Could be because you have defense attorneys tell everyone that it's not their client's fault, circumstance drove them to it, they lost all sense of reality. Bull! They did it cause they thought they could get away with it, they have an overbearing sense of privilege.

This is exactly why children do not need cell phones....we just had a sexting article on here a couple weeks ago...People stop getting your kids phones...we didnt need them they dont....make your child get a job and pay for their own phone if they want one...kids are spoiled and that little girl should never have instigated that situation like she did in her texts....teenagers are very unstable and you cant push them like that...I feel sorry for both parties....

This has nothing to do with cell phones. This is an animal that needs to be put to sleep. He was going to snap at some point. Over something.

I think Indigenous Man and NotPClever are right on the money. Personal responsibility for one's behavior is a dying value in our country, and lawyers and others help perpetuate this decline in order to get their client off. This young man was not "crying out for help" any more than a thug saying to you "I am going to kick your ***" is a cry for help. It is annoying to watch these attorneys twist circumstances to make everyone else responsible for their client's behavior. There is no evidence that this young man would not have killed this girl had he not been pulled off of her. Let him stand trial as a young adult and face the consequences.

driftwoodstrings, I agree with you, but both parties were wrong. In fact, Kayla Manson should never have pointed her "friend" out to him. Several questions here: Why was the 13 year old girl dating? Why does every child need a cell phone when this is what they do with them? Texting is a ridiculous habit that engulfs people of all ages.

Why didn't anyone who knew this boy tell someone of authority? The reason is because today's children do not think they have to answer to anyone. Schools, Departments of "Social Services", public school indoctrinators, all kinds of media outlets, psychologists and liberal minded parents who are more interested in being their children's friends are encouraging this behavior of irresponsibility.

Yet people will continue to belittle the "Father Knows Best" and "Ozzie and Harriet" days. Figure out the connection, and if any of you were not alive during those days, don't even try to tell me what was wrong with them.

Betsy I agree with everything you said. My heart truly goes out to the boy, to be provoked to that measure, the girl was truly heartless. I hope she recovers and learn from her error.

I would be more sympathetic to the boy if he hadn't already made threats against the vile-mouthed victim BEFORE she said anything about his brother. Sure she was out-of-line, and she has paid dearly for it. What has been his consequences? Nothing, yet. He could have verbally continued the harangue they were doing and not gone homicidal. Do you really want to blame the victim for her own near-death experience? Did the adults in the young man's life get him any help after the suicide? How about hold the adults responsible, too, for this tragedy. There are certainly factors in this case that we know nothing about, and we clearly aren't going to get them from his lawyer if they put his client in a bad light.

Yes, now that I have seen those texts she sent to him, I think he should get probation. That was one nasty little girl. What she wrote there was like a caricature, if you saw it in a movie, you wouldn't take it seriously.

I don't think what he did was right, but that little girl was absolutely horrible to him. She probably felt anonymous because he didn't know what she looked like. If this is what kids are texting to each other, no wonder they are getting in fights.

And yes, a 15 year old boy could stay mad for 3 miles on his bike, easily. In fact, 3 miles would just pump him up, get his juices going and make him think less about it. An adult maybe would calm down, but not a 15 year old. I've dealt with that. to calm down a 15 year old in athletic kid, you need at least 20 miles on a bike, and to be guaranteed of the job you need 50.

He was 15. He isn't going to do that again. He had reason. Even the law recognizes "fighting words".

really?? so the next time someone is "horrible and nasty " to me I have the right to go off on them and beat them near to death?? RU stupid?? ooppsss....Im being nasty to you...I guess you now have to right to try and stomp me to death!!! Get real!!!

I also agree with you, and judging from your +9 rating on your post, seems most the people here agree with you too.

I don't think he should be put in jail for attempted murder, It's pretty clear he needs intense counseling and it's partially the parents and state's fault for not providing it earlier.

