Random Kids Whose Crimes Were So Brutal (16 items)

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  (#1) Anissa Weier And Morgan Geyser Impaled A Classmate 19 Times To Impress A Fictional Demon 

  In 2014, Wisconsin 12-year-olds Anissa Weier and Morgan Geyser lured their classmate Payton Leutner into the woods where they stabbed her 19 times. The girls claimed they did it to please the fictional Creepypasta boogeyman “Slender Man” and save their families from his wrath. Leutner miraculously survived after crawling to the sidewalk, where a cyclist spotted her. 

  Courts tried both Weier and Geyser as adults and charged them with attempted first-degree intentional homicide. Geyser pleaded guilty to the charge in October 2017 but claimed she was not criminally responsible because of her mental state. During her sentencing, doctors reported she heard voices from someone named "Maggie." She received a 40-year sentence in a psychiatric institution.

  Weier pleaded guilty in August 2017 - but to second-degree attempted intentional homicide. Prosecutors claimed she too was mentally ill and not criminally responsible, so she received a sentence of 25 years in a psychiatric institution.
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  (#2) Denver Jarvis, Michael Bent, And Jesus Mendez Set Friend On Fire Over $40

  In 2009, authorities arrested five Florida teenagers for setting 15-year-old Michael Brewer on fire over a $40 video game-related debt. When Brewer couldn't pay up, Michael Bent took Brewer's father's bicycle and orchestrated an attack. The group held down Brewer while Denver Jarvis poured rubbing alcohol on him. Jesus Mendez pulled out a lighter and ignited the teen. The fire was so severe Brewer's clothes burned off his body as he desperately tried to stop, drop, and roll in the front yard. He eventually jumped into a pool to extinguish the flames but over 65 percent of his body was burned.

  Three of the five teens involved - Denver Jarvis and Michael Bent, both 15, and Jesus Mendez, 16 - were charged with attempted second-degree murder and tried as adults. Courts sentenced both Bent and Mendez to 11 years in prison for battery. Mendez also got 19 years of probation. Jarvis received a sentence of eight years in prison with 10 years of supervised community probation.
   
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  (#3) 10-Year-Olds Robert Thompson and Jon Venables Took The Life Of A Toddler

  In February 1993, two Liverpool 10-year-olds, Robert Thompson and Jon Venables, led 2-year-old James Bulger away from a shopping center parking lot in Bootle. The boys took him to Leeds and Liverpool Canal where they dropped him on his head, to which he began crying. As many as 38 bystanders didn't intervene. Only two people challenged the 10-year-old boys who said the toddler was their brother.

  Venables and Thompson eventually took Bulger to train tracks, where they put blue paint in his eyes, kicked him, stepped on him, and threw rocks at him. They made him eat batteries, and police believe the boys may have also inserted batteries into the 2-year-old's anus. Then the boys dropped a 22-pound railway bar on Bulgar's head, which fatally broke his skull in 10 places. Collectively, Bulger sustained 42 injuries.

  According to The Telegraph, the boys were "ordered to be detained at Her Majesty's pleasure, the normal substitute sentence for life imprisonment when the offender is a juvenile." In an unprecedented court order, the pair were given new identities and released in 2001, although Venables has been in and out of jail ever since for distributing indecent images of children.
   
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  (#4) Curtis And Catherine Jones Fatally Shot Their Father's Girlfriend

  On January 1999, Curtis and Catherine Jones were 12 and 13 years old, respectively, when they took their father's gun and fatally shot his 29-year-old girlfriend, Sonya Speights. Those close to the siblings originally alleged they did it out of jealousy. However, reports from Florida’s Department of Children and Families uncovered that a different male relative who was living in the Cocoa Beach household sexually assaulted the children. Allegedly, neither their father nor Speights did anything about the allegations, so the siblings conspired to eliminate the relative who was harming them, their father, and Speights.

  Both of the siblings pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, were tried as adults, and received 18 years in prison with life-long probation. Even after the trial, Catherine Jones maintained she regretted hurting someone but had to get away. In 2015, they were released from prison.
   
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  (#5) Tyler Hadley Took The Lives Of His Parents, Then Threw A House Party 

  In 2011, 17-year-old Tyler Hadley hid his parents' cellphones so they couldn’t call the police. He took three ecstasy pills and blasted "Feel Lucky" by Lil Boosie to psyche himself up. He then took a claw hammer from the garage, went into the living room, and bludgeoned his mother - who was working on the family computer. After his father discovered his wife dead on the floor, Tyler beat him with the sharp end of the hammer. He then used Facebook to invite local Florida teens to a party at his house while he left his parents’ bodies in their bedroom upstairs. Over 50 people attended the party.

