When Children Kill Other Children
|
Last week there was yet another heartbreaking report of a child killing another child. This time the news came from Jacksonville, Florida. Cristian Fernandez is accused of beating to death his two-year-old half brother, David, when he was just twelve years old. The state has charged Cristian with first-degree murder. He is being prosecuted as an adult and could face a life sentence. Stories like this get a lot of media attention. Reporters swarm and sensationalize. The public consumes and wants more. To sell their papers, to drive traffic to their web sites, the press complies. He sounds like a bad kid, we think as we read the details. Only a monster would commit such an act, we tell each other. He must be truly evil, we conclude as we turn the page to the next tragedy. But wait, there is more.