Sherman Burnett Jr.
What were you doing when you were 13 years old?
Playing video games?
Playing team sports?
Learning a musical instrument?
Were you out kidnapping, beating and raping six-year-olds?
Well, that’s exactly what 13-year-old Sherman Burnett Jr. was doing on the afternoon of the 11th of November, 2005.
Sherman Burnett went after this little girl, who, according to him, had thrown a rock at him. Once he caught her, Sherman pulled this little girl off into the woods, beat the living daylights out of her and sodomized her.
Sherman Burnett beat the girl so badly that she had half an ear torn off, her liver had been lacerated, she had a skull fracture and she was covered in bruises from the crown of her head down to her thighs.
Having satisfied his urges, Sherman Burnett Jr. walked off and left the little girl, who was beaten so badly that she couldn’t walk, to die in the cold night air.
Fortunately, she didn’t give up the ghost that easily. After crawling through a hole in a fence that was near some railroad tracks by her house, the girl was able to cover herself with enough leaves and keep warm enough to survive the night.
Thirteen hours after she had disappeared, she was found at 5:30 the next morning less than 200 feet from her house by a police officer during a massive search of her neighborhood.
While recovering from her ordeal in the St. Louis Children’s Hospital, the police brought her a few yearbooks to look at in the hopes that she would be able to pick out her attacker.
She had absolutely no problem identifying Sherman Burnett Jr. from his yearbook picture.
During interviews with the authorities, Sherman Burnett blamed the girl for the attack, stating that if she hadn’t thrown the rock at him, he wouldn’t have attacked her. While he denied that he had sexually assaulted the girl, he did admit to state employees that he had beaten her up so badly because he was trying to keep her from remembering anything.
Sherman pled guilty on the 10th of August, 2007, to sodomy, attempted rape, kidnapping and assault.
In what seems like an attempt at dissuading future youthful offenders, now-15-year-old Sherman Burnett Jr. was sentenced to 60 years in prison after the judge mentioned that was how long the victim felt her attacker should be locked up.
The judge gave him 20 years for each count of child kidnapping and assault and 10 years for sodomy and attempted rape.
Sherman will be unable to be paroled until he serves at least 85 percent of his sentence. This means he will be in prison for the next 51 years.
When told he would spend the rest of his life in prison, he seemed to have no problem with it, accepting his fate in true stoic fashion.
His parents, on the other hand, were quite upset.
Will we see Sherman Burnett Jr. in Hell?
- Yes (69%, 648 Votes)
- No (31%, 285 Votes)
Total Voters: 933
Loading ...
132 Comments »
Hmmm, a fifteen year old boy accepted it stoically eh? I’m not so sure if that is because he’s really just not right in the head, or if it’s because of youthful ignorance. Most kids don’t really realize just how long a time that is when they’re still that young, it’s usually the “I’m invincible” stage ya know? Could be a mixture of both.
But anyways, even if she did throw a rock at him, he of course took it too far. Way too far.
i would like to see a public lynching that would be true justice what a true piece of crap he new enough to sodimize the poor thing hang it
sixty years does seem excessive for a 13 year old child who is barely compus mentus. Maybe twenty years and ten years probabtion would be expected. The crime is totally appalling. I just fail to understand how killing can result in a lesser sentence. The justice system seems entirely irrational and based on the price of the lawyer.
Why wasn’t this ****** lynched?
*’s added by the editor.
Please refrain from racial epithets while posting on PYSIH.com
sigh,
very mature Klinger, crawl back under the rock from which you came please.
Not sure what to think about this, does the punishment fit the crime? is this kid a complete loon, or does he deserve a second chance? i voted “yes”, but i’m having second thoughts about it. To me the crime is serious enough for the kid to be tried as an adult though.
Children live what they learn, understand that parents are the key to inappropriate behavior of children what kind of environment was this child living in? What kind of life experiences evolved around a 13 year old child doing something like this — what was his home environment like? There had to be symptoms of severe emotional behaviors that were ignored by his parents and some sort of abuse imposed upon this child for him to even have the knowledge to do something like this — this child definitely needs to be evaluated and the parents need to be investigated. I cannot comment of the sentence but I know as being a victim of incest that I remembered at that age and that experience had affected my whole life up to the age of 35, it is a horrible exlperience; especially when you have to remain silent; thank God this child was not afraid as I was; she will always remember this horrible experience as I do. The difference was that my parents did not raise me —- this child lived with his parents —- this is very suspicious and the lifestyle of his parents need to be investigated. However, this punishment is a bit excessive.
I, too, was shocked by this sentence. It does seem a tiny bit excessive.
Although 20 years might as well be 60 to the typical 15-year-old mentality.
The crimes he committed were severe – child kidnapping especially. We don’t want people thinking that they can get away with taking our children and holding them ransom. Does it matter that another child committed that crime?
I don’t know, we do have attempted rape, assult, and kidnapping. These actions out of a thirteen year old are too horrid to consider, and the fact that one could to that with the thought of beating her so severly she could not remember anything? He does not need to be in society.
Punishment a bit excessive?? I cant believe people would even consider that excessive!
This sub-human deserves every bit of that 60 years. He has destroyed a childs life for Christs sake!! At 13 years old you know what is right and what is wrong.
Lucky for him this didnt happen to my daughter, or I would be spending 60 years in prison.
I do not feel that this sentence was in any way excessive. 13-year-olds certainly do know right from wrong, and this crime was so heinous that there is no argument for the boy not being aware of the severity of his actions. The only problem I have, and it was mentioned in another post, is the incomprehensible determining of sentences based on the crime. A ‘childminder’ was just sentenced to only 3 years for shaking a baby girl in her care to death. Some may say Bunett’s sentence is inappropriately long, I say the baby killers’ sentences are inappropriately short.
Not sure on this one. I keep thinking about those two fools that raped and killed a seven year old girl in a Vegas casino restroom several years ago. The one that played the role as “lookout” was never prosecuted, while the one that actually committed the crime got less time than this Burnett kid. American justice is screwed-up–expecially for Black folks.
America deep down will always be racicially influenced. There’s no doubt about it. However this instance, regardless of race, it may have saved a lot of trouble and heartache later in years for other people. Someone who ’s going to start off as early as 13, there’s no telling what he will do when he’s 20 or 30.
I totally agree with deadlifter … I, too, would be in jail if ANYONE (no matter how old or young) did this to one of my daughters. Now this kid is going to know what it feels like to be sodomized: I’m sure he’ll make a nice girlfriend in prison.
TOO EXCESSIVE!!! This pile of cow dung almost beat a little girl to DEATH. all most tearing her left ear off. What did YT make the bla*k boy be all upset n sh*t keep him down? Its time to face the Jenkum, Humans have had a belly full of the monkeyshines out of the throwbacks and are saying, ENOUGH!
Justice demands proportional sentences for different crimes.
We, as a society, have judged that premeditated murder is more abhorrent than rape, and therefore murderers should have proportionally greater punishments than rapists.
60 years in prison for this kid is fine by me, as a father. A sentence of 60 years for this as a professional in the criminal justice system is not fine.
On the other hand, society does deserve to be protected from individuals who have exhibited a propensity towards acting this way. If this is the only way that we can protect ourselves from the worst that society has to offer, I’m game.
