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Prosecutors don't charge parents in recent youth suicides
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LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
On the same day in December and only hours apart, a 10-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl used unsecured guns in their homes to shoot themselves in the head.
The Clark County coroner determined weeks later that the cause of death in each case was suicide, confirming what investigators had suspected.
The Metropolitan Police Department forwarded the cases to the Clark County district attorney's office for possible prosecution of three parents. In each case, at least one parent was at home when the child pulled the trigger.
The parents, who have not been named by police, faced possible felony charges of child endangerment with substantial bodily harm.
Prosecutors with the district attorney's office said last week they declined to pursue charges in the two cases because evidence indicated the children wanted to kill themselves. The parents had no idea that their children were suicidal, prosecutors said.
"As much as we want parents to be responsible for the safety of their children, you're not in the head of the child," said Chief Deputy District Attorney Alexandra Chrysanthis. "If you have no indication they are contemplating taking their life, it's very difficult for us to second- guess what a parent should have done."
Chrysanthis said each case was "tragic and heart-wrenching."
Relatives of the teenage girl declined comment. Family members of the 10-year-old boy could not be reached for comment.
The Review-Journal reported at least one case, in 2005, in which a parent of a suicidal child was prosecuted for leaving an unsecured weapon at the home. The child later used the firearm to kill himself.
There are also other recent examples of children finding unsecured weapons and accidentally shooting themselves. Adults were charged in those cases.
Assistant District Attorney Chris Owens said attorneys are "very aware" that charging parents in such cases adds to the pain of having lost a child. A line also has to be drawn somewhere, Owens said. Do prosecutors charge parents whose children commit suicide for not hiding knives or leaving prescription drugs in the open?
Those potentially lethal items could be used by children to kill themselves, but Owens believes that's going too far when parents don't even know their children are suicidal.
ONE TRAGIC DAY
On Dec. 13 about 2:45 p.m., 10-year-old Kameron Asgari shot himself after finding a weapon at a home in the 5800 block of Ponderosa Way, near Russell Road and Jones Boulevard.
Shortly after 11 p.m. that night, 13-year-old Marina Momcheva shot herself at a home in the 2100 block of Dragon Claw Lane, near Lake Mead and Hollywood boulevards. She died from her injuries five nights later. Marina was an eighth-grader at Bailey Middle School.
Lisa Teele, supervisor for the Metropolitan Police Department's Abuse and Neglect Detail, strongly believes adults have a responsibility to secure firearms to keep children safe. She told the Las Vegas Review-Journal as much before and after the two child suicide cases were submitted to the district attorney's office.
Reached last week, she said she was satisfied with the prosecutor's decision not to press charges in the two suicides.
"It is our job to present a thorough investigation to the district attorney's office," Teele said. "It is their job to review the information that is presented. I have the utmost regard for the work that they do. ... These type of cases are difficult, and it is a tragedy and great loss to these families, to our community and to everyone involved."
Chrysanthis said in Kameron's case, the boy's mother was home when he shot himself. Police also named the boy's father for possible prosecution although he wasn't home during the shooting, she said. Chrysanthis was unsure why the father was singled out in the shooting in the police investigation.
She said Kameron's mother saw him go upstairs. Two minutes later, she heard a gunshot. The boy had retrieved the gun from the master bedroom. Chrysanthis said the gun was not secured.
In Marina's shooting, Chrysanthis said police submitted a case against her mother and father. She said Marina's father was home during the shooting.
Chrysanthis added that Marina apparently picked up the unsecured gun from a kitchen counter. She shot herself in a bathroom.
The child's father apparently asked Marina's sibling for a glass of water about 11 p.m. Minutes later, he heard a gunshot.
Chrysanthis said the family kept the gun in the kitchen "out in the open to protect themselves from the outside."
Chrysanthis and Owens said the cases, although similar, were looked at individually. Both prosecutors said the ages of the children who fatally shot themselves factored into the decision not to charge the parents. The children were old enough to understand the threat posed by guns, she said.
Owens said there were a variety of factors considered in both cases.
"It's not any one thing, it's not two things, it's not three things," Owens said. "It's balancing a lot of different things."
IDENTIFYING THE WARNING SIGNS
Rosemary Virtuoso, coordinator for the Clark County School District's Department of Student Threat Evaluation and Crisis Response, said there are warning signs adults need to be aware of when dealing with depressed children who might be suicidal.
Suicidal children might display feelings of sadness and hopelessness, she said. They may exhibit behaviors that demonstrate their depression, such as moodiness, having their grades slip or withdrawing to their bedroom. They may stop talking to their parents about their problems.
She said these feelings or behaviors can easily be misinterpreted by adults as typical angst. "You could see how easily a parent can miss some of that," Virtuoso said.
Virtuoso said the district runs a program for students in middle school and high school that teaches them about the warning signs of suicide. It encourages them to alert adults they trust if they feel suicidal or believe a friend may be.
Virtuoso said it's not unheard of for someone as young as Kameron to commit suicide. Grief counselors were dispatched to the schools attended by Kameron and Marina after they died.
Virtuoso said suicide is an issue that affects all demographics.
"It's difficult 100 percent of the time," Virtuoso said. "It's not easy for any level because it impacts everybody," including parents, teachers and classmates.
Virtuoso said children as young as 10-year-old Kameron might not understand the finality of suicide.
In 2011, 15 children ages 17 and under committed suicide in Clark County, according to the coroner's office.
PROSECUTIONS PURSUED
In 2005, Geoffrey Wells pleaded guilty to child endangerment in the death of his 12-year-old son. The Henderson boy shot himself in August of that year while his parents were engaged in a bitter divorce.
Authorities said Wells' children, ages 12, 10 and 8, had easy access to rifles and shotguns that were left unsecured in their home.
Adults in other more recent cases also were prosecuted after leaving weapons unsecured, leading to accidental shootings involving children.
In December, 37-year-old Sidney J. Jacobs was charged with one count of child abuse and neglect with substantial bodily harm in the Sept. 25 death of 6-year-old Robert Martin IV. The boy was fatally shot by his 11-year-old uncle at Jacobs' Henderson home.
The older boy told police he found the 9 mm handgun in a cardboard box labeled "treasure chest" and thought it was a toy. He pointed it at his nephew and pulled the trigger, expecting confetti to shoot from the barrel, according to the police report.
Jacobs and his girlfriend were in an upstairs bedroom drinking vodka and listening to music during the shooting.
Jacobs faces a preliminary hearing in Henderson on Thursday .
In May 2010, a Las Vegas police officer and his wife pleaded guilty to misdemeanor use or possession of a firearm by a child under 18. Jared and Shawnee Bledsoe were sentenced to 50 hours of community service and had to take a gun safety class.
In February of that year, police said the couple's 2-year-old son was put to bed in his parent's bedroom where he discovered his father's .45-caliber gun in a nightstand.
The gun discharged, striking the boy in the arm and abdomen. He survived his injuries.
Contact reporter Antonio Planas at aplanas@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4638.
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First, I did not misstate any fact. The Bledsoes had the weapon the child used put away and not secured. FACT. The ONLY OTHER loaded weapon was put away and not secured in the closet. FACT. If they had a loaded weapon under the pillow the story would have stated it. In fact, the story stated that Shawnee Bledsoe 'sometimes' sleeps with a gun under her pillow, not that there was a loaded weapon under the pillow at the time of the shooting. You stating its akin to having rat poison under the pillow, in the drawer, in the closet and several other places is blatantly misleading. AND YES, putting a lock and loaded weapon (a GLock with no external safety if the story I read was correct) right NEXT to a 5 year old Autistic child in the FRONT SEAT of a Suburban is far worse than putting a child in a room where the weapons were put away out of sight. As for the D.A. I don't know, could it be that maybe, just maybe, he/she may have thought getting a conviction of a police officer would have been very, very tough considering it was his first offense, thereby made the deal in hopes that education and community service was a better deal then the officer just walking away without any repercussions. At the same time, the D.A. may have thought that a man with prior run-ins with law enforcement both for weapons and drugs, was a case he/she could win (and obviously didn't to his or her satisfaction). Just a thought. Personally, both were idiots, and both got far less consequences than they deserved.
@Scotwith1t...Once again you misstate the facts.."bit more negligent than putting a sleeping two year old in a room where the weapon had been put away but not secured.... he just irresponsibility place the lock and loaded weapon right next to the child! "Shawnee Bledsoe..... said she sometimes keeps a gun under her pillow." LVRJ March 1, 2010 as well as this..."When police searched the bedroom, they found several other weapons, including another unsecured, loaded handgun in a green utility bag on the floor of the closet." So what's worse...setting a box of rat poison down for a split second where your child can reach it or putting your child to bed where rat poison is kept under the pillow, in the nightstand, in the closet and several other places." The Bledsoes were almost daring their child "to drink the rat poison." It was easier for the child to drink the rat poison than to avoid it. AND AGAIN..."I'm guessing the judge agreed." My comment wasn't about the judge, but the DA's office that offered the Bledsoes a sweetheart deal of 50 hours of community service after being indicted on charges of felony child abuse and neglect resulting in substantial bodily harm. The judge there just accepted a plea deal, he didn't make a decesion. Where in the other case the judge imposed a LIGHTER SENTENCE than the DA requested.