  Port St. Lucia authorities tried Hadley as an adult and sentenced him to two life terms without parole. He was six months shy of his 18th birthday and received the maximum sentence allowed for a minor.
   
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  (#6) Ari Morales And Marcelles Peter Beat And Sexually Assaulted A 15-Year-Old Girl At Homecoming

  In October 2009, a group of males ages 15 to late 40s were drinking outside of the Richmond High School homecoming dance. They invited a 15-year-old female student to join. She allegedly drank a little before they propositioned her for sex. When she denied, they forced her down on a concrete bench where she was continuously beaten and sexually assaulted for over two hours. They penetrated her with foreign objects, burned her with cigarettes, and poured enough alcohol down her throat to give her a near fatal blood-alcohol level. At one point, one of the attackers even used the girl's cellphone to call her father and say she was great at sex. 

  As many as 20 bystanders looked on during the attack. Police believed they were aware of what was happening, although none called for help. A local resident heard about the attack and called the police, who found the girl unconscious under a picnic table. Emergency responders air-lifted her to the hospital in critical condition.

  16-year-old Ari Morales and 17-year-old James Peter were among six boys and men charged. The judge decided to try the juveniles as adults because he deemed their actions "extremely callous and brutal." California sentenced Morales to 33 years in prison and Peter 29 years to life.
   
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  (#7) A Preteen Fatally Beat His 2-Year-Old Brother

  Cristian Fernandez was only 12 when he threw his brother into a bookshelf approximately a dozen times near St. Augustine, Florida, causing lethal injuries. Prosecutors initially claimed the act was premeditated, and they intended to charge him accordingly, as an adult. Allegedly, Fernandez habitually hit his brother.

  Two years after his arrest, Fernandez pled guilty to second-degree manslaughter, and the county convicted him as a juvenile. But before his plea agreement, he was the youngest person in Florida history to be charged as an adult. Even though he escaped a life sentence, the ruling required him to serve nine years in juvenile detention with supervised parole. Duval County released Fernandez in January 2018.
   
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  (#8) 6-Year-Old Carl Mahan Shot An 8-Year-Old Girl In An Argument

  In 1929 - a few months before the stock market crash that started the Great Depression - 6-year-old Carl Mahan had a fight with 8-year-old Cecil Van Hoose over a piece of scrap metal that he wanted to sell to a junk dealer. She hit Mahan in the face with the scrap metal, and he fatally shot her in retaliation.

  Johnson County charged the boy with manslaughter. Although juvenile cases are not typically tried with a jury, it took only 30 minutes of deliberation to find Mahan guilty. The courts sentenced him to 15 years, which he spent in the Greendale Reformatory until released at age 21. 
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  (#9) Marilee Gardner Fatally Slammed Her Car Into Another During A Police Chase

  In Layton, Utah, 16-year-old Marilee Gardner took her parent's car on June 29, 2016, to meet a 17-year-old friend. Gardner later told authorities she had planned on "purchasing drugs, taking the drugs, and then crashing her mother's car with both of them inside" in an attempt to take their lives. She was pulled over on her way and tried to escape the officer. She was driving almost 100 mph when she hit another car, fatally injuring 20-year-old Maddison Haan and 19-year-old Tyler Christianson.

  Utah state recognizes 16 and 17-year-olds as adults in homicide cases. Gardner pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted murder, which is a first-degree felony. Ogden courts permitted Gardner to serve the first four years in a juvenile facility.
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  (#10) Brenda Spencer Opened Fire At An Elementary School

  San Diego teen Brenda Spencer lived across the street from Grover Cleveland Elementary School. On January 29, 1979, the 16-year-old sat in her window with a .22 rifle and opened fire. She lethally shot the principal and custodian as well as wounded eight children and an officer. Spencer cited her reason for the shooting spree as “I don’t like Mondays.” She later claimed to be under the influence of PCP and alcohol and insisted her attorney conspired to hide her drug test results.

  Spencer's incident was the first high-profile school shooting. California courts tried Spencer as an adult, and she pleaded guilty to two counts of murder and assault with a deadly weapon. She received a sentence of 25 years to life. The courts denied her parole four times, and her next eligibility is in 2019.
   