I think the girl is very much to blame and should be charged with something. Sure she got the short in of the stick here and she's the one in a coma, but you can't go picking fights and then whine about it when you get your ass beat.

Not only that but even before this she kept calling him a rapist because he was dating her friend, and this also infuriated him because he knew girls that had been raped according to the article.

Seems like they're both equally as guilty.

It doesn' matter how mean spirited she is, what he did was wrong, and as they said he waited over 3 hours and then rode his bike 3 miles, to beat the crap out of her. He should do jail time, and see a doctor for a long long time. The boy has issues. Shame on his parents for now making him get help when he found his brother.

I don't think anyone thinks what this boy did was less than horrific. But there is serious fault on both sides. If nothing else, every parent and school should use this tragedy to teach some important lessons.

1) Never assume that what you text or post is anonymous.

2) Words are weapons too.

3) If you have nothing nice to say keep your mouth shut.

Just take a look as several of the posts here and you will have the answer as to why stuff like this keeps happening. You people are blaming the girl for pushing this boy too far. Really? So when your own kids starts running their mouth, and they will, they all do, you will all be ok with the person that beats themso badly they have severe brain damage right? Doesn'tt matter what that girl said to him. HE is 100% to blame here. And with parents like the ones posting on this thread it's no surprise at all that we have 15 year old boys beating 15 year old girls nearly to death. Because hey, your kids are so weak minded they can't deal with harsh words without resorting to violence right. Maybe if people would pay even half assed attention to their kids maybe some of these mentally disturbed children will be identified BEFORE they kill, or nearly kill someone. But hey, who has time for that. Just blame it on someone else right? Pathetic, truely pathetic.

No this guy is right. What you're doing would only make your precious little angel feel as if she didn't do anything wrong and guess what? She'd do it again and again, beg for attention for it, and ruin lives. No, what he did was wrong but you know what? She was unknowingly -begging- for it. Like it or not words have meaning, and not everyone was raised in a setting where if someone calls you out you ignore it. You may -think- that's what happens but face it: It's a new day, someone disrespects you like that at 15 at such a deep level there's not going to be a cup of tea and a meeting with the parents. Period. They aren't 'mentally disturbed', they're not some schizophrenic mental patient. It's called emotions, and it's a fact that ANYONE can be pushed over the edge, even you. I'll dare to say that at fifteen seeing things like that and then having some 'little angel' who hasn't so much as dealt with a pet dying acts like it's okay to make fun of your dead brother isn't exactly -soothing-. You don't just act like he's 100% responsible, the kid has triggers and she pushed all of them thinking there were no consequences. People are different, and whether you like it or not that girl learned a lesson. Really, to be honest it should be a crime to do what -she- did, then maybe the whole thing could be avoided and no one would have been hurt. You don't go around stabbing people in the heart, or this is what happens. The world is not a place where there's bad guys and good guys, wake up! Every person in this world has triggers, we're all capable of terrible things, the sooner you realize that the faster you don't sound so ignorant when you say something. It's not fair to anyone and honestly you're just hiding in your black and white world.

I don't get it.Did you not read what he said to her about her father.Truth or not about her father that was a very hurtful thing to say to her at the age of 15. She said the most hurtful thing that came to mind after he told her to go see her dead father that abused her.Oh by the way her father is not dead,but do we know if he had abused her? I don't find one no more hurtful than the other.But she did not call her friends and say I m going to kill him!

Yes, I agree. She also rode him by calling him a rapist because he had a girlfriend 2 years younger. She was way out of line. At that age, I might have slapped her or beaten her with body shots, but I wouldn't have kicked her in the head to really kill her. But, he was pushed into a murderous rage.

I remember a paper on male versus female physiology with word conflicts. In females (all adults, both sexes) when they were arguing, pushing and baiting with a man, their adrenals were barely secreting. But for the men, their adrenals kicked in big time. The men's adrenals started secreting at the beginning, and just kept secreting more. Meanwhile, the women just had this low level. In other words, the women enjoyed the process of yelling and arguing, but the men didn't. This is a fundamental difference in physiology between male and female.

