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It’s Time to Face the Truth About Violent Youth
14 Year Old Should Spend Life in Prison

He is 14 Years old. He has his whole life ahead of him. But he will spend that life behind the bars of an adult prison. The media is outraged, as I expected they would be. And the nation is now in a major debate over the fate of young people who commit violent crimes. The nation debates and wonders only because of the age of this young man. He committed murder. This much we know because he has admitted his actions lead to the death of a 6 year old child. His actions were particularly violent and cruel. This much we know because he has admitted his deeds and even showed prosecutors how he did it.

Medical examiners say that 6 year old Tiffany Eunick had so many bruises, fractures and lacerations that they likened it to her being thrown out a third floor window. She was beaten, her head was stomped on and one can only imagine the pain and cries for help this young girl experience in her last minutes of life as she was thrown on the ground and eventually to her death on a flight of stairs.

But the outrage in America today is not about how this young child spent her last torturous minutes alive. The media is focusing their outrage on the fact that her 14 year old killer was given a life sentence for ruthlessly beating this girl to death.

"He’s only fourteen years old. He has his whole life ahead of him," they complained. Even within my circle of friend (some conservative, some very liberal) it was pretty unanimous that a life sentence was too harsh. "We just can’t give up on this kid. There’s got to be something we can do besides throw his life away at 14" one of my female friends lamented. Another, who is typically conservative, said his age alone means he can be rehabilitated. They even had me agreeing with them for a few minutes until I saw the special Fox News Report showing images of the girl’s injuries. That’s when I realized that we have shifted our focus in a very dangerous direction in America.

First, let’s remember that the primary function of prison is to keep people away from society because they are too dangerous to walk free amongst us. We forget that fact in today’s media culture. But it’s something to keep in mind when you start to feel "uncomfortable" about the fact that 14 year old Lionel Tate is going to spend the rest of his life behind bars.

Second, Lionel Tate has a propensity for violence. His very actions have proven that. Sure, he was imitating the violent moves of a pro-wrestler when he brutally stomped on the head of 6 year old Tiffany Eunick. But, he is 14 years old, not four. He is well beyond the developmental stage of understanding human pain and right from wrong. His wrestling moves are of no valid concern when deciding how dangerous Lionel Tate is. He is a danger to the safety of our citizens and as he grows older he only going to become more dangerous. Here’s why:

As a human being, even at 14, he ignored the screams and cries of pain from young Tiffany as he battered and threw her about the room to her death. There is no amount of counseling or medication that can insure us Lionel Tate’s lack of empathy for other human beings will not result in more violence someday. In fact, we know for sure that it will. Every time a serial killer is caught, the FBI does a profile and the media shows us the childhood of these murderers. We see how they tortured and killed small animals when they were young. We know that their lack of empathy for another living creatures pain means they are sociopaths. And we always hear how someone should have done something before it got out of control.

Yet here we have a kid who tortured and killed a human child. To me, this kid is already out of control. Will he get raped and beaten in prison for the rest of his life? Probably. Our prison system is severely flawed. Using the flaws of this system, however, is not a valid argument to stop us from removing him from society for the rest of his life. He must be removed from society. He has a propensity for violence. If he is incarcerated for 20 years instead of life, will this kid be more capable of living among us as a safe and productive member of society? The evidence shows that he will come out of prison more violent and socially unskilled. So we only have two choices here.

Do we lock him away for life or do we let him off for this? Those who say we should let him off because he’s only 14 should take him in and let him baby-sit their 6 year old child. I’m sure they will change their tune real fast if that became a realistic option. We all want to protect our family. But we fail to think big and understand how important it is to protect each other’s family as well. Saying we are going to let Lionel Tate of prison someday means we are putting someone else’s family at risk.

The only choice we have as a nation which strives to live in freedom and safety is to put Lionel Tate away for good. It is sad that his life is over. It’s also sad that Tiffany Eunick’s life is over too. And it’s even more sad that we have parents today who do not monitor what kids see on TV, do no instill values like kindness and empathy on their kids and let the rest of deal with their failings.

But we have no other choice. We gave no realistic options that will keep us all safe from Lionel Tate. This was not some kid horsing around who mistakenly threw a young girl into a set of stairs. It’s not a case where she accidentally died. If that were the case I would be the first to say it was an accident and he should be let off. This was a case of cruelty to a child at the hands of someone who knew better.

Regardless of the reasons behind Lionel Tate’s violent act, our obligation is to the Tiffany Eunicks of this world not the Lionel Tates. Ten years from now we will read in the paper that Lionel Tate (or someone like him) raped and killed 14 women. What do we say to the families of those victims when they find out we could have stopped him at 14 years old? What do we say to the rest of society about our negligence? And what does this say about us?

For those who want to save Lionel Tate and rehabilitate him, please do so behind the confines of a maximum security prison. Study him, medicate him, psychologically alter his ideas and perspectives if you like. Educate him with a college degree if you have to. But please do not ever let him jeopardize my family or anyone else’s family ever again.