All of the people bleating "Why didn't she go to CPS!?!" make me so ANGRY. :mad:

When my dad was abusing me, any attempt I made to contact anyone outside of the house regarding it would escalate the violence. I never went to any authorities because I was always afraid it would escalate to my little siblings or to the pets in the house.....I often thought as a kid that if there weren't animals to worry about in the house I would have called the police on many occasions. For years I've regretted that I didn't.

I can't imagine how trapped this poor girl felt...and then how alone when her animal companions were taken away. I hope she gets the counseling she so obviously needs and finds herself in a situation with people who care for her and her well-being.

[Alysser]

Was he abusing her when she shot him? I don't exactly know what to think about this case. those poor kids. :(

[Giselle]

Murder is never the answer. Nobody ever deserves to die. Nobody. Life is not meant to be destroyed.

I feel sorry for everybody involved in this case, especially the young girl.

[wombat2u2004]

Murder is never the answer. Nobody ever deserves to die. Nobody. Life is not meant to be destroyed.

I feel sorry for everybody involved in this case, especially the young girl.

Nope, gotta disagree with you on that one.
Some people do deserve to die.
Just look what that guy has done to his OWN daughter !!!!! She will live with that for the rest of her life.
Wom

[Giselle]

Murder is never the solution to any problem. I will NEVER condone killing anybody for ANY purpose. Yes, he had issues and he tortured his children, but it was not more logical to kill him for it. I was recently moved by Immaculee Ilibagiza's autobiography Left to Tell. Despite having almost her entire family obliterated in the Rwandan genocide, she forgave the murderers face-to-face. That takes courage, strength, and morality. It's horrifically sad that this young girl was driven to kill, and I can only hope she will heal. But I stand by my words: Murder is never right or just. Nobody ever deserves to die. There is no justice or sense in hurting others because you yourself was hurt.

I hate to overquote Gandhi yet again, but "an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind". And I believe our society is blind enough as it is.

[wombat2u2004]

Murder is never the solution to any problem. I will NEVER condone killing anybody for ANY purpose. Yes, he had issues and he tortured his children, but it was not more logical to kill him for it. I was recently moved by Immaculee Ilibagiza's autobiography Left to Tell. Despite having almost her entire family obliterated in the Rwandan genocide, she forgave the murderers face-to-face. That takes courage, strength, and morality. It's horrifically sad that this young girl was driven to kill, and I can only hope she will heal. But I stand by my words: Murder is never right or just. Nobody ever deserves to die. There is no justice or sense in hurting others because you yourself was hurt.

I hate to overquote Gandhi yet again, but "an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind". And I believe our society is blind enough as it is.

Hmmmm...this is actually one of those subjects where people don't sit on the fence ;) One is either on one side or the other.....too big an issue, too many morals involved. I don't think we should go there :p
Wom

[lizbud]

Life is not meant to be destroyed.




If you had a cancerous growth inside of you, would you want it killed off?
It's alive.


I believe some people forfeit their right to live by being constant predators
on the world's most vulnerable people.

[wombat2u2004]

I believe some people forfeit their right to live by being constant predators on the world's most vulnerable people.

YES !!!!!!!! So True !!!!!!
Wom

[Catty1]

While murder is not the solution...after rape having started when this girl was 7, and continued for 6 years, she was more than incapable of rational thought, and not just because of her age.

Only my imagination here - but I think she did not want to actually kill a person - she just wanted everything to STOP, and acted out of a degree of blind despair and state of mind that I hope none of us ever comes near.

[lizbud]

I would never judge her at all, but get her the best defense lawyer
I could locate & let 12 other people decide after hearing her thoughts
that drove her to defend herself.

I wonder if these kids were attending school during this time? Did no one
ever notice how dirty & smelly they were.

[columbine]

This is why killing in self-defense is legally distinct from out-and-out murder. And this is also why the laws are flawed, because "self-defense" only includes defense against getting killed. Torture isn't covered, except clumsily and indirectly under the "by reason of insanity" clause.

I don't doubt that the girl is probably crazy as a bedbug after years of abuse. But I don't think that specifically killing her father was a crazy thing to do. She'd have met the same fate at someone else's hands if she ran away, and had no reason to believe that the Authorities would take any interest.

For those who have been tortured and toughed it out - hey, good for you. But I don't think it's at all realistic to expect that of everybody. If the guy had been, say, an enemy combatant, they'd be looking up the rules for awarding medals to civilians. But I think the fact that he was her father makes his behavior far, far more horrific.

Love, Columbine

[Cataholic]

Murder is never the solution to any problem. I will NEVER condone killing anybody for ANY purpose. .

Murdering someone is one thing, as it presupposes no legal justification or excuse. However, killing someone can mean many a thing. To use the two terms interchangeably isn't appropriate, unless you mean you wouldn't end someone's life for any reason- no matter what. To that, and I hate to claim that special club membership again, but, you must not be someone's mother.

If someone was harming my child, I mean, really harming my child, I would suffer about two seconds worth of inactivity...and that would only be cause I couldn't find the trigger faster.

To quote Ghandi is all well and good, but, I am not so sure Ghandi was contemplating such an evil family relationship.

[mike001]

I have to agree with Cathy. I don't think the girl set out with the inention of killig, she was just trying to stop the hurting, and it was probably a scream for help.
No one in her position could think rationally. I doubt she would be found guilty enough to serve time. I think the father got what he deserved.

[Giselle]

Sorry, do not and will not ever agree with killing/murdering in any circumstance. Furthermore, I don't believe that living is a right. In my beliefs and in my religion, life is a gift and a constant opportunity for atonement. Just as there is no justice or logic in hurting, murdering, or torturing innocent victims, there is no justice in killing perpetrators. IMO.

