[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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