But if that’s what we decide, we NEED to spread this justice to other people who commit crimes that are just as bad, if not worse, than Sherman Burnett Jr. From what I’ve seen, this is an isolated sentencing “hit” and will probably be overturned on appeal. A 20-year-sentence would have a better chance of “sticking.”
Lololo…Hey everyone, look at the comments from “What”. I’ll just bet you fine, upstanding family from south of the Mason-Dixon line. Probably very religious too. Lololo…I always crack up when the religious-right come aboard. God’s really loves that, eh.
This scumbag raped and mutilated a 6-year-old girl then left her for dead. He even blamed the victim for the attack after confronted by police.
Despite what the bleeding hearts on here will tell you, kids are not barely cognizant buckets of slime when they’re 13. You should know, you were a kid once too, and you were quite well aware of what you were doing and why by that age. This was a brutal deliberate attack.
Cases like this go a long way arguing for the continued use of the death penalty.
DEADLIFTER, that was great! I do not think this punishment was excessive either.. I mean yes, he is 13 but YES he did sodomize and beat a small girl almost to death. If it hadn’t been for her own good sense she could have died.. this is a true sociopath in the making and he is going where he belongs. This girl will probably be physically and mentally scarred for the rest of her life and its HER fault?! This kid obviously has issues and doesn’t deserve his freedom. I do however hope that this sets a bar for all the other courts around the country who like to be leniant on pieces of garbage.. how many times am I gonna read about pedophiles getting paroled after serving 5 years?! Meanwhile, you can rob a bank with a water gun and you will never see the light of day again. hMmM… really doesn’t make sense… KUDOS though, to the judge in this case…
@Klinger
You are a racist and should be put to death as should this little savage. Neither of you are fit to serve as members of civilized society.
i dont think the sentence was to harsh.if he is doing this at 13 then there is no hope for him.and klinger is one of those people that are trying to piss people off
When I was young, I was told not to hit a girl, but if they hit first I would defend myself, preferably by restraint, then twist the arm or leg that came at me.
All he should have done was through the rock back at her, abiding by the old law “an eye for an eye”.
While not knowing how truely long 60 years is, he does seem to know waht he did was wrong because he tried to beat her up so she would not remember the crime.
He is as vile as the two deamons that raped and burned the Petit daughters alive her in Cheshire CT – it’s just that his victim was fortunate enough to live and there is not a burnt out house still standing reminding the world of what happened to this girl.
My fear is that he’ll be out way before 60 years and he may strike again.
Klinger – it should never be the color of the bag that offends, but the trash within!
not sure he will get to hell, but I am wondering about the parents (or whoever made him into the animal he is). He obviously is a very sick young man and I hope — but very much doubt — he will get the help he so obviously needs.
p.s. klinger you are an idiot. pysih, the asterisks don’t get it done. there is no redeeming insight, opinion, or perspective in the edited comment, unless we want to draw conclusions about klinger’s intelligence or social skills — which in any case is a digression from the topic of Sherman Burnett Jr.
Eh, we’re big freedom of speech advocates here.
Even if you don’t like it, respect their ability to say it.
Although those who choose to use that language will have to respect my ability to edit particular words out.
I think the sentence definitely fits the crime, my only complaint is: why aren’t all rapists sentenced so harshly? There have been a handful who have gotten away with only a few months in jail. What makes this case so unique? I’ve never heard of another rapist serving a 50+ year sentence.
The judge gave him 20 years for each count of child kidnapping and assault and 10 years for sodomy and attempted rape.
Sherman will be unable to be paroled until he serves at least 85 percent of his sentence. This means he will be in prison for the next 51 years.
________________
Some people think this is excessive?
Does the little girl miraculously only get to suffer 85% of what any other little girl who was beaten almost to death, had her ear almost ripped off, was sodomized and almost raped, left for dead? If she hadn’t thrown a rock at him, should he deserve more?
Would the sentence be less excessive if the little girl had not been able to cover herself with leaves so that she didn’t die overnight? He meant for her to be dead, and he should not get brownie points just because she didn’t die, when that was his intent.
At some point in our society we have to seriously weigh how much an individual’s right to certain things balances with EVERYONE else’s right to be safe and keep their family safe.
In story after story, teenagers, adults, keep getting these very light sentences, where they’re allowed to serve even less time for being ‘good’…. and then new stories about how these ‘good’ people get released and immediately assault/kill someone else’s child.
To be honest, are there any stories out there where someone violently assaulted/attacked/raped/sodomized/attempted to kill people, then spent their little ‘good behaviour’ time… and then changed the world with their outstanding character/gooddeeds? I haven’t. But I’ve heard plenty where people ‘thought’ they’d been being good… until they got caught again for the same repulsive behaviour. It just takes longer for them to be caught because they’ve learned the system.
What about my children’s right to have the kind of childhood I had, where you didn’t have to worry about an SO living on every block, no worries of being kidnapped, abused, molested, killed? Why aren’t my kids’s rights, who have never committed any crime more important than some teen or adult who purposefully chose to break the law and harm/kill people?
My children deserve better.
c
Well said Glorybug! I too feel that justice sometimes favors the perpetrator and not the victim.
The thing that disturbs me about this case is the level of severe violence from someone so young. I think that the long sentence is more to protect society from him than necessarily to “punish” him.
And to the commenter who said they had never heard of any other rapist getting such a long sentence, it happened not long ago in Australia. The leader of a rape gang, who was a teenager at the time of the crimes, was sentenced to a very long sentence, something over forty years. It did cause a great deal of controversy, but the judge in the case felt that the offender was so violet, so arrogant, and so unrepentant, that to give a shorter sentence would be irresponsible.
In my opinion, very violent offenders who are at all likely to re-offend should be given the longest sentence possible, not necessarily as punishment, but for the protection of everyone else on the planet.
I think violence is at any age, however whether or not someone has complete control over it until an older age or just can’t handle it any more
[...] If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!You were quite possibly disturbed when you read that a six-year-old girl survived a rape. [...]
I agree with an observation made earlier. If this ‘poor misguided’ 13 year old went caveman on my daughter I would sit him in a room with just me and a baseball bat keeping him company.
I think the sentence is completely fair and the kid deserves every second of it but what about the parents. What kind of kid learns these behaviors. All i can think is “what the fuck?”
The crimes that kid did are not of the materials that float around in an average child’s head. I am of the belief that you treat a child according to the way they act. His actions were those of a deranged adult and therefore should suffer adult consequences. He is not legally insane because he knew what he was doing was wrong (by the statement that he was trying to beat the memory out of her). But sanity does not out rule the possibility of evil. Though most are, not all children are innocent.
It really amazes me how everyone says “he’s locked up to protect society” “he will probably have been worse when he was older” no one ever mentioned getting the kid some help,so he wont do this again.Is that where we stand in America?Lock up all the bad people instead of trying to get them mental help.
