Crimes Against Persons Murder, 1st Degree and 2nd Degree

Crimes Against Persons Murder,
1st Degree and 2nd Degree


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Crimes Against Persons
Strayer University
Assignment #4
CRJ105 Online Winter 2012
Felicia McCaw
Crimes Against Persons
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ABSTRACT



An act of rage and savageness turned against an innocent, vulnerable and defenseless child is discussed that resulted in two people being charged with a criminal act of murder in the first degree and murder in the second degree. This act of displacement of emotions lead to a child being beaten savagely and whose subsequent injuries caused his death. The motive behind this sad and tragic scenario is discussed along with the connection between the type of crime and location where these horrendous events occur and some preventive measures that could have been taken to avoid this situation.































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“Murder is described as the willful (non-negligent) killing of one human being by another.” “(Quote from book - Criminology Today: An Integrative Introduction , Page 43) According to the United Crime Report and data relayed violent crimes (which includes murder) has decreased 64% for the timeframe of January – June , 2011 in the United States.
One of the most heinous crimes that can be done against anyone is the murder of a small innocent defenseless child of any age relayed in this article. Almost two years ago, a young man of twenty-eight years of age was accused of the beating to death of this small little one (age – 4) along with beating and assault of the child’s mother. The man was charged with 1st degree murder, torture, first-degree child abuse, premeditated murder, distribution and manufacturing of drugs, possession and other charges that equate to ten offenses. The mother of the child was charged with 2nd degree murder of which she pleaded guilty to.
This article discusses the scenario regarding the murder of the child, conditions and actions that happened to provoke the savageness turned against the mother and the unjustifiable killing of the child. The child was the innocent victim who became the object of rage and emotional displacement due to non-parental support payments not received from the father of the child and an argument between the boyfriend (non-blood relative) of the mother and herself. The child was beaten viciously, teeth pulled out and threw against a wall and kicked in the head and survived for a short time but no call was made to the police to receive assistance or for any medical attention for the child. Usually this type of abuse is not reported due to fear of reprisals and due to the injury resulting in the death of the child a decided reluctance is noted from this

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article because of the uncontrollable rage aimed at this child due to him possibly wetting his pants .
There is a connection between this type of crime and location and that is usually cases of child abuse and injuries sustained from vicious blows subsequently may result in a child’s death and are usually done in a home environment or some housing structure. Usually these child or children are battered and beaten until no life can be continued in their frail bodies and results in death (which is an act of 1st degree murder).
Prevention strategies that could have been employed to reduce this type of crime is the inquiry of a child’s injury if a bruise or burn is reflected anywhere on the child’s body. The mother’s neglect to call 911 or anyone for assistance reflects a bad choice and if done so this would have allowed her an opportunity to protect the child, running from the house or apartment with the child would have helped also, seeking of emergency shelter, use of deadly force to protect self and child is another method that could have helped and the timely report of any injuries that was done to child to authorizes would have stopped this tragic situation from occurring.




REFERENCES

Schmalleger, F.J. (2009) Criminology Today: An Integrative Introduction. (5th Ed.), Ch. 2, Page 43, Anti-Social Personality Disorder, Boston: Pearson Learning Solutions.
(Criminology, 2009)
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Uniform Crime Report

(FBI-UCR, 2010)
http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/data_quality_guidelines
Squidoo
Child Abuse and Child Murder

http://www.squidoo.com/silent victims
Article discussed below from WNEM TV 5 website:
Brandon Hayes found guilty in beating death of Dominick Calhoun
http://www.wnem.com/story/16553130/closing-arguments-planned-in-brandon-hayes-trial