NINE-YEAR-OLD BOY KILLS FIVE PEOPLE

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First there was a burning smell, then an explosion. Moments later, flames were roaring from the windows of Katie Alwood’s mobile home in Goodfield, Illinois. By the time firefighters arrived and extinguished the blaze, five people inside were dead. The smoke and heat claimed Alwood’s fiance, grandmother, 2-year-old son, infant daughter and 2-year-old niece.  

Officials have revealed little publicly about what caused the fire, which broke out just before midnight April 6^th.2019 butt they have identified the person they believe is responsible. It was Alwood’s 9-year-old son, who, along with his mother, made it out of the structure just in time.

In October 2019, prosecutors in Woodford County, charged the boy with five counts of first-degree murder and three counts of arson in connection with the fire, saying that he set it intentionally. The Washington Post is not naming the child because he is being charged as a juvenile.

On October 21^st, the boy was arraigned in Woodford County juvenile court, where, according to local media outlets, a surreal scene unfolded as a judge tried to explain the charges in terms that would make sense to an elementary schooler.

“What don’t you understand?” Judge Charles Feeney asked the boy at the beginning of the arraignment.

“What I did,” the boy replied.

The proceeding stumbled along over the course of about half an hour, with Judge Feeney pausing repeatedly to explain different words in the charging documents.

The boy’s attorney said, “Your honor. I apologize.  My client told me he that he  doesn’t know what ‘alleged’ means.”

“It means someone accuses you,” the judge said as he looked at the boy.

Shortly after, the defense attorney interrupted again, telling the judge that the boy wanted to know what arson was. The judge replied,  “You knowingly set a fire.”

When the hearing was adjourned, the boy broke down in tears. His grandfather escorted him out of the courtroom.

It was not immediately clear if the boy entered a plea. If he is found guilty, he could face a maximum sentence of probation, along with counseling or treatment. Under Illinois law, ten years of age is the minimum age that children can be sent to any form of detention, and thirteen  is the minimum age at which they can be imprisoned. In Canada, the age is twelve where thew child can be imprisoned.

The case is an extraordinary example of prosecutors bringing charges against a pre-adolescent that could otherwise land an adult on death row or in prison for life.

The United Nations credits me as the precursor of the Bill of Rights for young offenders which are called the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice. The United States delegation attending the UN Congress held in Caracas in 1980 adopted my suggestion and the American delegation proposed that studies should be conducted worldwide with respect to my suggestion and in 1985, the UN General Assembly passed the bill of rights and most of the other nations signed the document but the American delegation didn’t because they couldn’t sign the document on behalf of the 52 individual states.  However, the individual states use the UN document as a guide when writing their own laws when referring to young offenders.

        

The charges come at a time when murder and non-negligent manslaughter arrest rates for juveniles have fallen to some of their lowest levels. In the early 1990s, juvenile murder and non-negligent manslaughter arrest rates nationwide hit a high of nearly 13 per 100,000 youths, according to the Justice Department’s Office of Justice Programs. In 2017, the most recent year for which data is available, the arrest rate was 2.7 per 100,000.

Alwood, who is the the boy’s mother, told CBS News this month that her son had recently been diagnosed with a form of schizophrenia, ADHD and bipolar disorder. The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services reportedly took him into custody shortly after the fire, and currently. he is now a ward of the state.

According to Clarke, charging the boy with murder, arson or other crimes would not make available any additional public services than if prosecutors had not charged him with those crimes.

“There are no treatment options that are available to the  boy. What opens up by charging him with those charges is the possibility of punishment,” Clarke said. “It’s only about punishment.”

That is unfortunate because that boy definitely needs treatment for his illnesses.

Many years ago, a government psychiatrist in Canada said publically that he wouldn’t treat a particular prisoner in a Canadian penitentiary even though the prisoner needed psychiatric treatment.  I sent a letter to the Canadian solicitor general and told him that the psychiatrist was wrong. The solicitor general agreed and ordered the prison psychiatrist to treat the prisoner. 

Many years ago, another nine-year-old boy who lived in Canada murdered his parents and his sister He was sentence to ten years to be served in a young offender facility. He was offered psychiatric se help but he refused to accept it.  I hope the boy who set fire to his home gets psychiatric help as he certainly needs it.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the case of a 14-year-old who has been charged with five counts of murder after confessing to shooting his family members including his three siblings in their Elkmont, Alabama, home in September 2019.