Spring River drowning

[mgood]

Just have to say- some of you are comparing drunk driving with a collapsing river bank at 1 in the morning. Think about that. Supplying to a minor isn't good. We all know that. But equating drinking and driving with an accident?

I agree, 17 years is old enough to know what you're doing. People convicted of crimes at 17 are tried as adults.

[bmartin]

It is natural to think after an accident that only if I would have only left 5 minutes later things would have turned out different. I'm sure the parents and friends are thinking the same sorts of things....what they could have done different that night, that week, or heck the entire time they spent raising the young man but most often that post-event historical perspective is not very productive. Most of the culpability in these situations is just plain bad random luck of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Shift just one or two of the 1000s of actions, circumstances, or variables that day and we wouldn’t be reading about this. Sure the alcohol, the late hours, and the lack of a sober mature person (assumption) to keep an eye on things increased the risks substantially, but how many times have people taken the same or similar risks only to wake up with a headache and a story to tell the next day? Tragically this young man paid the ultimate price and from the sounds of it is mostly a victim of his own circumstances and a whole lot of terrible luck.

There are many 17 year olds spending entire summers on volunteer trips, camps, guides, and other shorter duration activities away from the home and my 17 year old is in NY now training with the Army. I hope I raised him well enough to make the right choices, but I expect that he will not from time to time and hope and pray that when he does take the wrong path, that he will be lucky and it will be a relatively benign mistake. It’s a delicate balance to meter out the freedoms when a boy is becoming a young man and can not second guess his parents.

I doubt the anonymous person that bought them the alcohol was actively trying to sell or push the alcohol on them and probably thought he was doing a favor for the teens. Sure it was not a good thing but undoubtedly the kids wouldn't have gotten the drinks unless they asked for it and more than likely an alternative source was just minutes away.

This was a tragic death and wish the family and friends some peace.

[BMuu]

Sounds to me the kid chose to drink and chose to be in an area with a potential to fall in the water and drown. That's not the guy who boughts the alcohols fault.

He did commit a crime, but not one where he deserves to spend many years in jail for.

Sounds to me it was just an accident, I'm sure the alcohol helped but accidents do happen. Putting this guy in prison will not bring this kid back nor will it serve any justice.

[R_Corter]

This is the latest article I have found on this topic.

http://www.kait8.com/story/15034701/wet ... ected=true" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

"They are still searching for the adult who provided teens with alcohol this past weekend that contributed not only to the "delinquency" of a minor but to his death."

I never gave my opinion on this I only said what he could be charged with so here goes.........
That quote there is pretty much saying they are blaming John Doe for the teens death. I am in agreement with many of you that he shouldn't be charged with anything other than a Contributing to a minor. At 17 you should be able to make decisions for yourself. You can legally go fight-defend our great country at 17 with 1 guardian's signature. At 18 you can go with your own signature. So ya I think once you get 17-18 if you make a decision that ends your own life, then no one else is directly responsible for the decision that you have made. If this 17 yr old would have signed up for the military right after his 17th birthday it is possible, depending on H.S. graduation, Basic Training & AIT length that he could have made it overseas before he turned 18 to fight in the war. If he would have died in combat would they be looking to bring charges to the parent or guardian that signed for him to go? NO! I'm thankful he wasn't driving, he could have taken more than his own life.

I have always said, its a shame you can die for your country but can't legally drink a beer with your fellow soldiers.

My condolences go out to the family as this was a terrible accident!

[cj5752]

I can tell that many that are responding are closer to 17 instead of parents of 17 yr olds. Our society has said that 17 yrs is not old enough to make some decisions without some guidence. This gentleman broke a law that is designed to protect immature individuals from this kind of thing. Therefore his decision to engage in unlawful activity contributed to this you mans death.

[mgood]

Cj,

Because you alluded to it, I'm 22. So no, I don't have a 17 year old child.

I also happen to clerk for a judge, and have been admitted to several law schools. I have been pretty well immersed in the legal community for the past two years. I pay my bills and taxes and I can tie my own two shoes. How old someone is has nothing to do with how well informed they are.

Now that we have the irrelevant issue of age/maturity out of the way...

Some people are going to disagree with you about this. I'm one of them, because I don't think someone should be tried on a charge that he/she did not do. I can understand and respect why your opinion is what it is. If you want to look up Arkansas law, which I did before I gave my opinion, then you can justify to yourself how this would qualify as involuntary manslaughter.

At the end of the day, whether you and I agree or not is irrelevant as well. Someone died- that's terrible, and my heart goes out to his family. Blaming someone else for a bad decision doesn't make things better.

Lastly, I'm sorry to anyone offended because we're discussing a hypothetical situation that probably won't happen and not focusing on the travesty that occurred. Let's let this thread, and our argument, move on and bring the attention back to who it needs to be on- the boy and his family.

