Another teenager out after curfew dies at the hand of another…
Back in December of 2008, a 15 year old boy was shot and killed by a 17 year old both out after curfew. That death took place at around 2:00 a.m. Approximately two weeks prior to that a 16 year old boy was killed by an adult a few moments after midnight in South Toledo.
This past weekend Lamont M. Smith, who was 16 years old was stabbed around 3:30 a.m. on Sunday morning, also in South Toledo. He was also out after the legal curfew in the City of Toledo. In this case he was stabbed by a non-minor, William Anthony Defalco who was 20 years old. While the Blade interviewed Defalco’s 27 year old fiancée, Priscilla Hand and her sister who said Smith was someone her 7 year old child looked up to as a “big brother” — WTOL interviewed Smith’s grandmother who said it was the choices that Smith made that resulted in his death.
Similar to the below case, Defalco was in court on February 19 on a carrying a concealed weapons charge where he pled not guilty. He was out on a $10,000 surety bond. That was not mentioned by Hand in the Blade article, that original case was filed in Toledo Municipal Court after Defalco was arrested on 01/01/2010. Hand was listed on that case as being issued a subpoena. Defalco was also charged with a receiving stolen property offense at the same time, that case resulted in no indictment from the Grand Jury.
Are we ever, as a society, going to hold parents responsible when their underaged children violate laws? Few violations result in someone’s death, but, so sadly, some do. Are we ever going to charge parents with neglect when their underaged child is killed while violating the law. The curfew is a law! Are we ever going to charge parents as accessories, or as aiding and abetting, or, at least, with neglect, when their underaged children kill someone?
No! I don’t think that charging parents would make the violence end. However, I strongly believe that more parents would take their parental duties more seriously, and less people would die. Is this not worth doing, even if, by doing so, we save only one life? How much is each of our lives worth?
February 24th, 2010 at 1:29 amHas there been any research or study on the effectiveness of the curfew laws in Toledo? I am always dubious of laws that punish large groups of people for the possible actions of a few. Here is an interesting article I read after reading this story about curfews.
Was he vioating curfew really? From the story, it looks like he was visiting a friends house, Rico Florez. It does not say where he was going after that and if he was going home wouldn’t that be within the law since he was going from one adult supervised activity to his home?
February 24th, 2010 at 8:38 amWhat are parents supposed to do?
Lock the kids in their rooms at night? Put bars on their windows – not to keep people out, but to keep them in?
It’s not always the parent’s fault. Like Smith’s grandmother said, it was the choices Smith made that resulted in his death.
And, how did DeFalco get off with the Receiving Stolen Property charge? If he were in jail this incident would have never happened.
February 24th, 2010 at 9:16 amI thought this kid was visiting a relative. Would this count as being out after curfew?
February 24th, 2010 at 3:17 pmHe was at the home of Hand, I don’t believe that she is a relative.
February 24th, 2010 at 4:09 pmThe law is clear on this. Children under 18 are the responsibility of their parents. If a child is proved to have damaged property or to have stolen something of value, the parents can be sued to pay for the damage or loss.
From my experience, an extremely small number of children are born with a brain that is so miswired that they are dangerous almost from birth both to others and to themselves. Most children become violent because of the environment in which they live. This IS the direct responsibility of the parents. Unless and until we recognize this as factual, and hold parents criminally accountable when they have children who are overly violent, I can’t see the problem getting better at all!
BTW…keep in mind that most parents get it right! Few children are chronically violent. It’s time to stop coddling, not only the violent children, but also their parents! Really? Is anybody happy about the level of violence in our community or our nation? Don’t we want to decrease this distressful problem? Does anyone have any better ideas? I’m willing to listen!
February 25th, 2010 at 1:34 am