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  (#11) Daniel Bartlam Set His Mother On Fire

  It's unclear whether or not Nottingham’s 14-year-old Daniel Bartlam was tried as an adult, but the courts did decide to lift his anonymity like they would in an adult case. In April 2011, Bartlam fatally hit his mother with a hammer before setting fire to her body.

  Investigators discovered he previously searched the web for "people who get away with murder in shows" and "how to get away with murder." Reportedly, he was obsessed with John Stape, a character from soap opera Coronation Street who used a hammer as his weapon of choice. The Nottingham Crown Court sentenced Bartlam to life with a minimum of 16 years before he could be considered for parole.
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  (#12) Kim Edwards Took Her Parent's Lives With Her Boyfriend, Then They Watched All Four 'Twilight' Films 

  In April 2016, Kim Edwards and her boyfriend Lucas Markham were just 14 years old when they used a knife to impale Edwards's mother and 13-year-old sister in their Lincolnshire home. The couple then proceeded to watch four Twilight movies, eat ice cream and tea cakes, have sex, and take a bath together to wash off the blood. Two days later, police discovered the bodies.  

  During her hearing, Edwards met with forensic psychiatrist Philip Joseph to assess her mental state. She allegedly told him: "I don't miss my mum, and I am glad she's dead even though I am now in a sticky situation." The teens' offenses were so severe the judge lifted the order banning the release of their identities. Both defendants were initially sentenced to life with a minimum of 20 years in Nottingham Crown Court. The sentence has since been appealed and reduced to 17.5 years.
   
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  (#13) Eric Smith Strangled And Beat A Four-Year-Old

  On August 2, 1993, 13-year-old Eric Smith led four-year-old Derrick Robbie into Steuben County woods as Robbie walked to a nearby summer camp. Smith strangled and sodomized the child with a tree limb before fatally dropping two large rocks on his head. Smith also arranged the body peculiarly, removing a shoe and pouring Kool-Aid from Robbie's lunch all over him.

  The state of New York tried Smith as an adult. Smith’s defense attorney presented  Smith’s diagnosis of intermittent explosive disorder (IED), which according to Psychology Today causes "individuals to act out violently and unpredictably." Despite this, the courts sentenced Eric nine years to life in prison. As of 2020, he's been denied parole ten times.
   
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  (#14) Derek and Alex King Fatally Beat Their Dad With A Baseball Bat And Set Their Home On Fire

  On November 26, 2001, Derek King, 13, at the behest of his brother Alex King, 12, waited until their father was asleep before sneaking into his room and bashing him on the head 10 times with an aluminum baseball bat. As a coverup, the boys lit their house on fire.

  Escambia County police observed Terry King’s body and determined his passing was not an accident. In their hearing, the boys admitted that they committed the offense because they didn't want to get punished for running away, even though he had never physically threatened them. Other reports allege the boys were coerced into a pedophilic relationship with their dad's friend Rick Chavis and wanted to get rid of their father so that they could move in with the now-convicted child molester. Florida courts sentenced Derek to eight years in prison and Alex to seven in a juvenile detention center.
   
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  (#15) Austin Brumley And Seth Dorris Beat A Man For Telling Them To 'Slow Down'

  Austin Brumley and Seth Dorris were just 16 when they fatally beat a man outside of his Texas home. The teens and some friends were joyriding on November 7, 2009, when 28-year-old Jonathan Bird came out of his house and told them to "slow down." Angered, Brumley threatened to shoot Bird with an AK-47. Then, Brumley and Dorris punched and kicked Bird. Brumley grabbed a hammer out his truck and hit Bird in the back and head.

  In 2012, the courts tried the teens as adults. Brumley received a 24-year sentence, while Dorris received a 20-year sentence.
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  (#16) 13-Year-Old Jaheim Holley Shot And Robbed His Friend For Cash

  Seminole County initially charged 13-year-old Jaheim Holley with attempted murder and armed robbery after he shot 19-year-old acquaintance Justin McKnight. On March 28, 2016, according to the Orlando Sentinel, Holley pleaded with McKnight to give him a ride. While they were driving, Holley pulled out a gun. After a brief physical altercation, Holley shot McKnight in the stomach and made off with McKnight’s cash. Earlier that day, McKnight posted a picture of himself holding money, which is how investigators believed Holley knew he had it on him.

  Authorities revealed Holley already had an arrest record, and the teen had been on probation at the time of the shooting. Holley, tried as an adult, accepted a 5-year plea bargain. 

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