[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 22 (Thursday, March 2, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1087-S1088]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          YOUNG LIVES IN CHAOS

  Mr. KERRY. Mr. President, today there was an article on the front 
page of the Washington Post. I thought the words captured in the 
caption really summarize the situation that the Senate needs to stop 
and think about much more seriously as we come into the budget 
deliberations for this year.
  The title of the story is: ``A `Life in Chaos' Shaped Young 
Shooter.'' The description in the story talks about the life: Living in 
a place where drugs are rampant, where a gun is under a pillow, where 
parents are not paying attention. Literally, they define this as a life 
in chaos.
  I have come to the floor many times over the course of the last few 
years to talk to my colleagues about exactly that: the difference for 
children between a life in chaos and a life lived in order, in 
structure.
  The fact is, this child in Michigan, who saw fit to pick up a gun and 
shoot another student of the same age in their classroom, is tragically 
not an aberration in the context of life in America today. There are 
countless numbers of children living lives in chaos.
  One-third of all of our children in this Nation begin life in a 
deficit because they are born into a parenting situation where there is 
only one parent, born out of wedlock. With the failure rate of 
marriages, when you add to

[[Page S1088]]

the one-third that begin life that way, maybe as many as 45 to 50 
percent of America's children are being raised in a single-parent 
structure.
  Too many kids who are raised with even two parents are often the 
victims of lives in chaos, where the parents are not paying attention, 
where there are not afterschool programs, there are not early start 
programs, there are not child-care programs.
  Children, 5 million strong a day, are let out of school to go back to 
apartments and homes where there is no adult until 6 or 7 in the 
evening. We know that 5 million children are let out of school and 
returned to apartments and homes in that situation.
  I know of cities in Massachusetts where, tragically, because of the 
situation in a housing project or the situation of a single parent who 
is struggling with two jobs, working to make ends meet, and they do not 
have a proper child care situation, children are also being raised in a 
kind of chaos.
  Talk to any child psychologist anywhere in the world, and they will 
tell you the negative impact that kind of chaos or disorder or lack of 
structure has on children.
  My prayer is that in the course of the next weeks, when we have the 
opportunity in this budget, in a year of surplus, in a year where we 
are talking about huge sums of money in tax rebate, and too much of it 
going back to people who already have more than most people in America, 
I hope that in that context the Senate is going to do the business of 
this Nation in helping parents to be able to parent and helping 
children to be able to live lives in order, not lives of chaos. There 
is no greater mission for this country.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that this article from the 
Washington Post be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                 A `Life in Chaos' Shaped Young Shooter

                         (By William Claiborne)

       Mount Morris Township, Mich., March 1--The 6-year-old boy 
     who shot and killed a first-grade classmate in an elementary 
     school here Tuesday was living in a rundown crack house just 
     blocks from the school--without even a bed to sleep on--and 
     leading a ``life in chaos,'' authorities said today.
       Two men living in the house were arrested last summer on 
     charges of breaking into and burglarizing a house down the 
     street in this gritty, unincorporated neighborhood just north 
     of Flint in central Michigan, neighbors said.
       Another man, who police said kept a .32-caliber revolver 
     under a blanket in his bedroom--the weapon that authorities 
     say the boy stole and used in shooting 6-year-old Kayla 
     Rolland once in the chest--was a fugitive being sought on 
     drug charges and for possible indictment for involuntary 
     negligent homicide before he surrendered to police late this 
     afternoon. The 19-year-old man, who has not been identified 
     by police, was held on outstanding warrants.
       When police raided the house Tuesday night and seized drugs 
     and a stolen 12-gauge shotgun, they arrested a third man, 
     identified as the boy's uncle, on an outstanding felony 
     warrant for concealing stolen property. The uncle, identified 
     as Sirmarcus B. Winfrey, was also held in connection with the 
     seized drug cache and the shotgun. He is the brother of the 
     boy's mother.
       Genesee County Prosecutor Arthur A. Busch said the boy, 
     whose name has been withheld because of this age, ``comes 
     from a very troubled home. . . . It is obvious to me he is 
     the victim of the drug culture and a home that is in chaos.''
       Nonetheless the boy's mother Tamara Owens who police say 
     has a criminal record, and his father, Dedric Owens, who is 
     in jail on a parole violation, appeared briefly in Genesee 
     County Probate Court today asking for custody of the boy and 
     his 8-year-old brother. The father, appearing in court in 
     handcuffs, said he was sorry for what happened but added, ``I 
     miss him and I can't wait to see him.'' He said he was 
     seeking custody for when he is eventually released from jail.
       Speaking briefly in court, Owens said, ``I'm very sorry for 
     what happened to the child and the family. I wish it would 
     never had happened. There's nothing I can do about it.''
       Probate referee Peggy Odette denied the custody requests, 
     saying that there was evidence the mother had a background of 
     drug use. But she said Owens, who sat quietly in court and 
     wept occasionally during the brief proceedings, would be 
     allowed supervised visits with the boy while he is in state 
     custody. The boy and his brother are living with an aunt.
       The parents' custody requests were made after state 
     children's services officials filed a petition for state 
     custody on the basis of alleged parental neglect. Busch said 
     the petition would go to Family Court for a hearing.
       Busch said the boy, who along with his brother apparently 
     had been passed from house to house after their father was 
     sent to prison on a home invasion conviction, was incapable 
     of forming an intent to shoot his classmate and should not be 
     prosecuted for that reason.
       ``Especially after the detectives say that he has not 
     appreciated what has happened, that he takes this as, well 
     this is something that happens like on television,'' Busch 
     said at a news briefing at County Court in Flint.
       After police questioned him, the boy ``just sat there 
     drawing pictures,'' said Township Police Chief Eric King.
       The prosecutor said there is ample case law, supported by a 
     recent U.S. Supreme Court decision, that youths under 7 years 
     old cannot be prosecuted on felony charges. ``He is a victim 
     in many ways and we need to put our arms around him and love 
     him,'' Busch said.
       Genesee County Sheriff Robert J. Picknell said today that 
     he interviewed the boy's 29-year-old father Tuesday night at 
     the county jail. The father was paroled on Dec. 20 from a 
     home invasion sentence but two months later was back in 
     custody for the parole violation.
       Picknell, in a telephone interview, said the father told 
     him that, after being evicted from her house, the boy's 
     mother dropped off the youngster at the crack house about 10 
     days ago to live with his uncle. The move followed a series 
     of behavior problems at the Theo J. Buell Elementary School, 
     where Kayla was shot as three first-graders and a teacher 
     watched in horror Tuesday morning.
       Branch said the shooting followed a quarrel ``and maybe a 
     scuffle'' between the boy and Kayla at the school the 
     previous day, but he insisted that he had no information 
     indicating the boy went to the school with the intention of 
     shooting the girl.
       Picknell noted that Owens, whose name had been withheld to 
     protect the boy until today's Probate Court appearance, said 
     his son told him he had been suspended three times this 
     school year, once for stabbing another pupil with a pencil 
     and twice for fighting.
       When asked about the suspensions, Ira Rutherford, 
     superintendent of the Beecher School District, declined to 
     comment, saying information about the boy's behavior is 
     confidential. Rutherford said that ``seriously disturbed'' 
     youths are referred to mental health programs for help, but 
     he declined to comment when asked if the boy had been 
     referred to such a program.
       Rutherford also said he thinks the boy may be too young to 
     come under a 1984 Michigan law requiring the expulsion of 
     students who violate gun prohibitions, even though the law 
     appears to cover pupils of any age. He said he would not 
     speculate where the boy may attend school if he is not 
     charged, even as a juvenile.
       Picknell said the father was aware of the known drug house 
     at 1102 Juliah St., around the corner from the school, and 
     that when he heard about the shooting on a radio newscast, he 
     immediately had a ``sickening feeling'' that his son may have 
     been involved. Picknell said Owens told him that shortly 
     after he was paroled in December, he saw his son and asked 
     him why he committed the offenses that led to the 
     suspensions.
       ``He said that the kid told him he did it because `I hate 
     them.' '' Picknell said.
       Picknell said Owen's suspicion that the boy was involved in 
     the school shooting was heightened because of his knowledge 
     that guns were always kept in the house for protection and 
     for trading for drugs.
       Picknell said he was troubled by the fact that the 
     suspensions did not prompt educators to seek special help for 
     the boy, or at least lead to a referral to child protection 
     services for an investigation into his home life.
       ``If he [the father] could figure it out so quickly, why 
     can't we, the police, the educators and the psychologists?'' 
     Picknell said. ``All the warning signs were there, but we are 
     not very good about recognizing them,'' the sheriff said.
       Today there was nobody at the Juliah Street house, a one-
     story bungalow with an old car on cinder blocks on the muddy 
     front lawn. But a neighbor, who said she was too afraid of 
     reprisals to give her name, said there was a lot of traffic 
     in and out of the house late at night and that the occupants 
     ``never went to sleep.'' She said that even before two 
     occupants were arrested in connection with the burglary 
     nearby last summer, residents had complained to the police 
     about drug dealing in the house, but that no action was 
     taken.
       Another neighbor, Tammy Fortin, who said she coincidentally 
     is related by marriage to Kayla, said, ``It's a drug house. 
     There are so many in this area that I'm scared for my kids, 
     and the cops won't do anything about it.''
       Fortin, who said her husband's brother is Kayla's 
     stepfather, said the dead girl was a ``very well-behaved 
     little girl, loved by everybody. It's just an awful 
     tragedy.''

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator's time has expired.
  Mr. KERRY. Mr. President, I yield the floor.

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