Preview

Teen Killers Essay

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
806 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Teen Killers Essay
Should teens who commit murder be locked away for life or is this cruel and unusual punishment? Teens who commit murder should be sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. Physical and mental health of the guilt party should be taken into consideration, however people should pay for any crime committed no matter what age. According to a cite called, TeenKillers.com Since 1990, a total of 3,632 youths who were 14-years-old or younger were arrested for homicide, yet only 58 of them received life without parole, or less than two percent. The other 3,574 teen murderers are either already out on the streets or eventually will be. Allowing these people back onto the streets is dangerous for themselves and others. There is the possibility that they will kill again, or someone could even kill them to make them pay for what they did. There is no telling what could happen after putting a murderer back into society. If these criminals killed someone during teen years, its scary for people to think about what they could be capable of when they reach maturity. After a human being reaches a certain age, they gain common sense, they know what is going on in their life, and the difference between what is right and what is wrong becomes very clear and apparent. Holly Harvey was 15-years-old and was “in love” with her girlfriend, Sandra Ketchum. Holly lived with her 74, and 73-year-old grandparents. Her grandparents were religious people who wanted Holly to begin attending church services with them, and especially wanted Holly to stop seeing Sandra. Holly was sick of being controlled by her grandparents so her and her girlfriend devised a plan to kill them. Holly wrote on her arm, “kill, keys, money and jewelry”. The two teens successfully fulfilled their plan, stabbing Holly’s grandmother a total of 20 times in the chest and back., and stabbing Holly’s grandfather a total of 15 times in the chest and neck. Holly Harvey was knowledgeable, and mature


Cited: David Lieb. "Alyssa Bustamante, Missouri Teenager, Describes Killing As 'Ahmazing ' And 'Pretty Enjoyable '." huffingtonpost.com. n.p., 19 April 2012. Web. [**Accessed**]. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/06/alyssa-bustamante-killing-ahmazing-enjoyable_n_1258579.htm. Phil Chalmers. "Life Without Parole for Juveniles Killers in Question." TeenKillers.com. n.p., 19 April 2012. Web. [**Accessed**]. http://teenkillers.com/?p=627. Racheal Bell. "Part One - Holly Harvey and Sandra Ketchum "Kill, Keys, Money and Jewelry"." Trutv.com. n.p., 19 April 2012. Web. [**Accessed**]. http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/young/teen_killers/index.html.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    Juvenile Justice

    • 696 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In recent discussion of Juvenile Justice, a controversial issue has been whether juveniles should be tried as adults in adult courts for heinous crimes they have committed. On one hand, some argue that they should not be tried as adults and do not deserve harsh sentences but as children seeking help. On the other hand, however, others argue that those who commit such heinous crimes ought to be punished no matter the age. The juvenile court was created to handle juvenile offenders on the basis of their youth rather than their crimes. The purpose of juvenile court is treatment and guidance rather than punishment. Juveniles don't have the knowledgeable or moral capacity to understand the consequences of their actions; similarly, they lack the same capacity to be trial defendants. Juveniles today are more knowledgeable and cultured at a younger age; they understand the implications of violence and how violent weapons are used. It is irrational to argue that a juvenile, who sees the effect of violence around him in the news every day, does not understand what killing really is. The fact that “adolescent killers” know how to load and shoot a gun or use a knife to kill is an indicator that they understand exactly what they're doing.…

    • 696 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Juveniles do not deserve life sentences, because placing them in a facility with adults will only decrease the possibility…

    • 805 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout the book, Humes introduces the reader to several youthful offenders as they pass through the juvenile justice system. These offenders come from a variety of backgrounds, and have committed a variety of crimes, but most of them were involved in violent felonies. A dividing issue within the juvenile justice system is whether to transfer juvenile offenders to the adult criminal justice system. Humes clearly illustrates that making this distinction based on age- sixteen in California- is arbitrary and flawed. One boy shot the couple that employed him, and that he claimed to love, in the back of the head with a shotgun, point blank. The boy spent his time in court giggling, waving to his parents, lying on the stand, and showing no remorse. However, because Ronald Duncan was nine days shy of sixteen when he committed this heinous crime, he cannot be transferred to adult court. As such, the maximum amount of time the system can keep him off the street is until he is twenty-five. That is a maximum sentence of only nine years for a premeditated double homicide. Geri Vance’s case stands in startling contrast. Coerced into a robbery, he and his partner attempted to steal cash at gunpoint from a front desk clerk at a motel.…

    • 880 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Juveniles should not be let off easy because it increase that chances of it occurring again because they did not receive the punishment. The consequences of a juvenile's action should not be determined by race, ethnicity, gender and color of skin as well as economic status. We shouldn’t their enablers, we should let know and experience that every single action has it’s consequence. If teens can plan a murder confess it and not feel any remorse they should also be given the proper punishment and face time in prison. I do not think it is wrong, I believe that it is just to trial a juvenile as an…

    • 755 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Juveniles shouldn't get sentenced to life without parole for committing a crime at a young age. A punishment is necessary but, sentenced to life without parole at a young age is devastating. Why should they even continue to live? They are young and deserve a second chance to rehabilitate. All we do is just throw these kids in prison and forget about the. What these kids need is treatment especially, those raised in violet environments. Sometimes they grow up unaware of what's good or bad. It may not be there fault. I'm not stating that they don't deceive a punishment, what the need is a punishment but also the support of a person.…

    • 1120 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Juveniles Unfit for Trial

    • 427 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Juvenile crime is very wide spread within our country. Juveniles commit crimes every day; whether it’s stealing candy from a store or stealing a life. Those who commit such heinous acts such as taking someone’s life should be sentenced to life in prison or in some cases, death. But the question still stands: what if it is an adolescent who murdered somebody, should they be sentenced to life in prison or even sentenced to walk death row? I believe that juveniles should not receive life in prison but rather an evaluation on their mental health to see why they acted in such a way.…

    • 427 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Ten year old boy murders his family. Does he get out when he turns eighteen, because he knows not what he did? Or does he spend the rest of his life in prison? Sometimes teenagers are tried for crimes as adults and face equal penalties that are subject to adults. This is a controversial issue among americans. There are two groups of people. Those who believe that teenagers under the age of eighteen who commit serious crimes should be held responsible as adults for their actions. Courts are said to be too lenient and the young juveniles are evolving into violent youth criminals; And there are those who suggest that teenagers are less likely to understand the consequences of their actions and more likely to become productive citizens if the criminal justice system continues to treat eighteen year olds as juveniles. Juvenile death penalties and life sentences without parole have increased at an estimated rate of three times higher today than fifteen years ago. The youth are still growing to become fully developed, like an adult. There are many cases where tough decisions have to be made and choices must be made by officials. In my opinion all youths at the age of eighteen or younger should be tried as juveniles and all our juvenile courts need to focus more on rehabilitation for the lost of youth to criminal acts. Age should be a factor, not a determinant on how these youths should be tried.…

    • 2098 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Each year, thousands of adolescents in the United States have been tried and sentenced to life in prison without parole, a punishment that has many of its own controversies. Debates are held on whether or not these kids should be tried and sentenced in the same way that adults are tried and sentenced. Many justices say that since children are emotionally, physically and mentally different than adults, they should never be tried in the same way that adults are. Other justices argue that if these children are capable of committing murder, they are also capable of undergoing the same punishment that an adult would undergo. However, the Supreme Court has ruled that sentencing juveniles to life in prison without parole is unconstitutional because it violates the ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Adolescents deserve to be tried differently simply because of the fact that they are not adults, and the legal system shouldn’t treat them as such. Furthermore, juveniles should not be sentenced to life in prison without parole because they have not yet reached their full maturity, they are capable of rehabilitation, and if they were sentenced as adults, they should be given the same privileges as adults in the first place.…

    • 971 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Gail Garinger’s article “Juveniles Don’t Deserve Life Sentences” published on March 14, 2012. Garinger states that 79 young adolescents have been sentenced to die in prison, and…

    • 401 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    One of the most controversial questions in the juvenile justice system today is, "Should the death penalty be applied to juveniles?”. A lot of people think that the death penalty for juveniles is cruel and unusual punishment and should only be used for adults. The crimes that juveniles commit are as dangerous and as violent as adult crimes. People argue that the adolescent brain does not mature until the late teens or early twenties, and that death penalty should not be the resolution. Some studies show that childhood abuse or neglect can causes the child to commit crimes when they grow to adulthood. Debate about the use of the death penalty for juveniles has grown more intense because of the crimes they are committing. In this paper I will talk about the history, why people oppose of the juvenile death penalty and why others are in favor of juvenile death penalty.…

    • 1340 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Children do not have the capabilities of proper decision making to be tried and convicted as adults and serve time in adult prisions. The juvenile justice system was overlooked for many years. As of June 25, 2012, the Supreme Court ruled that juveniles who committed murder cold not be sentenced to life in prison because it violated the Eighth Amendment's ban on cruel and unusal punishment. I agree that juveniles should not be tried as adults, a point that needs emphasizing since so many people believe that all juveniles are criminals.…

    • 473 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Of the five articles in the Juvenile Justice module, only one stands out as the most effective in defending the stance that children should be tried as adults. The most effective article was “On Punishment and Teen Killers,” written by Jennifer Jenkins. This article definitely proves that children should be tried as adults by explaining how influence can have an effect on crime rate, and how underdevelopment of brains cannot be a contributing factor to the reasoning behind teen murders.…

    • 482 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    After thinking a lot about this issue and talking to other people, I guess I agree with Death Penalty for Adolescents. However, I believe that they are incapable of making judgment as well as adults. Most of them are not as equipped as adults to engage a moral conduct based on good principles. The root of this problem is a way behind: education that comes from home, parent’s support.…

    • 366 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Supreme Court stressed that “Capital punishment must be limited to those offenders who commit ‘a narrow category of the most serious crimes’ and whose extreme culpability makes them ‘the most deserving of execution.’” The Supreme also solidified its decision based on the principle that juveniles lack maturity and understanding of responsibility. Juveniles are prone to be influenced by their…

    • 658 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The question is, should teens who murder be tried as adults? I would have to say yes. If one can understand what murder is, he or she should also understand that it’s wrong. Everyday a grown person or a teenager is being arrested for murder. If one is big enough to do the crime, than he or she can do the time. It’s not about being old enough to understand because at the age of 14 or 15 years old one has learned the difference in right and wrong; therefore, one knows the action is wrong and should take the consequences for the wrong they committed just like any other person should. It wouldn’t be fair if say a 30 year old man gets arrested for rape and takes it on upon himself to stab his victim to death and gets life in prison, but then a 15 year old kid who knows what he is doing as well gets arrested for the same crime and gets away with it. It wouldn’t be fair because, not only did that 15 year old get away with murder because of his age, but that family has to sit there in grief and pain knowing that this 15 year old just got away with murder; this kid could also thinking its ok to do it again because I’m just a kid, but that 15 year old kid is about to go attack another person.…

    • 921 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics