Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Samantha Kuberski, Six Years Old, Youngest Suicide Victim in Oregon State History
Seattle Weekly ^ | 4/05/10 | Caleb Hannan

Posted on 04/06/2010 3:43:44 PM PDT by LibWhacker

Six-year-old Samantha Kuberski was a happy kid who did well at school. Which is why tragedy was compounded by shock back in January, when medical examiners in Yamhill County, south of Portland, declared Samantha's death a suicide, making her the youngest person to take her own life in Oregon's history.

On December 2, the first-grader was allegedly sent to her room after getting in a fight with her mom. While her mother and three sisters were in other parts of their McMinnville house, Samatha reportedly crawled into an unused crib that had no mattress or box spring, tied a cordurouy belt around her neck and onto the crib's top railing and hung herself.

Samantha was found unconscious and rushed to a hospital where she was pronounced dead. Her parents and siblings were later interviewed by police, who ruled out any foul play and said they found no signs that the young girl had ever been abused.

Now the only thing left to parse is what to call Samantha's tragic death. While the medical examiner has ruled it a suicide, detectives insist on calling it an accident, saying that a child that small could have no idea of the consequences of her actions, an argument backed up by adolescent psychiatrists like Dr. Kirk Wolfe.

"Most kids this age are not aware of what death actually is," he told the Yamhill Valley News-Register. "Not until they get to be 8, 9 and 10 do they understand death is final and you don't come back."


TOPICS: News/Current Events; US: Oregon
KEYWORDS: crib; oregon; suicide; youngest
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-80 next last
To: Gay State Conservative

My daughter is 7 and is sometimes morbidly obsessed with death. We are completely “normal” people and cover the issue of death in age appropriate manner. Some people are simply different and have been since the womb.


41 posted on 04/06/2010 5:03:00 PM PDT by agooga (Struggling every day to be worthy of their sacrifice.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: KJC1
My brother and I jumped off the roof of our house while holding umbrellas, figuring they'd work like parachutes. (Fortunately we were both fine.)

I thought my sister and I were the only kids dumb enough to try that stunt.

P.S. the landing is no softer if you are wearing a cape either.

42 posted on 04/06/2010 5:05:32 PM PDT by Graybeard58
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 35 | View Replies]

To: pissant

“No truly loved child entertains suicide at that age.”

I don’t think that’s true.


43 posted on 04/06/2010 5:05:45 PM PDT by agooga (Struggling every day to be worthy of their sacrifice.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: Gay State Conservative
How in God's name would a six year old even *know* about suicide or how to pull it off????

What is not infomercial time on my cable TV is mainly murder, suicide, and other such 'blood' drama. Not hard for any child to be exposed to either the concept nor the methodology, in fact, it takes paying attention to avoid giving them a nightly dose of slaughter.

44 posted on 04/06/2010 5:06:44 PM PDT by Smokin' Joe (How often God must weep at humans' folly. Stand fast. God knows what He is doing.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: agooga

I think it is absolutely true


45 posted on 04/06/2010 5:07:56 PM PDT by pissant (THE Conservative party: www.falconparty.com)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 43 | View Replies]

To: Gay State Conservative

I’m not buying it either. Most six year olds can’t tie knots by themselves, and need help fastening their belts. Not to mention needing help tying the laces on their shoes.

Also, most normal six year olds wouldn’t climb into a baby crib willingly. They usually transition to sleeping in a bed before that age. And if a six year old was using a crib as a hiding place, they would most likely hide under the crib, not inside it.

No, I suspect what happened is the poor girl was sent to the crib as punishment. Someone must have tied her inside the crib with a belt around the neck to keep her inside the crib... and as she tried to escape the crib, she accidentally hung herself. This is not likely a suicide. Samantha Kuberski, six years old, was murdered accidentally, either by her parents or perhaps one of her siblings. This is definitely a murder case.


46 posted on 04/06/2010 5:09:45 PM PDT by o2bfree (This president is giving me a headache!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 38 | View Replies]

To: donna

Or, a kook suggested it to her


47 posted on 04/06/2010 5:10:45 PM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (I am in America but not of America (per bible: am in the world but not of it))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 34 | View Replies]

To: agooga
My daughter is 7 and is sometimes morbidly obsessed with death. We are completely “normal” people and cover the issue of death in age appropriate manner.

Geeze...when I was 7 the only two things that meant anything to me was if my mother was fixing lima beans for supper and when the next cowboy show was on the tube.Either I was exceptionally stupid or your daughter is exceptionally "deep".

48 posted on 04/06/2010 5:10:47 PM PDT by Gay State Conservative (Host The Beer Summit-->Win The Nobel Peace Prize!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 41 | View Replies]

To: pissant

You don’t know everything, FRiend.


49 posted on 04/06/2010 5:10:59 PM PDT by agooga (Struggling every day to be worthy of their sacrifice.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 45 | View Replies]

To: o2bfree

Could it be someone smothered her with a pillow, THEN hanged her there?


50 posted on 04/06/2010 5:12:38 PM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (I am in America but not of America (per bible: am in the world but not of it))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 46 | View Replies]

To: Gay State Conservative

Losing friends or relatives at an early age.


51 posted on 04/06/2010 5:14:00 PM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (I am in America but not of America (per bible: am in the world but not of it))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 48 | View Replies]

To: Gay State Conservative

She’s just a very unique person— and I assure you I am not saying that out of some sense of misguided pride. She’s been interested in the concept of death since she was about 4. She’s interested in diseases, mummification, mythology and the afterlife. BUT— she’s also interested in animals, Pokemon, toys and video games. So there’s some balance there!


52 posted on 04/06/2010 5:17:29 PM PDT by agooga (Struggling every day to be worthy of their sacrifice.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 48 | View Replies]

To: Gay State Conservative
....still not buying it.A six year old wouldn't have the faintest idea what they were watching and,thus,would learn nothing from having watched it.

I'm not so sure. Maybe she did not realize the result, but kids emulate what they see often, and often without understanding it. Ours were all putting their movies into the VCR at two, and initially picked up certain emphatic phrases without knowing their meaning (which they had to be untaught--my bad). Little 'pitchers' have big ears, and all that.

I would not be quick to discard other possibilites, either, but children absorb an incredible amount, even if they don't completely understand the far-reaching consequences of their actions.

53 posted on 04/06/2010 5:17:46 PM PDT by Smokin' Joe (How often God must weep at humans' folly. Stand fast. God knows what He is doing.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 38 | View Replies]

To: LibWhacker
"Most kids this age are not aware of what death actually is," he told the Yamhill Valley News-Register. "Not until they get to be 8, 9 and 10 do they understand death is final and you don't come back."

I was aware of it as early as two. I also knew right from wrong at an early age. Anyone else?

54 posted on 04/06/2010 5:23:39 PM PDT by Moonman62 (The issue of whether cheap labor makes America great should have been settled by the Civil War.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Julia H.
I had a pretty good concept of death when I was three.

Quite frankly, I find that hard to believe .

Most people don't even remember anything except for a few small memories from their very early years.

Maybe you were an exceptional child ?

55 posted on 04/06/2010 5:25:39 PM PDT by Popman (Balsa wood: Obama Presidential timber)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: Flavius
Not to impose, Why? I have had some really serious shit happen in my life but at the lowest point, I mean all the you have hoped for destroyed, I never thought of that. What brought you back?<.
56 posted on 04/06/2010 5:28:41 PM PDT by Little Bill (Carol Che-Porter is a MOONBAT.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: LibWhacker

Kids that age don;t commit suicide

Mom & Dad need some more questioning.


57 posted on 04/06/2010 5:30:22 PM PDT by KosmicKitty (WARNING: Hormonally crazed woman ahead!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: HiTech RedNeck
Twenty years ago, an 8 year old in our community, hanged himself with a belt after seeing the movie Nobody's Useless in the classroom the day before. The family sued the school. In the process, it came to light that two years before, another boy had attempted to hang himself after watching the same movie at that school. His mother went to the school to warn them about what had happened, but they didn't think there could be a causal relationship. I am not familiar with the book, but apparently it was a copy cat issue.
58 posted on 04/06/2010 5:48:15 PM PDT by stayathomemom (Beware of cat attacks while typing!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 51 | View Replies]

To: stayathomemom

In the movie the suicide attempts didn’t succeed, so kids may have deemed it a suitable gesture to elicit sympathy not thinking it might actually kill.


59 posted on 04/06/2010 5:56:35 PM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (I am in America but not of America (per bible: am in the world but not of it))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 58 | View Replies]

To: agooga
"...My daughter is 7 and is sometimes morbidly obsessed with death..."

The youngest of the Addams family would say, "Just wait".

60 posted on 04/06/2010 6:38:25 PM PDT by Does so (ObamaCare...I pay for medical-marijuana claims by millions of Americans? 'Guess I do.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 41 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-80 next last

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.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson