Posted on 11/20/2008 2:38:16 AM PST by KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle
LOS ANGELES – The grieving mother of a Missouri girl told a jury Wednesday how her daughter hanged herself with a belt after receiving cruel messages on her MySpace account, some of which were from a boy whose identity was later revealed to have been invented by a neighbor.
Tina Meier recounted how "Josh Evans" interacted online with her 13-year-old daughter, Megan, during the first day of the trial against Lori Drew, who is accused of taking part in the Internet hoax that prosecutors say led to Megan's suicide.
Meier said after a name-calling exchange between Megan, "Josh," and two other girls in October 2006, she told a sobbing Megan, who was being treated for attention deficit disorder and depression, that she wasn't supposed to be online and shouldn't have gotten into the argument.
"The last words she said to me were 'You are supposed to be my mom, you are supposed to be on my side,'" Meier said as she tried to hold back tears.
Meier said she ran later upstairs and found Megan hanging in the closet with a belt around her neck. She died the next day.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
If I were to say what I want to see happen to this... animal, I would be banned.
Hell is too good for her.
If the prosecution has enough evidence, then I pray the jury finds all parties involved guilty. Cyber-Bullying is out of control, and somewhere along the way, this has to be stopped.
Cyberbullying is a very serious problem.
Knowing that the FRee Republic is a resource that people look to when they want information, here is a link to a source of help on Cyberbullying:
The CyberAngels are the cyberspace arm of the Guardian Angels organization. If you know of anybody who is suffering from Cyberbullying, help can be found with the CyberAngels. Tell ‘em “Chieftain” sent ya!
Do not tolerate Cyberbullying for one instant. And do not delay: it will only get worse if it is ignored.
*DieHard*
This woman is sick and should have her children taken away from her. She should be charged with homocide.
Why on earth would an adult feel the need to pick on a 13-year-old like this? What in the hell was she trying to prove, that she can be mean to a child ?
Unfortunately, it looks like there’s very limited legal recourse, and at most, she can be convicted of using MySpace in a fraudulent manner.
Kids bullying other kids is terrible enough, but when a mom bullies another mother’s child it’s beyond comprehension.
Just pure evil.
She has already had plenty of the other kind, and there will be plenty more. Forever.
Web denizens have been using her life as a chew toy. They are not going to let go of her.
Good. If we had more “social sanctions” for vile behavior, we’d have less vile behavior.
I also hope the publicity will clue more parents in about paying more attention to their children’s computer/cell phone use. The parents are paying for it, and they have both authority and responsibility.
I am certainly not excusing that disgusting behavior, but THIS is the very root of the problem. Parents need to be parents and not friends to their children. That comes much later.
Of course not; there is no excuse. Even saying "insane" implies that the woman is somehow not fully responsible for her evil acts.
However, if people let accusations of "blaming the victim" stop them from considering how disastrous outcomes might be avoided, that's counterproductive. Parents may not be able to absolutely stop their children from doing wrong or foolish things, but they can do a great deal to limit opportunties for harm: taking away a cell phone, stopping internet access, taking car keys, limiting unsupervised time.
Yes, it's a nuisance, and, of course, every child isn't on the verge of catastrophe. But when there are known dangers to a child, whether from his own behavior or others', parents have a responsibility to do what is in their power to prevent harm.
I couldn't agree more. And, that was my point. Parents need to play THE roll in the safety & raising of their children.
Hearty handshake all around!
Exactly. If peope cannot get justice in the courts,there are other options.
So all they can get that sick parent on is fraudulant use of Myspace?
Nonsense.
She was in control of the injuring agency that caused a death. Period.
The article says the charges do not including anything involving the suicide. I assume that means a grand jury and/or prosecutors decided there was no way they could make such a charge stick. However, I suppose it’s possible that she could be prosecuted on other charges at some point; this trial on the computer-fraud charge doesn’t constitute double jeopardy if they ever went after her from another angle.
Still it seems hard. Sure, they’ve got “intentional infliction of emotional distress,” aggravated by an adult’s doing it to a minor, but that’s a tort, a civil-suit issue.
I saw a recent photo of. Lori Drew. Is it just me, that she looks kinda like Fred Phelps. They are both psychopaths and perverts of the worst kind.
I agree cyber bullying is out of control. Kids are one of the worst offenders, but for Lori Drew, an adult, (and I use that term loosely) to participate, then find out the child killed herself, and on top of that try to delete the site, proves she knows what she did was wrong. So in my opinion, she needs to be in (or under) a jail for a long, long, time. I looked at her picture on yahoo news and she made me sick just looking at her.
To me, it sounds more than cyberbullying. Lori Drew must of been really pissed at the Meiers and her own daughter knew this was wrong. Lori Drew reminds me of Wanda Holloway, the Texas Cheerleading Mom, Gertrude Baniszewski (had her children and other minors torture Sylvia Likens), and Dean Corll (had two other teenagers kill at least 27 people). Drew is a clear cut psychopath like Fred Phelps and Elizabeth Bathory.
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