Here is my view on this Issue.I can’t really give a valid opinion on the issue,because I don’t know all of the facts and some of the details seems flawed.I was introduced to this story through A group on Facebook.I can’t really believe what I hear in the group because black supporters are naturally going to make it story sound bad on the law enforcement part and and I can’t believe the News articles because the authority figures are going to make the crime sound as terrible and ruthless as possible.None of us can actually give a valid and solid opinion on the issue without actually going out and doing the research ourselves,by talking to witnesses,questioning officers,victims and suspects and going over paperwork and documents pertaining to the case.I doubt it if any of us Done that.But I will try my best to state my opinion based on the facts I have.I will break my response down into 2 parts.Part 1,”Based off of the facts”.Part 2 “Sounds Fishy/Un-Answered Questions”
Based off of the facts
-60 Years doesn’t fit the punishment for this crime.For all of those saying “he should get the death penalty”The death shouldn’t be a penalty for any crime.What is anyone going to gain from that,the person isn’t going to suffer for what they did,they’re going to be given an injection and they will be out before they know it.I believe in torture for inhumane crimes and everybody should be punished equal to their crime.If you rob somebody,the Judicial system should arrange for you property to be robbed from you un-expectingly.I think you get the point.So if A guy rape somebody,they should be fucked in ass (pardon my ignorance).They should know what it feels like to be force to accept sex.The only people should be locked up are mental convicts and repeat offenders(which are likely mental if they can’t stay out of trouble)who don’t learn their lesson.
-6 years old is too young to be reliable in I.D-ing a suspect.
-13 is smart,but still very immature.No 13 old should be giving this kind of penalty under any circumstances for any crime.A 13 year old maturity level,judgment and overall understanding of things is undeveloped.At 13,I was pretty smart and knew right from wrong,but I honestly Don’t think I would have knew how serious of a crime rape was and how it can impact a person’s life.When I was about 11 or 12,I remember this guy mentioning that A girl got raped in a abandoned house and I said “what do you mean?” “raked,like when you rake leaves?” I had no Idea what he was talking about.
-The judge gave him 60 years based on the amount of time the little girl said he should be locked up?Since when does six year girls have pull with judges.Lol
Sounds fishy
-What lead police to Burnett in the first place.They searched his house before she made the I.D from the yearbook.
-How did she make such a positive I.D of the suspect,Didn’t this occur at night time?
-What was a 6 year old girl doing roaming around the city at night near train tracks?
-She threw rocks at him? That’s what ticked him off? Come On.
-Was any DNA recovered,she was found only 13 hours later right?
-Was a false confession forced by the Police Department.This isn’t hard to do you know.It shouldn’t take me no longer then 10 mins to get a 13 year old to admit to assassinating JFK,and no 13 year today was even alive then.Hell,I wasn’t even alive,I’m only 18.
-This little girl found his picture in the yearbook and identified him with no problem?Didn’t the attack occur during night time.
-It was also said that the Police Officer showed her the page which his picture was on in the year book.Were they influencing her choice.
-What has the little girl said?I have yet to find any article on any of the little girl statements.
This story sounds flawed,I wouldn’t be Surprised if this little girls was molested and beaten by her father or relative or something and they pinned on this little black boy(lord forgive me if I’m wrong)
If this little boy did do all of the alleged things.He needs to be Sodomized,and brutally beaten by the hands of the little girl.Left in the cold over night and then given medical attention.And begin mental treatment.
Overall this article and this entire story as a whole is lacking important details.It’s more to it then this people.It has to be.Because some of these things aren’t adding up.There is Two sides to every story.
Someones parents were not doing their job raising little Freddy Kruger.
Let the punishment fit the crime and sodomize his azz and lacerate his liver. Lets just see if that is better than the death penalty.
Sherman got mad and ran after the girl in the afternoon of November 15,’05 for supposedly throwing the rock at him.
The girl was forced to spend the night out near the train tracks after Sherman kidnpped & beat her and then he left her there. He wanted her to die so that he would get off scott-free.
She was trying to get home, but she was beaten and molested so badly by Sherman that she just couldn’t do it.
Daverich- every bit of your thinking is bass-ackward.
Problem is that people generally DON’T give merit to children’s testimony, and people like you, who don’t think they should be listened to are the problem.
6 year olds can’t ID perps?
Tell that to the Smart girl’s little sister, who was ignored by police when she named the ex-handyman as being the kidnapper of her sister.
Tell that to the niece of a man who was in jail because she told police that the man who’d raped her and her grandmother, then killed her grandmother, that the perp looked LIKE her uncle. Her uncle sat in jail for years even though she said it was not her uncle, just someone who LOOKED like him. DNA evidence eventually freed him and IDd another man.
Children are often able to ID other people, especially if that person had just beaten you, torn your ear off, sodomized you, tried to rape you, and then tried to kill you. I’m going to guess that if a child can remember a relative they only see once a year at Christmas, they can remember who almost killed them.
You think this kid did not deserve 60 years? That he should be rehabilitated instead? That the only people in jail should be repeat offenders? Think about that. You are saying that instead of giving people sentences that will keep them from harming/killing other people, we should give them a second chance and only jail them once they’ve reoffended? Tell that to the victim they reoffend with. I doubt it will fix how the perp injured/killed/fucked up their life. That victim, no doubt, will be agains giving violent perps a second chance.
You mention rehabilitation. Only jail repeat offenders and the mentally ill? Problem is, there are very few criminals that can be rehabilitated. They are mostly people who do white collar/blue collar crime, crimes of passion, and accidents/negligence.
People confuse the term ‘mentally ill’ with crazy, insane or psychotic. It is mentally ill to respond to having a rock thrown at you by attempting to rape, sodomize and kill a person. But it is not crazy or insane, therefore jail is appropriate.
I was fairly innocent at age 13, also. Meaning that if someone threw a rock at me, my response would not be to (hypothetically, since I do not have a penis) think it reasonable to try to forcibly shove my penis into the rock-throwers vagina or ass, and I would not have thought to try to beat them to death. Any 13 year old who responds that way needs to be locked up because they WILL reoffend.
You, like many other posters, mention that the appropriate punishment for child molesters/abusers/killers, is for them to be sodomized. I find this incredibly interesting, and hypocritical. Sodomy as punishment. Yet our culture right now is knee-deep in pornography that implies that sodomizing women is a normal, everyday, healthy practice. And that women, unlike men in jail, should enjoy anal sex.
Bizarre. The crime, as well as many people’s attitudes towards it. I do not understand why people think that people who rape should get light sentences and then be released to do it again, and I dont understand why, in cases like this people seem to overloook the fact that this boy tried to kill this girl, and in fact actually thought he had.
I have never been raped. But I know people who have, and I read about people who have. and I have never heard of any rape victim who thought the rapist should get a light sentence. In fact, they always say they think the perp should get life in prison. I tend to trust their opinion, since I have not had their experience.
60 years is too much? What if the girl had died, as the perp intended, and thought he’d done? Should anyone get less time because they just weren’t as successful at killing people as they thought?
You, like others, are against the death penalty, yet your reasoning is that the perp will suffer more with a long sentence and hopefully suffer being sodomized? I don’t think it’s healthy to wish other people to suffer, even criminals. I’ve never heard of a rapist turning their life around and contributing to our society. They should be given the death sentence. Remove the problem completely, and keep our children and loved ones safe. Unlike people who have accidentally killed people, it is impossible to ‘accidentally’ rape people.
You question if there was even any DNA evidence to identify this perp? There is DNA evidence in almost every violent crime nowadays. If there was no DNA evidence in this case, it would have been reported widely as an exception to the rule.
My proposal? Sentence any perp of violent crime, which rape is, to life in prison or the death penalty. Then, instead of doing suicide watches, and removing belts and shoelaces, provide each POS with a table full of razors, poison, ropes, etc., and let them kill themselves. Save all of us the time, money and annoyance of having to execute them or pay for a comfy rent-free life in prison.
