Isn't it awful how often we're shocked at the stupidity and cruelty of people? Not that I'm not glad it's 'still shocking' -- it's just that there seems to be an endless pit of evil from which people draw.
Posted on 06/14/2008 11:43:09 AM PDT by LibWhacker
RALEIGH, N.C. -- A couple accused of tying their 13-year-old son to a tree for two nights to punish him for disobedience has been charged with murder in his death, authorities said Friday.
Brice Brian McMillan, 41, of Macclesfield, told a deputy that the child was being disobedient and was forced to sleep outside Tuesday while tied to a tree, the Edgecombe County Sheriff's Office said. The teenager was released Wednesday morning but again tied up that night for bad behavior, authorities said.
The boy was left tied to the tree until the following afternoon when his stepmother found him unresponsive, Sheriff James Knight said. Knight said authorities believe the boy was bound to the tree with plastic ties and possibly other kinds of material.
"An adult couldn't get out of those," he said.
Temperatures in the area rose to above 90 degrees on Thursday afternoon, with a low of 73, according to the National Weather Service. Knight would not discuss any details on the cause of death, saying an autopsy was being conducted at the state chief medical examiner's office in Chapel Hill.
The sheriff also didn't have details on why the boy was being punished, although he said deputies were investigating whether he had run away.
Dwight Jefferson, an emergency responder with Pinetops Rescue Squad who was first on the scene, said he did not know the cause of the child's death.
"What we found was a 13-year-old laying on the ground - CPR being done by his father," Jefferson said. "Then we took over."
Knight said the boy was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.
McMillan and Sandra Elizabeth McMillan, 36, also have been charged with felony child abuse. Two other children at the home, ages 7 and 9, have been placed in the custody of the Department of Social Services, authorities said. Knight said he does not know of any past allegations of child abuse in the family.
He also said he could not release the name of the boy.
The McMillans are being held in the Edgecombe County Detention Center under no bond and are scheduled for a first appearance in court Monday. The sheriff's office said they did not know if the couple had an attorney.
Macclesfield is about 90 miles east of Durham.
Isn't it awful how often we're shocked at the stupidity and cruelty of people? Not that I'm not glad it's 'still shocking' -- it's just that there seems to be an endless pit of evil from which people draw.
If found guilty, save us the cost of incarceration, and just tie them to the tree until dead.
Life in prison for both, with no possibility of parole. Send their remaining children to responsible family, friends or foster home.
I’m sure one is never at one’s best in a mug shot, but those are two scary looking people. I’m glad the police took their other kids away.
Incidentally, there are sometimes strange psychotic families where they abuse one child - but not the others. There was a case in New York about ten years ago where some poor little girl died, basically starved to death by her family, while the rest of the kids were just fine. I think it was one of the other kids who finally went to get help, IIRC, but it was too late.
There was a recent case here in Fresno, CA, where the same thing happened with the mother locking the 2 yr old in a closet and starving her to death..and the rest of the kids got to eat..whenever the older ones were caught sneaking food to the little girl, they were beaten..
some people shouldn’t be allowed to have children.
Thx for posting the mug shots. I was on an earlier thread on this heartbreaking story. This couple looks like they were booked for, I dunno, maybe writing bad checks? Stealing someone’s credit card...or some retail scam. His 13 year old son, her step son, just was found dead, apparently due to their disciplinary methods and they just stare into the camera. Is there any sadness or look of loss? Or remorse? Or heartbreak? Faces puffy from crying? Man those cold eyes on both of them speak volumes to me. Poor kid...may he rest in peace.
the old man has that “yeah, so what” look
Yes he does. Body language = my lawyer will have my a$$ outta here by lunch.
Oh but when you call the cops with an out of control kid and they end up shooting him they are just following department guidlines, end of story. Hard to pin murder on the parents without intent or motive to kill. How do we know the kid wasn’t out of control that the parents did what they did out of the safety of the rest of the family.
Are you serious? The kid was tied to a tree for two days! The temps were probably in the high 90's to 100 in N.C.
You have serious issues if you think any behavior from the kid justified this torturious act!
If the kid's out of control you don't torture them! Wow!!
So who DO you call, the cops, CPS??? I have seen some serious out of control kids and we read about them all the time here on FR, you know, where they kill the family and burn the house or get boyfriend to shoot mom and dad because of dating issues. I doubt the kid died from being tied up and I am not trying to justify thier actions, but, we realy don’t know what this kid did or what he might have been capable of doing. That said there are too many horror stories of parents calling cops on out of control kids who get killed by arriving LEO’sand of course anything the cops do is OK, right?
Well. That’s a precious observation. . . If it was a “safety of the rest of the family” issue, then why could the “parents” not have had the HUMAN DECENCY and HUMAN COMPASSION they would have shown to a DOG and have tied the boy up “in the house” where the heat index would not have killed the boy?
DEATH is a terrible price to pay for “disobedience”; but then it’s always refreshing to hear from someone as “understanding” as you apparently are.
I bet that I could wipe that look off his face pretty quickly.
I understand your tizzy with law enforcement, but this just is not the right thread to eleviate that frustration. I don't care what the kid was doing, gonna do, or whatever, you don't tie him to a figgin tree in N.C. in the midst of high hell hot summer! It's nothing less that unjustified torture.
As far as the "cops" and law enforcement are concerned, MOST of these people are good, decent, well trained, officers that in MOST cases could handle an out-of-control child.
Sadly, I am no longer shocked by human cruelty. Now, I just want those guilty of such behavior to be removed from our world as swiftly as possible.
He wasn’t tied up for two days. He was tied up for one night, let go the next day and for some reason tied up again the following night. I doubt he died from being tied up. Truth you said you don’t care what the kid was capable of. What if he threatend to kill everyone once they were asleep or threatend to burn the house down but, I doubt the parents planned to kill him. In the article it also stated there has not been any history of abuse. Would you send your kid off to be raised by the state because of control issues? Would you call the cops on your kids for disobeying you??
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.