Teen indicted in Port Arthur toddler shooting
By KEN FOUNTAIN
November 6, 2009
Posted: November 6, 2009, 1:35 AM CST
A Jefferson County jury indicted Thursday a Port Arthur teenager in a mid-October incident where a 3-year-old girl was injured when a rifle was fired through an apartment wall.
The unidentified toddler was released from the hospital the next day.
Demontae Deshawn Sutton, 17, is charged with causing serious bodily injury to a child, a second-degree felony, and possession of a prohibited weapon, a third-degree felony.
According to The Enterprise archives, Port Arthur police were called to the Carver Terrace Apartments about 10 p.m. on Oct. 18 after the girl was hit in the foot by a gunshot.
The bullet had come from an apartment adjacent to the one the child was in, and in the course of their investigation, police broke down the door of the neighboring apartment.
They found its sole occupant hiding in a closet.
Sutton was at the Jefferson County Correctional Facility Thursday in lieu of two bonds totalling $60,000, according to a Jefferson County Sheriff's Office captain.
Sounds like another parent not securing and teaching gun safety. Parent will most likely be charged as well. Never forget the rules of proper safety
Nature itself teaches every creature to defend itself. " Gun control is hitting what you aim at."
NRA
TSRA Glock 23
08/29/2009 - CHL Class
08/30/2009 - App. mailed to DPS
09/01/20009 - Rec'd at DPS
10/24/2009 - Processing App
Demontae Deshawn Sutton, 17, is charged with causing serious bodily injury to a child, a second-degree felony, and possession of a prohibited weapon...
Possibly he or someone in the household is a gangster. A prohibited weapon (PC 46.05), if it is a rifle, would have to be sawed-off.
- Jim
Fear, anger, hatred, and greed. The devil's all-you-can-eat buffet.
Demontae Deshawn Sutton, 17, is charged with causing serious bodily injury to a child, a second-degree felony, and possession of a prohibited weapon...
Possibly he or someone in the household is a gangster. A prohibited weapon (PC 46.05), if it is a rifle, would have to be sawed-off.
- Jim
ill wait and see the outcome
Nature itself teaches every creature to defend itself. " Gun control is hitting what you aim at."
NRA
TSRA Glock 23
08/29/2009 - CHL Class
08/30/2009 - App. mailed to DPS
09/01/20009 - Rec'd at DPS
10/24/2009 - Processing App
Probably you will never hear the outcome. This kind of case usually ends up with the misguided "yute" going to juvie hall (whatever they call it nowadays) or probation.
"I am a Free Man, regardless of what set of 'rules' surround me. When I find them tolerable, I tolerate them. When I find them obnoxious, I ignore them. I remain free, because I know and understand that I alone bear full responsibility for everything I do, or chose not to do."
Both Jim and Crossfire are correct. Since the teen was 17, he is an adult for Texas criminal laws. He goes to adult court and adult jail, not the juvenile system.
And, there has to be more to the story than just a parent leaving the rifle unsecured. To be a prohibited weapon, it had to be something other than a standard family 22. Maybe sawed off, maybe automatic, maybe just the stock cut off short, but certainly not just a regular rifle.
And we will probably never get to see the outcome. Plea bargains and convictions are rarely newsworthy, even for more serious crimes.
Of coarse I know nothing about this 17 year old, so maybe he is some kind of real threat to society, but am I the only one here wondering if it is maybe a mistake to destroy his life over a dumb mistake by sending him to an adult prison or giving him a serious felony conviction? I would be the first one to scream "get the rope" if he had done violence intentionally...but this seems like we are going to turn him rotten over a stupid mistake. Prison doesn't teach anything other than how to be a better criminal.
03Lightningrocks wrote:Of coarse I know nothing about this 17 year old, so maybe he is some kind of real threat to society, but am I the only one here wondering if it is maybe a mistake to destroy his life over a dumb mistake by sending him to an adult prison or giving him a serious felony conviction? I would be the first one to scream "get the rope" if he had done violence intentionally...but this seems like we are going to turn him rotten over a stupid mistake. Prison doesn't teach anything other than how to be a better criminal.
Crossfire wrote:This is not a child. This is a 17 year old. I doubt this will go to juvie court.
I do not hesitate to admit my ignorance, but where is the threshold set in the statutes?
I know that minors can be certified as adults, but usually that is done only for heinous crimes.
- Jim
I believe for the purposes of Texas criminal statutes/prosecution 17 year olds are treated as adults, although 18 is the age of majority for civil purposes.
4/13/1996 Completed CHL Class, 4/16/1996 Fingerprints, Affidavits, and Application Mailed, 10/4/1996 Received CHL, renewed 1998, 2002, 2006, 2011, 2016...). "ATF... Uhhh...heh...heh....Alcohol, tobacco, and GUNS!! Cool!!!!"
03Lightningrocks wrote:Of coarse I know nothing about this 17 year old, so maybe he is some kind of real threat to society, but am I the only one here wondering if it is maybe a mistake to destroy his life over a dumb mistake by sending him to an adult prison or giving him a serious felony conviction? I would be the first one to scream "get the rope" if he had done violence intentionally...but this seems like we are going to turn him rotten over a stupid mistake. Prison doesn't teach anything other than how to be a better criminal.
So, what do you propose?
I really don't know. I just know there is going to be no good purpose in sending a 17 year old to prison over a negligent discharge of a firearm. Maybe community service for a year or something. It just seems to me we are going to lock this kid up to "teach him a lesson" and he is going to get out and be mad at the world and most likely commit a real crime, thanks to his free education at the school of hard knocks.
Like I said in my previous post...if it was an intentional act of violence or robbery or something like that...OK...but a stupid mistake in this case can easily lead to a hardened criminal being created.
ill wait and see the outcome 