Just my thoughts.
c
^0 years is nothing….I dont care if he is 13 or 18… U know right from wrom….that six year old little body….didnt ask for that…BURN
Daverich..u have an interesting and disturbing view of justice….although I appreciate ur passion…
Brittney…ur right on…
I know its hard to contemplate, but this boy needs to be separated from the community simply for the saftey of its members. 13 or not, this boy has already shown what he is capable of. I was thirteen 5 years ago, and I sure knew the difference between right and wrong. At thirteen you are no longer a “child” in a sense, you’re at an age where you have the cognitive ability to not only know the difference between right and wrong, you are capable of knowing the the rape, bashing, mutilation and attempted murder of a six year old child is abohorrent. This boy also shouldered no responsibility for the act, rationally (to him) explaining that he did it because she threw a rock at him. Judging by that statement alone, this boy has all the makings of a psychopath. Keep him locked up, that’s my opinion. He will offend again.
I wont see him in hell . . . I don’t plan on getting off at that stop. The judges sentence should include a psychological evaluation. This would lead to other possibilities that could have aided in this horrific event. For those who deem this a racial matter . . . look in your history and your present. Mental instability, these days, has no fondness for one ethnic group or another . . . all weak — spiritually disconnected minds are subject to the influences Psychotic disorders. The separation is mighy thin between sanity and insanity. Be careful in tooting your horns, and pray for us all.
Hysop
This kid is a sociopath. He doesn’t belong in prison. He belongs in a mental institution for the rest of his life. Sociopaths can not be rehabilitated.
what the hell is going on here? That childs behavior was learned. The real criminal is the person who was abusing Sherman. NO child I mean NO child would do that to anyone if that had not been done to them!!!!!
Natalie –
While behavior such as this can be the product of learning, there’s no reason to automatically assume that the little criminal was abused at home.
After the required psychological evaluations are completed, the boy may be found to have Operational Defiant Disorder or a precursor to Antisocial Personality Disorder. There is still a great amount of debate as to what causes these disorders, and learned behaviors are only one of the possibly reasons.
Human behavior is complex. While we may want to blame the parents for everything, we need to remember that other factors – brain chemistry, genetic problems, co-morbid diagnoses, etc. – also come into play.
I dont think that he should even recieve the jail penalty, because its to good for him. I mean that poor little girl will probably never be right again. Let alone have her innocence taken before her time. I just think that he should have been givin more than he was.******
Has anyone talked to the parents to see why he is so angry?Something has happened to him in his life that has put alot of anger in his heart. He is a child. The family should have been evaluated before deciding his fate. There are plenty of rapists out there that get off over and over again with the same charges and then end up killing …thats when they finally go to jail. So why should this child be sent away for 51yrs his life is worth something…he had a meaning …so what happenend …ask his parents!!!!
Ask his parents?!? Oh my God. His life is worth something?!? Not any more it isn’t. It stopped being worth something the minute he fucked a 6-year-old child. He’s 13 for crying out loud and knew what he was doing was wrong. Give me a freaking break. what happened? He got pissed off at a little girl so he decided to make her pay. THAT’S what happened. His parents had nothing to do with what he did. He did that shit on his own.
The boy is 13 years old. 60 years is to much. A grown man killed my cousin stabbed her to death. Out of so called passion. And was given 10 years for murder. I can only see one reason for this what race was the little girl Black or White?
I don’t think so. He robbed her of her life he can have his taken away as well. At 13 you know the difference of wrong and right end of story
Yeah it doesn’t matter that he is only 13. This is the child from hell. Demon seed.
Wow, what a sick little kid. He deff. needs some kind of help or something. 60 years ain’t nuttin for someone that is going to do something like that. It is better to catch them when they are young so they don’t end up like Jeffrey Dahmer!
Seems like the only one on this page that have any sense is the 18 year old, the one with the questions. I believe this is a set up and as far as the person who said this ****** should be lynched? We all know what your color is. Very ignorant!!This little boy should have never gotten 60 years in prison and yes this whole story sounds very fishy! If he did it, he should be punished and offerred some kind of help, but not 60 years. I feel so sorry for the victim that she had to go through such a thing. As far as the convicted child, if he did this he can only answer to God and he always forgive.
I voted No, because I’m not planning on going to hell to see if he is there. Is GOD a forgiving GOD yes he is, but as humans we don’t have that thought because we look at if that was my child I would have killed him. Both of the families are greiving and I feel bad for both of the families. I strongly believe that there may have been some type of abuse for a 13yr old to have thoughts the way he did. What do a 13yr old know about beating a child as young as 6yrs old and sodomizing her? Not making excuse for him because he should know better from right and wrong and for him to have enough sense to leave her and go as if he didn’t do anything. I think it was an act of GOD for her not to be dead and to even think to use leaves to cover herself to keep warm until someone found her.I pray and hope that this 13yr old will get the help he need to cope with the thoughts he had or may have. I just thank GOD that she is still alive, it’s going to be hard for her to have to deal with what went on in her life and I think with GOD by her side he will see to it that she will have a normal life and who knows she may be the first young woman to become a spokes person for woman and children who have been sexually abuse. She may the the light to lead those who are being abused or have been abused to come out and speak and put their abusers behind bars as well.
I do think that this child has some kind of mental capacity going on with him. His parents should have probably been able to see some signs of his anger, but as usual chose to ignore them because he was so called ” being a child or just a boy”. I think those are the dumbest excuses to give a child who is uncontrollable. Stop making excuses for people. They are what the are mental, killer, sucidal or what ever the problem. You can not seek help is you don’t acknowledge these issues. Something could have happened like this with this some other child before maybe not to this severity and was possible over looked or not even reported because it could have been family. He could have been suffering from some type of abuse himself, and again it is not an excuse. From what I read he showed no remorse of the torture he put that 6 yr old baby through, and stated that he beat her so badly so she could not remember. Also, he sodomized her what are the chances of a 13 yr old boy doing this without some former experience himself . I can’t say he got what he deserve because he is yet a child but, mentally a killer and that is confusing. He needs help and never be allowed to walk the streets or interact with people without some form of security. He will live with this for the rest of his life.
I do believe this boy had something done to him. I totally agree with that. I am a 36 yr old mother with 2 daughters & a son. I cannot imagine having to deal with my daughter’s going through something this horrid. And my son….. if my son did something like this to someone, I don’t know what I would do. Life is not what it should be for children. Children committing these types of crimes really shows the type of violence they are exposed to. I am afraid for my children. Hell, I am afraid for me!!!
Has anyone on here ever stopped to think just what if the child is innocent. I mean come on the little girl was only six. So is mistaken identity an option here? YES!!! So how will everyone who is calling Burnette all of these harsh names feel if ten years down the line he is found to be innocent? You would feel so low-down and evil. I pray for both families to make it through this tragedy. But what about all of the other crimes that are committed and actually dead bodies behind? those criminals don’t receive 60years. So what the difference?
And as for the low-life, uneducated racist individual who feels as though this ****** should be lynched. Maybe because so many ******* were lynched in the past is why we as the African-American race can’t seem to stand together. It’s your kind that has placed in our heads to be against each other, but you know what IT IS TIME FOR A CHANGE!!!!
For those of you who are saying he was abused at home. FALSE!!! his parents are loving people. Everyone has done some wrong in their life but does that mean that our parents lead us to do it? NO!!!