I can only go with what I read. Even if he did not leave the truck, he still placed his weapon RIGHT next to his Autistic child 5 year old child, who was sitting in the FRONT seat of a Suburban less great, less negligent than putting a sleeping child in a room where an unsecured weapon is put away and out of sight? Both are negligent, both are irresponsible. Personally, and I'm guessing the judge agreed, driving around with a 5 year old Autistic child in the front seat of a truck, with a lock and loaded weapon on the center console, not in the center console, but on the center console, within reach of the child, is a bit more negligent than putting a sleeping two year old in a room where the weapon had been put away but not secured. In fact, it almost makes it worse that he didn't even leave the child unattended, he just irresponsibility place the lock and loaded weapon right next to the child! Again, the same scenario, if someone has rat poison, and put it under kitchen sink, and the child drank it because the cabinet was not locked and compare it to someone puts the child in a seat, then places an the poison right next to a child that drank it, which one would be considered more irresponsible?
.@Scotwith1t....First off you have the facts of the Kopystenski case a little skewed. "Kopystenski placed his weapon on the center console of his Surburban to run into Walgreens while his five year old son stayed in the truck, by himself, in the passenger seat and within reach of the weapon." The only thing you have right is what store this happened at and the location of the firearm. Kopystenski did not leave his child unattended with the fire arm in reach like the Bledsoes. The two were in the drive-thru lane of the pharmacy when, while answering question for the clerk, the boy grabbed the gun and fired. According to the clerk, this all happened in the blink of an eye. Clearly the Bledsoe's negligence was far greater, that is not diminished by their child's survival. Also Kopystenski was initially charged with a single count of child endangerment, while the Bledsoes were indicted one felony count each of child abuse and neglect resulting in substantial bodily harm.
Not true bghs.1986. You can have a record and still retain your right to have own a gun. There are actually 10 reasons why the state of Nevada will not issue a permit to own a weapon, which do not include minor infractions. I'm not defending the DA (I don't even know him) but there times where the judge may take the history of the offender and other determining factors and use it to determine that offenders sentence. In the case of Bledsoe, his son, miraculously, and thankfully didn't die. Tragically, Kopystenski's son did. Bledsoe had his weapon in a nightstand in his bedroom where he put his two year old son to sleep. Kopystenski placed his weapon on the center console of his Surburban to run into Walgreens while his five year old son stayed in the truck, by himself, in the passenger seat and within reach of the weapon. Even the charges were different. Bledsoe was charged wtih misdemeanor use/possession of a firarm by a child under 18. Kopystenski was charged with felony child neglect. While both were completely irresponsilbe with the securing of their weapons, the facts of both cases are completely different, thus, different sentencing. That's what I'm saying. Its akin to a parent who puts Draino under the sink, but does not put a lock on the cabinet door, and the kid drinks it, and a parent that leaves the Draino on the floor in the middle of the kids room and the kid drinks it.
@Lawyer, nice post. I wish I had been a better parent. Thankfully, no one has committed suicide, but I have my regrets. Unplanned pregnancy is generally a bad idea. My son deserved a better upbringing. Working all the time because you had a kid you could not afford is rough on the parents, but especially the child.
@Scotwith1t.."Could it be that Kopystenski had a history of being drug and weapon charges?" No, because had Kopystenski had a record he wouldn't have been allowed to own a handgun, and would have faced additional charges, which he didn't. Also, in your reflex to forgive the DA for his obvious bias (and the LVPPA for purchasing it) you ignore the fact the Judge actually sentenced K. to a lighter sentence than the DA wanted. Diminutive Davey wanted him to spend a year in prison for the exact same offense that netted Metro Officer Bledsoe a measly 50 hours of community service.
@ bghs.1986: Could it be that Kopystenski had a history of being drug and weapon charges, and perhaps the Judge took his history into account when sentencing him after his son died?
@Markey: The high price of freedom of speech, religion and press is always paid, mostly in the blood of innocents. But free speech nuts, freedom of religion nuts, and freedom of the press nuts are fine with that.
@Markey-
More people died in Germany, the Soviet Union, China, and Cambodia in the 20th century because they did NOT have guns than all the people ever killed in the U.S. because people DO have guns.
Rosemary Virtuoso, "coordinator for the CCSD's Dept of Student Threat Evaluation and Crisis Response" (whatever that is) makes $100K.
Does she report to the Assistant Superintendent of Delivery & Dementia or the 2nd Deputy Liason for Interoffice Hydromyoscopy?