Without a middle-income, two-parent home or a good income, single-parent home, it's difficult to raise children. This is a story that proves that point. It's about a child from a low-income, single-parent home.
Last November, an Iberia Parish man was shot and killed. An 11-year-old girl was charged with murder and obstruction of justice.
Some days later, her 15-year-old brother and their mother were arrested in Houston. The brother has been charged with murder, the mother as an accessory to the crime. Both await their court proceedings.
In March, Judge Roger Hamilton of the 16th Judicial District Court accepted a plea deal, dropping the girl's murder charge. She admitted to obstructing justice. Last week, Hamilton sentenced her to seven years, with credit for the more than six months she's been detained. The judge suspended 3.5 years of her sentence, though she'll be on probation for that time.
A demonstrator holds a sign on the Iberia Parish Courthouse steps to protest the detainment of an 11-year-old girl charged with second-degree murder Thursday, March 7, 2024, in New Iberia, La.
I was appalled when the girl was held behind bars on a murder charge.
I'm stunned that she'll remain there for several more years.
There's been limited information about the case because the judge issued a gag order. Based on news reports in this newspaper and by other news organizations, this case is a sad situation involving a child, her brother and their mother.
The Office of Juvenile Justice and prosecutors say each played a role in the murder of 36-year-old Kameran Bedsole at an apartment complex in the 4700 block of Jasper Road in Iberia Parish on Nov. 14.
It's not clear exactly who went to the apartment first, who said what and why or how the gathering led to Bedsole's death. Apparently, the girl and her 15-year-old brother were together when someone killed Bedsole.
Ahshiriya Washington, center, an older sister of an 11-year-old girl charged with second-degree murder, wipes away tears as she and other family members and community activists demonstrate on the Iberia Parish Courthouse steps to protest the detainment of her sister Thursday, March 7, 2024, in New Iberia, La.
It's hard to imagine a child from a rich family getting caught in a situation that lands the child in prison. That has happened, of course. Many of those cases become high-profile cases. Cases like this tend not to generate much media attention, but they are just as compelling — and just as complicated. Nearly every prosecutorial and defense move directly impacts the child's future.
Making the case for a more stringent sentence, the state said the girl had a history of truancy and had been to 12 schools. That, argued the prosecution, constituted reason to give her time in a state facility.
But a child like this must have a disability, a dysfunctional family, or both. When I read about this case, I thought someone did more than let this kid fall through the cracks. They threw her into a cave and tossed her back in each time she found her way out.
By court order, the girl must take firearm safety classes — unlike Louisiana citizens 18 and older who can carry a concealed weapon starting July 4. And she must pay for Bedsole's funeral expenses. If this case weren't so serious, I'd find it laughable that a child her age, or even a few years older, could have or earn enough to pay for a funeral.
If she were 13, two years older, she probably would've received more jail time. If she were 14, she could have been tried as an adult. In that sense, she's fortunate. Still, seven years for obstruction for an 11-year-old who cooperated with law enforcement hardly seems like justice.
Most likely, she will be held in a secure OJJ facility in St. Martinsville. It's not a prison. It's not a juvenile detention facility. It's a sheriff's office and training facility doubling as a youth jail. I'm concerned about her mental and physical health care. I'm concerned about her education. I'm concerned about her future.
This case isn't a Black-and-White issue because the child is Black. It's an issue involving a young girl who has lived a life full of tragic circumstances, most if not all beyond her control.
I'm sorry for the victim and his family. Perhaps the girl should've known better. There's so much we do not know. But who among us could think clearly at her age, especially with a life like hers?
There must be a better way to raise our children, especially those in trouble long before they officially get in trouble.