As an African-American female I feel that instead of us being on here helping them to dog out our Black children maybe we need to come together and stand up for them and show them how to be a better them!!!
Just Thought I Would Stop By ANd Drop Some Knowledge On The Unlearned!!!
GOD bless both families and I trust that GOD will fix this problem. To the young lady Yyou can and you will make it. There is nothing ti hard for GOD.
Sherman GOD will never put more on you than you can bare.
If you plan on seeing Sherman in hell you will be in for a surprise when he is in heaven looking down on you, because GOD is a GOD of a second chance. And futhermore what have you done that is so bad you have to have reservations to go to hell anyway?
crimeandjustice.us/forums/index.php?s=0aff2eaadc649e0e9d9d342a0bc68ea2&showtopic=7387&pid=247787&st=0&#entry247787
Maybe you should read up more on this kid. I don’t care what you say, we need to lock these sick fucking people up before they go out and hurt MORE people!
In my criminal justice class we discussed this case and I found it hard to believe that a 13 year old got such a harsh sentence (until i found this website and saw the color of his skin) . I admit the crime was extremely bad, this little girl is going to have to live with this tragedy for the rest of her life. However adults have committed worse crimes and didn’t get sent to prison for this long.I understand that there is a need to give harsher crimes now to send a message to any juvenile thinking about commiting a crime out there but this was a little overboard.It is obvious that there was a lot of emotion involved when the judge made this ruling ( which says a lot about how much of a professional they were).From what I know about the boy he seemed to have been in an unstable home, he should have been evaluated for mental problems. You have to be extremely mental or extremely sick to do something like that.
The person who made the lynching comment you are very ignorant.
Please people leave the decision of who goes to hell and who doesn’t to god and god alone and just focus on keeping yourself out of there.
first I would like to say whoever decided to put a poll on wheter or not we will see this young boy in hell is very ignorant!!! All the evils in the world why would bother to poll something like this? Who is asking does this little boy needs help? Are you speding this much time disputing the war in iraq? Are you trying to fight homelessness here in our homeland? Are we out getting people registered to vote? Are you trying to get your local officials to past legislature on healthcare ensuring that our children are protectd? What about our senior citizens and affordable medications? Reguardless of anyones religion we have no idea what is going to happen after death , so why is this one topic relevant (whethere or not he is goiong to hell)? how is this going to change the world for the better?…………You (whoever is resposible for creating this poll) should be ashamed of yourself. ( yes we are all entitled to our opinions but sometimes there is just a fine line……)
To see this person or any other person in hell you, yourself must be there. Do you see yourself in hell?
Maybe.
So, here we go again. We are all ignorant and who knows if we’re going to hell or not. sigh….why oh why do people have to get all high and mighty when they read this stuff? Can you say “entertainment”? Geez. Oh yeah, we can judge people all we want. It doesn’t mean beans. It’s not like we all vote on certain people going to Hell and THEY WILL ACTUALLY GO!! For crying out loud. My opinion is, the punishment should fit the crime. Oh yeah, VS, if all that crap was half as interesting in this, yes, I would be all over it. hahahah. I don’t care to discuss the war, it doesn’t do any good. Hell yeah, I am opposed to all our young people dying over there in Iraq, but guess what, THEY CHOSE TO GO. The little girl in this article didn’t choose what was done to her. Some idiot boy who is obviously evil, chose it for her. Also, grown people choose if they want to register to vote or not. Who the hell cares whether they do or don’t. And one other thing, if that boy needed help, his PARENTS should have taken care of that. That is their job. As for this site, I enjoy the hell out of it. You have your opinion, everybody else has one too. We like sharing. :)
Our vote doesn’t actually count? Now I’m sad. I feel like I’ve been cheated. I voted to send some people hell and now I find out they’re not actually going? My life sucks. Shit.
Michael- I, too am devastated. I’d structured my whole life around being able to click that little ’send ‘em to hell’ button. And now, I have nothing. I feel so empty.
I have learned something, though, from this thread and many others.
If I am black and I commit a crime, I was either set up, innocent, or the fact that I’m black should be an ‘extenuating circumstance’, and I should get a lighter sentence. Also, whatever sentence I get will be overly harsh just because I’m black.
If I’m white, and I commit a crime, hiphiphooray! I will get off scott-free! Or get slapped on the wrist. Or get off on a technicality, because none of the courts like sentencing white people.
You learn something new every day. I wonder what happens when you’re half black/white? Do you get a ‘medium’ sentence, or only get charged for offenses half the time? If you’re half white and half asian, do you automatically get a reduced sentence for having good grades in prison? Do all the hispanic criminals get sent to work in the prison kitchens, making tamales?
When you’re pointing the ‘racist’ finger at other people, it’s a good idea to look at yourself a little, and see how racist you are, and what stereotypes you are exploiting for your own benefit as well as those exploited to other’s detriment.
Just sayin’.
c
Makes you wish your name was Timmy, too.
Oh man, I’m sorry y’all. I surely didn’t mean to bust any bubbles. So, ok, we CAN send people to hell. How ’bout that? I only wish it was that easy. hahahahha.
I really hate it when racism is entered in to cases like this. The other day, my oldest son and I were driving in a part of town that is predominantly black. Two black guys just walked out into the street like we were supposed to just stop and let them cross. I told my son to slow down because if we hit them, we would be called stupid white people that had the audacity to run over to black kids in their neighborhood. That’s the way it is these days, it’s sad to say. So, we had to practically stop in the middle of a busy street so these two guys could go on ahead and cross in front of us LIKE IT WAS THEIR GOD-GIVEN RIGHT TO DO SO. Sucks don’t it?
Glory- “When you’re pointing the ‘racist’ finger at other people, it’s a good idea to look at yourself a little, and see how racist you are, and what stereotypes you are exploiting for your own benefit as well as those exploited to other’s detriment.” here here. I’m so sick of the whole ‘the man’s keppin me down’ shit. Fuck that, even Bill Cosby is embarrassed by it. Did you read my “Where is my race card” comment? seriously, I have to bust my ass for everything I get. My kids have to work hard for what they get. we’re whit middle class. no special treatment here, and if there were, I would not want it!
Both sides-you actully NEED to look FROM both sides. not just from your halilujha, House of Prayer, church pew ‘praise god’ gospel singing perspective! If you are a true beliver of god and the HUMAN (not just black) race..you would not have stated this….”Maybe because so many ******* were lynched in the past is why we as the African-American race can’t seem to stand together. It’s your kind that has placed in our heads to be against each other, but you know what IT IS TIME FOR A CHANGE!!!!”….Yes it is time for a change but that change is NOT going to come from using lynchings from the past as an EXCUSE for the ACTIONS for some African-American’s today. It WILL COME when people start taking personal responsibilities for THEIR own actions, including but NOT LIMITED TO, being more selective in who you have sex with and whether or not that person would be someone GREAT to have a child with, and NOT “he my baby daddy” but more like “he is my man AND the father of my child/children” If the difference between theses two statements cannot be determined, people, PLEASE either don’t have sex or at least wear a condom!!!!!!
Kim-I would have hit them. There are way too many car jackings from people (white girls and guys do it too, so don’t even go there!) getting you to stop this way. There is a reason for jay walking laws.