[caseysmom]

Giselle, I have the utmost respect for you but I have to disagree. I think this guy needed to be stopped and she did what she needed to do.

[Catty1]

Giselle - a child is not capable of that type of reasoning.

Raped for 6 years. From age 7.

She is 13...God forbid she is pregnant.

After all those years - I think she just wanted OUT.

He was no longer her father. Jailer...and worse. I can see him becoming a "thing".

[Catty1]

http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/news/13800236/detail.html

Neighbor Says Girl Accused Of Killing Father Confided In Her

ELIZABETH TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- New information has surfaced in the case of a 13-year-old girl charged with killing her father.

Team 4 has learned the teen confessed to a neighbor and revealed for the first time details of the alleged abuse she suffered.

After the shooting, Suzanne Gruber climbed into an ambulance with the girl and was at her side for the next nine hours while she was questioned by police and examined at Children's Hospital.
Click here to find out more!

WTAE Channel 4 Action News is not identifying the girl by name because there have been allegations of abuse connected to her case.

At first the girl told police robbers shot her father. But then, while officers were questioning the girl's brother, she told her neighbor a different story.

Team 4's Paul Van Osdol sat down with Gruber one-on-one.

Van Osdol: "She basically confessed to you before the police?"

Gruber: "Yes."

Then, the 13-year-old told Gruber why she shot her father, Matthew Booth.

Van Osdol: "What exactly did she tell you about her history with her father?"

Gruber: "That she was sexually assaulted by her father since she was 7, and he beat her and her brother a lot, and she didn't know which bruises were from which fights because of the consistency of the abuse."

Gruber said she had seen the girl and her father at a neighborhood party earlier that night. There were no signs of tension, but the girl told her that changed after the party was over.

"She did admit to me after everybody was gone," said Gruber. "Nobody could see. Her father pulled her by the hair into the house."

Gruber said at that point, after years of abuse and no action taken by police or CYF, the girl felt she had no other options.

The girl is accused of shooting her father after he fell asleep or passed out.

"She was definitely at a breaking point where she didn't know what else to do or where else to go, because the police and everybody was there so many times and nothing was ever done about it," Gruber said. "Who would you trust if nothing was ever done?"

Gruber said she would do whatever she can to help the girl.

There will be a bond hearing on Thursday as the girl's lawyer tries to get her moved from jail to the Shuman Center for Juveniles.

[Catty1]

http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/news/13791512/detail.html

Team 4: Mom Of Girl Accused Of Killing Dad Speaks Out

ELIZABETH TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- A Team 4 investigation found that the Allegheny County Office of Children, Youth and Family Services knew about problems between a 13-year-old girl and her father before the child allegedly shot and killed the man.

Matthew Booth's 13-year-old daughter is accused of shooting Booth in the head with a shotgun early Monday morning at their Elizabeth Township home.

The child is charged as an adult with homicide, but WTAE Channel 4 Action News is not identifying her by name because there have been allegations of sexual abuse.

Booth's ex-wife, Michelle Fazek, said she had complained about Booth abusing her and her children for the past several years, but she said the authorities did little. Court records back up her story.

Police were frequent visitors to Booth's house, mostly because of complaints by Fazek.

Team 4's Paul Van Osdol sat down with Fazek for a one-on-one interview on Tuesday.

"Is it your belief that he abused her?" Van Osdol asked.

"Yes," Fazek said. "He was very violent with everyone he came in contact with."

In 2005, McKeesport police arrested Booth, charging him with assaulting one of his two daughters after he allegedly "slapped her in the face, knocking out a tooth and causing her nose to bleed heavily."

The charge was dropped.

According to court records, "CYF explained to Fazek -- the mother -- that it was not considered child abuse, because the injuries were not severe and only resulted in moderate pain."

"I was incredulous, completely shocked and stunned," Fazek told Van Osdol. "All logic dictates when a grown man strikes a child in the face it's abuse, but they didn't seem to think so."

Also in 2005, Booth was charged with aggravated assault after Fazek told police he "pointed a shotgun in my face and pulled the trigger."

That charge was also dropped.

"Very, very frustrating," Fazek said.

Fazek said she complained frequently to CYF officials and township police about filthy conditions at Booth's home. Her most recent call was made three weeks ago, she said.

"They didn't look good. They looked like they weren't being fed, like they hadn't bathed," Fazek said.

Township Police Chief Robert McNeilly said he has no record of that call.

McNeilly said there were at least six complaints from Fazek last year, but officers visited the home each time and found no problems.

According to court records, in February 2006, the 13-year-old daughter called Fazek and told her that she had tried to commit suicide and that she had been sexually assaulted 51 days earlier by a family friend who later committed suicide.

Also that month, CYF opened an investigation after Fazek complained that the girl had missed 45 days of school and shown a noticeable deterioration in hygiene and ability to focus, according to the records.

CYF apparently took no action to remove the 13-year-old from her father's house.

Fazek said the girl denied being abused whenever she testified in court -- likely, according to Fazek, because the child had been manipulated by someone else.

"I feel like, in a lot of ways, the system let everybody down in this case," Fazek said.

A CYF spokeswoman said the agency cannot talk about specific cases, but the agency is investigating its own involvement with the Booth family and reviewing its actions in connection with the case.

[CathyBogart]

:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

So $*#)($^#(&%@(*#%@( # to all the fools bleating "Why weren't the authorities contacted?!"

Sadly, I have no faith in child protective services after my own pathetic experiences with them, so I am not in the least bit surprised to read that last article.

[caseysmom]

I guess people would hope cps would help, unfortunately they are too busy investigating stupid claims and it seems like the really legitame ones get ignored. I am sorry for what you experience Cathy.