Didnt your parents teach you anything??? Words are just words!! You cant go around trying to kill every person who says something that makes you mad!! Do really think some where down the road someone else wont' take a shot at his dead brother?? Then what?? He is allowed and justified in kicking them near to death?? BS!!! The thing that seperates us from animals is our ability to control ourselves!!! If you cant control your anger and let shi# roll off then you are a risk to the rest of society and should be taken off the streets

You know what you do when someone you don't know is sending you insulting texts. You block their number. This is not the first time she has insulted him. If he didn't enjoy getting worked up about it he would have/should have blocked her number or ignored her altogether. Noone diserves to be beaten or charged for what she texted. He should be charged and they both should have to appologise to eachother. He should also seek counseling and should have from the beginning. If all she said regarding his brother is that he should go visit him. That is not an insult and he has some serious issues.

Dawn two wrongs don't make a right, however to touch on the brother issue that was too cruel for words.

While I believe we must all be held accountable for our actions, the three hours and three miles isn't proof of much. Anger episodes can last a long time. If you firmly believe that "oh 3 hours and 3 miles is PLENTY of time to calm down!" you don't know very much about mental states and their impacts. Again, I am not saying people shouldn't be held accountable, but what I am saying is that if truly in a fit of anger, in an unstable mental state, yes, it CAN last through hours and exercise.

For many, the only way they can insure that will not harm themselves or others during such horrible situations is use of sedatives or taking yourself into the ER every time you have an episode. If someone has not been diagnosed with PTSD (which I will be shocked if he doesn't have after seeing his brother dead) how would they know any of the coping strategies or have any medication to prevent this type of thing from happening? He needs medical attention, not just police attention.

The boy needed therapy and our "so wonderful" school system did not see it. His parents are probably still in really bad shape themselves since they lost a son. Sorry but this girl is not just the poor victim here, in a way she asked for it. I feel sorry for both parties in this case. I hope both parties will recover from this, and learned their lesson. But most of all I hope both parties will get the therapy they all need now.

This has nothing to do withe evil of technology or how kids today are more aggressive. This is a clear case of PTSD, and no one gave the kid any help so he snapped after he was basically told to hang himself.

Sorry, but no. That girl absolutely brought it on herself. I read what she wrote to him and it made me mad. Obviously, that nasty little girl was vicious. And yes, the law does recognize "fighting words" as a defense. A 15 year old boy who has lost a brother to suicide whose father is in prison is going to get furious and no, it won't go away.

Seriously, reading what that nasty little girl wrote made me want to beat the crap out of her. For her parents, I'm very sorry for what happened to your child, but dear god she was awful.

Comment to John Toradze - you are a scary man! What happened to you to be so hateful and speak to vile about a 15 year old girl. You sound like you need to be put away yourself!

This is a tragic incident for all parties involved. However, there is a lesson that we can all learn. First, I highly doubt that the young woman would have had the courage to say to the young man's face what she put in writing. Simply, with respect to teenagers, there is an unhealthy assumption that sending negative messages via text is not as bad as saying it in person. That is NOT the case. In fact, reading negative comments can be more hurtful than having someone say it to you because as you read it there is a tendency to engrave into your memory.

With regards to parents, if you supply your kids with cell phones you should at least insist that they use them correctly. After all, how many of us would give a teenager a car and not monitor their driving behavior? Parents need to warn their kids that the their cell phone are not to be used as a "weapon" for waging war on others. There has been too many cases of teenagers inappropriately using their parent issued cell phones to either bully/harass someone or to send pornographic materials via the airwaves. This has got to stop! Parents, teenagers, schools, and society at large must take action to reduce "text rage."

The young woman clearly did not deserve the beating she received. As for the young man he needs to undergo not only anger management sessions but also some therapy to help him get over the death of his brother. I do not believe prison will provide that kind of rehabilitation. Good luck to all.

ALL kids are mean.ALL-ALL-ALL. Got it? That does not make what he did right.She deserved some kind of ass-whippin' but not to the extent that she got.That boy has some serious issues to be able to do that.

I wonder how big the crowd of kids was,standing around,watching,doing nothing?

Please tell me you are kidding-he didn't just smack her in the face or shove her and tell her to shut up-he tried to stomp her to death with steel toed boots. This comment of yours would really anger the family; I hope they don't put on their boots and stomp you almost to death! But if they did, you would of course be to blame, right?

I agree with Evellyn.After reading your comment Jennifer that she deserved it. Well you need to be slapped upside the head so you can rethink what you wrote.

And that so-called "friend" of hers, Kayla, is no friend. I am sure he expressed anger to Kayla such as "where is that b!tch Josie? I'm gonna kill her!" or looked angry when he asked which girl was Josie, yet Kayla didn't care and threw her friend under the bus by ratting her out to this evil kid. I'm not totally convinced she was clueless as to what was going on. My question is, where is this boy's mother in all of this? If she knew her son had anger issues due to his brother's suicide, why didn't she get him counseling before he went ballistic? He was just a ticking time bomb. Another case of a parent who is not involved in her child's life. And I agree with you, Open Eyes-1760970, he had plenty of opportunities to cool down, but he had an intent to kill, even if he didn't succeed. I do not believe for one moment that he has suffers from insanity, but every murderer and rapist always ends up being deemed "insane", it's the technique du jour of defense attorneys, but hopefully the jury will see the truth.

Guys. He was 15 years old and his life was crap. He was an angry kid and now it's all out in the open. If he doesn't go to prison, he won't do it again. If he does, he will be surrounded by people who will think he's great for trying to kill Josie.

No one is saying that he should not be held accountable. He will be punished.

But the punishment should be in line with the circumstances and the fact that he is 15. This treating him like an adult is crap.

awww...poor poor boy....was the little girl mean to him and hurt his widdle feelings???? Does he want his mommy or his binky??? GIVE ME A FREAKIN BREAK PEOPLE!!!

....but as a nation we need to start addressing the issues of our younger generation or it's just going to keep getting worse then it already is.

RNelson, I wholeheartedly agree with the above statement. See my post in 4.6.

You don't hit girls! You don't hit girls! You don't hit girls!

Regardless of what the girls say, you don't hit them.

This kid gave that no thought. Think maybe had he gotten a little older and gotten married, he might become a wife beater?

I don't care if the girl was running off at the mouth, that's what almost all teenagers do. Something was missing from this kids upbringing before the death of his brother. Otherwise, why did his brother kill himself? His family is severely dysfunctional. I hope this kid doesn't have any other brothers or sisters for his parents to ruin.

You might use big words but it seems you have a small mind. NOBODY deserves to be HIT. NO ONE. Not even you.

Some girl she knows "borrows" her phone to text him. Then, he keeps texting back and won't stop. He demands she pass his messages to the other girl. She tells him no and to stop calling/texting HER phone. He insults her and it escalates from there. Amazing how they left all that out.

You make no sence.

Think maybe he was lacking the teaching from his parents?

Meanwhile, lesson learned(?) by the evil little girl who set him off ... she is lucky to be alive, and hopefully, she will learn to control her mouth in the future.

A good lesson to all in the day and age ...

YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR WORDS AND ACTIONS!!!

thats like they used to blame a women getting raped because she dressed provocatively or "teased" or flirted with a man then he gets pissed off and rapes her....they use to say it was the womens fault for behaving that way....so whats the diff here? The poor poor boy was teased by the mean little girl so he is allowed to go off??? get real!!

WHAT??????????????????? You need HELP. You must be a abusive male to females. And I bet you think you are better then females. You deserve more pay and better jobs. Well for some one as stupid as you, you should be saying do you want fries with that burger. And hopefully someone you know will help you before you kill someone or kill someone else.