Sorry if I offended anyone but my soap box just seemed to appear under me.
yeah, I was a little scared to stop in the road in that neighborhood, but we didn’t want to “offend” anybody so we stopped and let the rude asses cross. That makes me mad. Oh, and I also get tired of the “man’s keeping us down” BS. That’s all it is, BS. The “man” isn’t keeping anybody down, people do a damn fine job of that themselves and just look for something or somebody else to blame it on. Bullshit.
Both Sides- yes I WAS implying that you do belong to the congregation of a House of Prayer and sing gospel music. Go ahead, vote me to go to hell and be an ignorant hypocrite like most racist people are (pot & kettle) I’ll just ask god for forgivness on my death bed, be forgiven and get to go to heaven, if there is one.
If murdering rapist little kids can be forgiven, I surely will be. arrrggg!
(rant, rant, rant…I guess I’m just a little shitty that just because I’m white I can’t spread my legs for any thug on the street corner, produce a bastard child to give to my mother to raise and use long ago lynchings as an excuse for my behavior)
Bravo, Nebraska Mom. Bravo!!! I get shitty like that sometimes too. Mostly around the same time each month. hahahhaha. J/K. I got on a soap box on one of the posts the other day, it’s all good. hahahah.
What he did was a horrible crime. To get that violent with someone, you have to look at what’s going on at home. The kid is 15 yrs old you put this kid in prison for 20yrs he get out at 35 if he dose all his time. When he get out he will only know the world as being in jail he will not know how to function being free. So he will probably do something to get back in there. I say leave him in there as long as you can. I don’t agree with putting him with the adults, that should happen when his 18.
“It WILL COME when people start taking personal responsibilities for THEIR own actions, including but NOT LIMITED TO, being more selective in who you have sex with and whether or not that person would be someone GREAT to have a child with, and NOT “he my baby daddy†but more like “he is my man AND the father of my child/children†If the difference between theses two statements cannot be determined, people, PLEASE either don’t have sex or at least wear a condom!!!!!!”
If everyone tried to do a little more of that, there wouldn’t be half the sicko stories there are on this site. And it’s pretty damn intelligent advice, no matter what colour you are, or who you think is ‘really’ responsible for all your ‘problems’.
I would add that it would be nice if men would embrace masturbation more, and leave the whole ’sex’ thing for women that they can proudly say are ‘their woman’ and ‘the mother of their children’. Not just the mother of one of their children.
By the time you figure in all the divorces, remarriages, affairs, one night stands, and multiple children by multiple people, I sometimes don’t know how some of these people can even figure out which kid is which. Halfsiblings, stepsiblings… Which one was fathered by who, and which one came out of whose uterus.
The fact that many of my ancestors were slaughtered in the Ukraine, or that many other ancestors of mine were forced off their land and slaughtered here in the US, pushed into reservations and culturally extinguished gives me no excuse for why I can’t keep my legs crossed or use contraception, or why I have so many kids by so many different babydaddies. Somehow I’ve managed to avoid doing that. So can anyone else, if they want to.
c
I question the validity of this story/ details of this story. First of all, as a minor his age/etc are not given out to any media. Secondly, As a minor, I doubt he is allowed to get that much jail time, If any. The way this article was also written leads me to believe that there is perhaps some biased and stretched details. If it is true, its very sad for everyone involved, lets remember he is 13, which means getting help, is far far far more important then putting him in jail for 51yrs (as this article says…again…questionable source).
It’s called Google, it can help when you have doubts like these.
“KSDK – A teen who was 13 when he sodomized and assaulted a 6-year-old neighbor has been sentenced to 60 years in prison.”
http://www.ksdk.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=134296
I understand that he was 13 when he commited the crime. But, the crime as horriable as it is was nothing compaired to how calm and unremorissable the young man was. I truly believe that if he showed the least bit of compassion when he was in the courtroom. The sentence would have been lighter. That’s the problem with the younger generation. They seem to be able to do what they want without the slightest bit of repocussion. If more cities, and states took this type of action against the younger generation not matter their skin color then things like the school shootings would be non-existant!!
I doubt teen-age angst will ever be non-existent.
It has always existed and for good reason.
It keeps the all knowing adults in check and the kids having a sense of control in their lives.
As far as I know, every adult has admitted to being wrong at least once.
The rest was in good conscience.
What a pile of shit this is.
These days, parents are children.
i feel so sorry for the little girls, but i also feel bad for the boy who attacked and sexually abused her.
Something just isn’t right there, and it looks to me like the boy suffers from some kind of
mental problem.
I just skimmed over most of the posts here, but I was shocked to see how many people seemed to think that the sentence was too harsh. WHAT?
Look, the laws that are designed to protect children are based on the concept that children will grow out of their delinquency and should not have to carry that baggage as a responsible adult. That’s fair.
But, THIS case is not a naughty kid stealing a bike. This was a VISCIOUS cold-blooded rapist and would-be murderer. The law was not designed to give people like that a freebie.
This boy is damaged. FUBAR. There is no hope for him. If he could do what he did, with no remorse, at 13… what do you expect he will be capable of when he’s 14, or 16. or 18?
And, if he could only be finally put away at 18 – once he’s an adult – how many other people would be dead, raped, beaten or whatever?
The only regret I have in this case is that he will ever have any hope of leaving jail. we don’t need monsters like that on our streets no matter what age they are.
I agree. If he was old enough to know to beat the hell out of her so she wouldn’t remember what happened, he obviously knows the difference between right and wrong. He obviously doesn’t care. He attempted to rape a six year old!!! And for what reason?!? Because a child half his age threw a rock at him?!?
If he was released after a slap on the wrist, next time he would make sure the next victim will be unable to ID him. Trust.
admin – If a puppy bites someone, do you take it out to the backyard and shoot it? Did it bite because the puppy is bad? No. The puppy was poorly trained. You cite the owner, take the dog away and give it some intensive training. Children are like puppies. They need training. Those who fail to train their children should be held accountable. A poorly-trained child is no less dangerous than a poorly trained puppy.
admin –
I’d like to bring this to the table…
http://www.ksat.com/video/17024575/index.html
admin – Seen it. The parents are entirely culpable. The blame rests completely on their shoulders.
I’d like to see a follow-up on that story. How an 8 week old baby can sit in a swing and be mauled to death by a 6 week old black Lab is beyond me.
I agree with the fact that the parents are also to blame for not being a parent-you know, actually teaching the child the difference between right and wrong, but there are also other situations where the parents did try to actually be a parent, and the kid still acted out. I still believe some people are just not right-they are evil to their core. You can’t fix evil-you can’t discipline it, you can’t love it away.
Just my opinion though.
I would agree with you, admin – if the boy was younger. I don’t think he’s a puppy – he’s almost a full-grown pitbull.
If he were 6 – YES! Even if he were 6 and killed someone. But 13 is too old to be rehabitable. Although the human brain does not fully mature till about age 24 or so, by 12 or 13, the basics are in place.
Errors in judgement and mistakes should be forgiven for children – but sadly, this vicious behavior is almost certainly hard-wired into his head now.
Well, well, well the system finally got it right, throw the book at him on his first offense and ensure that this psycho path can never do anything like this ever again……it does kind of suck that the tax payers will have to essentially pay for him to grow up in but hey at least he can’t hurt anyone else in society…..I can’t help but wonder what twisted this young man up so much though, it’s sad but i gotta say “YAY, for justice’ in this particular situation.
