Tragic drowning of toddler by 5-year-old

[Bumpus]

I'm speechless. Imagine being the family dealing with this ...


KANSAS CITY, Missouri — A 5-year-old girl could face murder charges after a toddler was drowned in a bathtub, police said.

Kansas City police are waiting for a medical examiner's report on how 18-month-old Jermane Johnson Jr., died, but have investigated the death as a homicide, spokesman Darin Snapp said Thursday.

"I've been in law enforcement for 20 years and it's the youngest suspect I can remember," Snapp said. "It's extremely rare."

Johnson was in a Kansas City house on June 3 with other children, but the 16-year-old girl who was supposed to be looking after them fell asleep, Snapp said.

'She got angry'
Investigators learned through interviews that a 5-year-old girl in the house became irritated at the boy, Snapp said.

"She said she got angry because he would not stop crying and she held him under the water until he stopped crying," he added.

Police said the 5-year-old was not arrested, and the case was referred to the Jackson County's family courts division.

Snapp said a decision on to handle the case will be left up to prosecutors after the medical examiner's report...

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[Locke]

Parents must be winners. At 5 years old, the majority of this girl's behavior comes from the parents...

[Vaark]

Parents must be winners. At 5 years old, the majority of this girl's behavior comes from the parents...

I dunno about that as a generalization. If you're catching any of the Casey Anthony trial, I believe she, like too many others as sociopathologically wired that way genetically. Any way you care to slice it though, this is pretty awful. I feel for the parents.. judging from friends who had a similar tragedy, they'll probably never fully recover or look at life the same way.

[Locke]

I dunno about that as a generalization. If you're catching any of the Casey Anthony trial, I believe she, like too many others as sociopathologically wired that way genetically. Any way you care to slice it though, this is pretty awful. I feel for the parents.. judging from friends who had a similar tragedy, they'll probably never fully recover or look at life the same way.

The occurrence of true sociopaths within a population is astronomically low. I know there is a trend where someone who doesn't give a crap about rules is given the sociopath label while not actually being a sociopath, which is understandable. It's easier for people to blame an intangible trait for something rather than society's shortcomings. However, statistics on the topic will lean significantly towards a failure in the child being taught a proper way to deal with her emotions. I'm sure we'll know in the next few weeks if she is a sociopath or not. Sociopaths are very easy to spot as children since they have not had time to learn to fake emotions.

Either way I agree with you as far as the parents go. I feel worse for the babysitter, who is probably going to be the target of blame...

[Rafiki]

Wow that is sad.

Two lives are ended before they really began.

[PhinzN703]

What sort of punishment is the 5 year old going to face?

[WeVie]

I bet in the end the 16 year old will be charged with something. How in the world would the system deal with a five year old killer?

[PhinsPhan11]

This is awful. Parents must have influenced this child very quickly, pretty sad.

[WeVie]

This is awful. Parents must have influenced this child very quickly, pretty sad.

Who knows. A five year old should know better but ya never know.

[Locke]

Who knows. A five year old should know better but ya never know.

Yes, a 5 year old should have known better, because the parents should have taught her better. Vaark is correct though, she might be a sociopath, which means that the parents probably had very little to do with what happened. I'd put my money on her being spoiled and not getting much discipline at home though...

[PhinsPhan11]

Who knows. A five year old should know better but ya never know.
Sounds like this 5 year old needs some serious help.