Tracy I agree with you. You are exactly right and this kid needs to pay the price for his bad decision. I also think this kids parents need to be neutered and spayed so they can't have anymore kids to ruin.

awww...poor poor boy....was the little girl mean to him and hurt his widdle feelings???? Does he want his mommy or his binky??? GIVE ME A FREAKIN BREAK PEOPLE!!!

I guess you did not see this not so-smart

Some girl she knows "borrows" her phone to text him. Then, he keeps texting back and won't stop. He demands she pass his messages to the other girl. She tells him no and to stop calling/texting HER phone. He insults her and it escalates from there. Amazing how they left all that out.

The kid came from a dysfunctional family. I think the parents should be looked at closely and not let off the hook.

Indeed, nancy, you're right. I want to address something Acana said earlier about "mental states" and PTSD. This kid wasn't acting out of PTSD, because someone with PTSD wants to AVOID situations that resemble the trauma, not pursue them. (The psychologist on TODAY was misguided. Watch the prosecution get their own psychologist to testify the opposite viewpoint.) Three hours and a 3-mile bicycle ride to kill someone is a pursuit to cause trauma, not an avoidance or defense against traumatic reminders. This kid was in attack mode. Lawyers have often tried to get their clients off with a PTSD plea, but usually fail because PTSD is clinically not a justification or explanation for criminal behavior. Most courts know this. People with PTSD can commit all sorts of crimes, but PTSD doesn't cause criminal behavior. If a PTSD survivor gets violent, like waking up at night and choking one's bed mate, they are doing it because they are reacting defensively to a nightmare of the trauma. The violence is defensive in nature. This kid was not behaving defensively, but pursued his target. He was enraged, not terrified. PTSD is an ANXIETY disorder. The behavior of a PTSD survivor is rooted in anxiety, not rage. This kid was enraged, not anxious. Acana doesn't know his/her "mental states" either. You can see from the range of comments here, especially those who believe the girl "deserved what she got" that one doesn't need to have PTSD to justify this horrendous use of retaliatory violence. Plenty of people, including plenty of bloggers, think like this kid thought when he tried to kill this foul-mouthed girl.

I guess you missed this as well.Don't you people read from the beginning.

Some girl she knows "borrows" her phone to text him. Then, he keeps texting back and won't stop. He demands she pass his messages to the other girl. She tells him no and to stop calling/texting HER phone. He insults her and it escalates from there. Amazing how they left all that out.

awww...was the little girl mean to the poor pathetic boy??? does he want his mommy and his blanky???? We've all been failed by people in our lifes...we dont go around trying to beat others to death!!!!

ummm.....she was held accountable......she was nearly killed!!! And the boy decided to be judge and jury and executioner!!!! Get real!!

So what do you suggest mslexie? Should the girl be charged with "saying hateful things"? I think you should run to Washington right this very minute to lobby congress to pass a law and make it illegal for people to "say hateful things". And after that, I will lobby for a new law to make it illegal for Childish adults to be able to walk freely among us because they are just too sensitive and stupid to live in the real world let alone breed.

Excuse me before it got this far she ask him to stop calling and texting her.MISSED THIS DID YA?

Some girl she knows "borrows" her phone to text him. Then, he keeps texting back and won't stop. He demands she pass his messages to the other girl. She tells him no and to stop calling/texting HER phone. He insults her and it escalates from there. Amazing how they left all that out.

THANK YOU!!!!

I agree that he took it too far, but I disagree with some of your analogies.

I believe they should first consider psychiatric help rather than just sticking him in prison. I'm not aware of the correct English term, but translating it literally from Dutch: there's such a thing as softening circumstances. His general mental state in general should be taken to into consideration. A serious depression is in fact a valid point to be made in court and he may very well have been suffering from one.

While I don't think this excuses what he did to the girl, I think it'll be best for both him and other people that he'd get psychological help rather than just jail time. I'm aware some people might see this as "getting off easy", but I'd like to stress that we aren't aware of his general mental state.