This is an old but interesting article that brings up some interesting things http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/special/srlinks.nsf/story/835DEB94BFF4345C862573330077D8DF?OpenDocument :
1) Sherman tried to blame the attack on his own BROTHER when the cops came to search!
2) Sherman allegedly offered an 11 year old girl $50 to have sex with him. He then assaulted her brother who stood up for her. That was 5 months before his attack on this child.
3) His Papa – Sherman Sr. was in jail at the same time as Shermy Jr. on 4 (unrelated)drug offenses. I would say that could be an indication that his home life was not the greatest.
I am sure there is much more to this story. I would bet that there is a DHS file on the family, as thick as a brick. I would bet that close family members have muliple convictions and probably have histories of serious domestic abuse/neglect. I don’t know any of this as fact, but I would put money on it.
young darkies cant get right cuz they wont ever be decent enough
he know at early age to be a darkie and kill for no reason my point that darkies are harmful to america
i wish he was crossing the street i pretend i didnt see him run him over
I’m sure the parents are no prize either. The apple doesnt fall far from the tree
A few years ago when my daughter was only six she was grabbed by one of my neighbours sons who was thirteen, and pushed against our back fence and asked, “if i was to rape you would you tell your mum?”
My daughter, being taught well by both her parents and her big brothers, screamed every foul word she had ever heard at him, kicked him in the gonads and ran crying to mum.
Of course my first stop after making sure my daughter was ok was across the road to visit his parents who basically said my daughter was lying and that their son WOULD NEVER do anything of the sort.
The next stop was the police station where my daughter was interviewed for roughly four hours. It was decided (not by myself obviously) that because he hadnt touched her sexually nothing could be done legally, but that his behaviour was totally inappropriate and they would send someone from welfare to check out this kids family life, because there were alarm bells ringing because of his actions towards my child.
Three weeks later i phoned the police and asked if welfare had been out to see the family yet. I was told that they had referred the case to the child protection agengy but as their workload was above average and they had no coordinater at present that it was NOT going to be followed up.
Turns out it wasnt his first time of accosting little girls and probably wont be the last.
Thankfully they have moved to a different state and i can breathe easy knowing MY two daughters are safe from him. But i wonder about other little girls in his new town.
IF A CHILD IS DISPLAYING THIS SORT OF BEHAVIOUR AT SUCH A YOUNG AGE, SOMETHING IS AMISS. THEY WONT STOP AS THEY GET BIGGER AND OLDER, THEY WILL JUST BE BIGGER AND OLDER…AND MORE DANGEROUS.
I think the sentence for this boy was spot on. I can assure you that his victim will still remember what happened in 60 yrs time. If she has to live with that, so should he.
Jesus, it’s just a matter of time with this little son of a bitch, isn’t it? Thank God you taught your little girl well, or she may have been his first.
What saves a monster in progress like junior here is how civilized we are. As much as we all joke about taking it to one of these creeps, I doubt a single one of us, myself included, would actually hurt a 13 year old child. I don’t know if that’s a good thing, but that’s how I see it.
What gets me Max is that i knew this kid who tried to get at my daughter. He was a clean cut kid. Used a bit of colourful language every now and then, but by all outward appearances seemed like the average kid next door.
I would look after he and his brother when their mum popped down to the shops. We had their family over for b.b.q’s and movie nights.
Now im a very protective mother and while i know i’m not a perfect mum, i think i do a damned good job of looking out for my children. And this kid…i never would have picked that he was capable of what he did.
Just goes to show that you really can’t trust anyone.
That is terrifying Amy. You have done the best that any of us can do in this world today. Teach YOUR child what is right and what is wrong, give them ideas on how to avoid being in a vulnerable position, and what to do to get away.
It’s sad that we have to do this, but I would rather be safe than sorry. The hard part was balancing it when she was young. I didn’t want her scared of the boogeyman, but I wanted her to know that there are bad people out there.
When she started school, we came up with the “SuperSecretFamilyCode”. It was HER middle name and MY middle name and her DADs middle name. Easy to remember, and it didn’t matter what order it was in. If someone told her that her Mommy told them to pick her up, or that they were supposed to bring her somewhere, she was to demand the code. No code? She would run like a banshee to the nearest adult.
If she got lost in the park? She had an “order” of people to ask for help: 1) woman with kids 2) Woman with no kids 3) Man with kids.. and so on.
I taught her that just because someone knew her name it didn’t mean they knew her! That it might be because her name was on an item of clothing.
We did it as much like a game as possible, and as she got older, she got more and more clear instructions – as she also got less and less under my watchful eye.
So now she is 17. And I am scared to death when she takes the car keys and heads out. I don’t even have to remind her to call when she gets there and to call when she leaves. It is in her head now, and I breathe a bit easier. But it’s still scary. No matter how careful we are, and no matter how much we teach our daugheters to not be a victim, there is always the chance that someone will just overpower her.
That’s where ya gotta have faith.
I hear ya Mazzi. The best cure is prevention.
Having been a “victim” (i actuallt HATE that word and prefer “survivor’) it is my worst fear that my children will make the same mistakes in life that i have.
My parents never taught me how to be a good parent. But they did teach me how NOT to be a bad one.
I raise my kids with all the love in the world. But love alone IS NOT enough to keep them safe from harm.
All parents need to be teaching thier kids protective behaviours.
If we arm our kids with the knowlede they need to survive this big bad world, then they will be survivors.
This kid obviously has experienced some type of trauma when he was younger to make him want to violently attack and sexually assault who is only about 1/2 his age.
There’s more to this than meets the eye! His parents are definitely to blame because they should have tried to teach him the difference between right and wrong, and any child who goes out and savagely beats and sexually assaults a younger defenseless child to satisfy his lust and sexual appitite, then HE HIMSELF had to have been sexually abused as well.
Someone such as a family member or friend did something to this boy. He, in turn, probably began liking it over time to the point where on that day, he saw his opening to commit that horrible and unspeakable crime!!
I hope and pray that he doesn’t have to be inprisoned that long. I’d like to see him get some help in an institution for as long as it takes, but where he is not a threat to society.
Sexual offenders will usually attack again and again when the mood hits them. I was sexually harassed, molested and touched inappropriately in camp by a 13-year-old boy (Sherman’s age when he committed the crime). But he did not beat me up or leave me for dead. He was just the real friendly type looking for fun to satisfy his sexual appitite. But once I let him do it, he came after me again, and again, and again!! I was just too afraid to turn this boy’s sexual advances down because he was twice my size!! I was raped by my oldest brother at home.
I can feel what the little girl went through
when she was being violated and sexually abused by Sherman. Even though he knew that what he did was wrong, I think the boy has mental problems – sort of like two different personalities. He turned into Frankenstien just before he caught up with the girl, while he was molesting and attacking her, and when he was done with her, he returned to normal, but at the same time, hoping the girl would die so that she wouldn’t blow the whistle on him.
I believe that the boy is somehow mentally disturbed and should get some psyciatric help.
~Malik7.
Malik7- Your logic doesn’t work unless you are claiming that you in turn have molested/assaulted other people because you were molested/assaulted.
if you have not, you are among the majority of people, like myself, who were molested/assaulted as a child, who did not go on to molest/assault anyone else.