[cj5752]

I have not talked about a hypothetcal situation. Fact adult bought alcohol for a minor. A person deemed by law not to be responsible enough to do so on his own. Fact minor consumes alcohol and it contributes to his death. If this adult or no other bought the alcohol the minor would more than likely be alive.
I didn't mean to offend bringing up your age. But as I had guessed you are young and most young people think they have it all figured out. I know I did at that age. But life experience will give you a different perspetive. I am the parent of a 19yr old and a 14 yr old. My 19yr old is just like you. He thinks he is mature enough to make decisions but has no experience to base those descisions on. Thats where the adults come in to help. Bottom line no 17 yr old is mature enough to make the decision to drink.

[R_Corter]

" Bottom line no 17 yr old is mature enough to make the decision to drink."


But can take a bullet for you in Iraq ............. I also have 6 kids ranging from 3 months to 8 yrs old. The 3 month old is our last!!! I agree, the guy shouldn't have bought them alcohol but that doesn't make him responsible for the teens death. Agree to disagree.

[noH20inMs]

Now don't discount the hedgehog just because he is young. Intellect is just as important as experience. I know quite a few dumb folks who are experienced in one thing or another...

[mgood]

Cj,

You don't know me. You don't know the experiences I've had. You don't know my family. Please don't act like a superior human being for being older than some of us- that's a factor we can't exactly control.

If you didn't mean to offend younger people by bringing up their age, then stop stating that someone being younger than you has less knowledge and experience. I know I'm mature enough to make my own decisions, and I know I have experience to base those decisions on. Don't believe me? Doesn't matter to me. I know it.

All i did was weigh in on a legal issue I thought was interesting, because that's what I do for work. I encourage you to read your laws. Fact: they haven't found the guy who bought the alcohol yet, so the whole argument is hypothetical.

I really would just like to bring the topic back to the boy, his family, and any recent developments. I still want to go on record that this is a terrible accident, and we would all do well to refocus on the important issues here.

[cj5752]

Not saying I'm superior not downing young people. I have spent years working with youth. I have given them encouragement and oppertunity. But never alcohol. I was once your age a probably looked at things from the same perspetive you do. I am stating as I got older my perspective has changed. Yours will also. I have found I don't know near as much as I did 25 years ago.
That 17 yr old can only take a bullet for me if his parents let him. See our goverment has deemed him unable to make that decision on his own until after he is 18.
My prayers go out to this young mans family and his friends who have gotten a lesson in drinking. Im sure some of them have matured faster than they ever wanted to.
I like all you guys and have enjoyed this discussion. I will make no judgement on anyone's maturity but my own. I know age doesn't always meen maturity. I'm the guy riding a disk on snow 2 weeks after neck surgery. I do have a pet peeve when adults do not act like adults. When a person over 21 supplies alcohol to someone under 21 they are not acting like an adult. Adults are supposed to protect children. :)

[R_Corter]

Looks like the boys father was nearby when he drowned.

http://www.areawidenews.com/story/1744005.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Yet another life was claimed by the Spring River during the Fourth of July holiday weekend. Sharp County officials responded to a July 2 missing person report, which later turned out to be a drowning.
According to a Sharp County Sheriff's Case report and 9-1-1 report, a call came into Central Dispatch from a woman stating she was at the L.B. Access to the Spring River when a group of kids asked her if she had seen a 17 year-old male walking through the area. The kids had found the boy's bags near the water and asked the caller not to call the police because the boy was "drunk."

Sharp County Deputy Steve Chism responded to the scene, along with Officer David Henry. Hardy Water rescue was paged and Highland Fire Department was requested to bring its boat to the scene to search for the missing boy. During this time, a call came into dispatch from a friend of the missing boy, who reported he and some other friends had gone to Hardy to pick up some more friends, and left their seventeen year old friend behind with some others. They advised he had taken off walking toward his tent and that no one had seen him in 20 minutes.

Jody Presser with BARK, and his cadaver dog, as well as three other dogs made their way to the scene. The victim, Clint Jackson, from the Jonesboro area was recovered approximately 100 feet from his campsite. Deputy Coroner Bryan Buchanan pronounced Jackson dead at the scene.

According to Detective. Sgt. Ken Guidry's report, the area where the body was recovered was a steep drop off from previous flooding.

Chism advised a bottle of hard liquor and Jackson's cell phone were recovered on the bank. The report indicates there were no signs of trauma, indicating the drowning was accidental in nature.

According to witness accounts, Jackson and his friends had stopped at a liquor store in Poinsett County, where the teen had an unidentified man purchase the liquor.

The friends said when they went to Hardy, they left Jackson, who they allege had consumed about four beers, as he talked to other campers.

During an interview with the campers, they told Chism one of them offered to walk Jackson back to his campsite because of, "his intoxicated state," and he refused the offer.

Jackson's friends could not find him and swam in the river in search of him.

They then made their way to Saddler Falls, where Jackson's father was camping to tell him about his son missing.

When the boys arrived back at the L.B. Access, they authorities were searching for the boy's body.

A blood sample was taken from Jackson by medical examiner Doug Wortham and sent for a toxicology report.