Somehow it’s easier to deal with the concept that way, rather than to try to wrap your head around the fact that it is completely possible for non-abused people to attack/rape/kill other people.
Enough already with the ‘perpetrator as victim’ mentality. It might happen once in a while, but it certainly is not the norm.
Sometimes people, even children, are just plain not nice people.
c
I DIDN’T molest anyone else either.
I never once said Sherman was a victim, but he WAS and maybe still IS a victim of the system. He could have been rehabbed long before he did the attack on the girl.
Part of that is also the job of his parents to get him to some type of counciling or psyciatrist, which they neglected or failied to do.
~Malik7.
Things could be even worst.
I just read yesterday that a 12-year-old boy grabbed a baseball bat and beat a baby to death with it because he was trying to watch TV and the baby wouldn’t stop crying!
Now that boy is being charged for murder!
And the one about the 16-year-old boy who raped a one-year-old baby girl!
Yes, just what exactly drives boys as young as 12, or boys as old as 16 to commit such evil diabalical horrible crimes? Something just seems to go off in their heads, and they just go bonkers!
Itseems as though you can’t even trust a 12-year-old boy with a younger child!
~Malik7
When it comes to crimes against kids, they are all as bad as each other.
As for what drives them…im starting to think there is an ‘evil gene’.
Some suffer from Ashberger’s Syndrome, a form of autism, which can have a dangerous averse affect on a child!
I strongly believe that this might be the case with Sherman. He was more than likely never evaluated to see just what turned him into the monster that he’s become.
Autistic children don’t even seem to care at all WHO they maim, kill or destroy. They’ll blame the VICTIM for the supposed reason they lash out the way that they do. Hence what Sherman did. He stubbornly blamed the girl for what he did to her because it was she who though the stone at him.
Part of why he showed no remorse toward the girl or her mom, but he just smirked at them in court. He lashed out on an innocent vistim, thinking in his mind that she had it coming to her.
He feels or thinks that his actions were justified for the horrible crime he committed against the girl.
Those two little boys who went bonkers at school and lashed out at me, I wonder id THEY have something wrong with them! They get raging mad when they can’t get their way and start throwing stuff around and they jumped on me, pulling on my clothes and punching me in the face!
Of course, I had to kindly stop them and let them know that it was the wrong thing to do.
The morrow of that is that if Sherman’s parents saw thing with him begin to go south and he began bullying and terrorizing them and the neighborhood, then why didn’t they at least put their foot down and let him know that what he did was wrong and unacceptable? Boot camp might have helped.
Why didn’t they pay more attention to him instead of letting things get out of hand with him? We may never know!
Reading all these comments made my head hurt. I keep seeing all these people saying things like :
“Well, one time, there was this guy who commited this crime, and HIS sentance wasn’t as harsh as Sherman’s, so that means his shouldn’t be so harsh, either.”
Did I get that right? Seems like to me that we should be thanking GOD that someone finally got what they deserved. Just because other crimes were not punished the way that they should have been doesn’t mea that this kid didn’t get what was coming to him. When I was 13, I may not have understood what a 60 year prison sentance would feel like, but I sure did have enough empathy for those around me to understand that being beaten and sodomized is a BAD thing…
Reading posts on this site in general, makes my head hurt, but like caffine i just cant give it up;)
For a number of years, Sherman did exactly what HE wanted to do and if anyone even tried to intercept, THEY would also become the victims of his horrible wrath.
I’ve never before read where a young boy had so much power and terror over people, where he ruled not only the streets, but his own household and family with an iron fist as well!
Had he been sent to get some help or was sent to boot camp back them, he might have been saved. But after he grabbed and attacked the little girl to satisfy his supposed revenge and sexual lust for her, he then became a hardened career criminal.
A promiscuous monster!
Here is a young boy who backed down from NO ONE, took matters into his own hands and just the plain sight of him probably sent chilling fear down the spines of many and made them run for their lives!! This boy had a powerful grip on his neighborhood. One thing that he probably DIDN’T have was a gun or knife.
And if he had one of them, he more than likely would have killed the little girl, since he was just that mad enough!
But yet and still, in spite of all that, the boy was never knowingly sent to be evaluated at a local hospital or other reputable place to see if someone or something took control of and poisoned his mind! That is why I say that the judge should have at least given him the chance to be examined thoroughly before making up his mind on what to do with the boy.
We might have gotten some idea on what made the boy eventually turn into Frankenstein. Ther’s still a chance for him to be evaluated though. He can still get some help even in prison before he tries to possibly commit suicide or anything else.
~Malik7.
Look, i agree that someone should have sent this kid to be evaluated by a professional. But they didnt and he did rape that little girl. As far as i am concerned once he crossed the line and raped her he lost his right to my sympathy. Would a thorough examination of Sherman before sentencing have changed what he did? That little girl’s life will NEVER be the same again. I think that the sentence was spot on.
Sherman flatly refused to take no for an answer!
Even now to this very day, he STILL refuses to accept the fact that it was he who was in the wrong for sexually assaulting the girl.
Like a killer on the rampage or a serial killer, Sherman wasn’t afraid of anyone. Whenever he wanted to have sex with someone, there was just no stopping him! So tragic and sad that a boy that young would be driven to do something as terrifying as that!
Not surprised at all that the girl and her mom had moved to start anew somewhere else. Also, given his past greed and lust for sex, and bullying people around to the point where they are just scared to death of him, I’m not at all surprised at all that Sherman would stoop to raping, beating half to death and violently molesting a helpless small child.
It wasnt about sex…he raped her because he wanted to have power over her…he got off an being able to dominate her and take from her. Rape is very rarely about sex.
Yes.
Sherman completely violated and man-handled the girl and thought that she would die from the horrible injuries that he inflicted upong her. He intentionally left her there thinking and hoping that she probably wouldn’t survive the night. So that he might possibly be albe to move on to his next victim, whoever that might be.
Imagine Sherman at the age he is now – about 16, and he does that to a girl a year or so younger than he is.
He can NEVER have a normal relationship with anyone, because all they have to do is to just say no to any sex being involved just yet, and he’ll just go completely bonkers, proceed to violently attacking and raping the person to the point that he’s about to kill him or her!!
No one is ever going to want to be with him – man or girl, because of what he’s become and what he’s quite capable of doing to them, and they’ll always be in fear for their lives and just plain terrified of what he can do to them!!
If he were to be allowed to go back to be with his family, he wants something and they say no, look out!! he’ll be hell on wheels!!!!! And outsiders who might seek to try to stop him will become the victims of Sherman’s horrible wrath!!
No. This boy can never be normal again until or unless he’s treated psychologically – and even THAT is a very big IF!!!
A boy who was 12 at the time this incident with him had occured, might have to go back to jail, possibly for the rest of his life!
He unintentionally killed a little girl when he was showing her wrestling moves by jumping onto her. he weighed about a hulking 175lbs then.
Well, the case was thrown out because the jury felt that because of his age, he didn’t understand the difference between manslaughter and murder. Well, later somewhere down the road, that same boy had robbed a pizza deliveryman at gunpoint!!
Because of that, he violated his parole, and the judge has the right to either let him go again or throw him back into int the slammer for the rest of his life.
This is what others think or fear what might simarily happen with Sherman if he’s ever to be let go. It is thought that once he is ever exonerated, that he’ll more than likely offend again and again and again! And violently kill someone!! Or a family member.
He’ll never be able to have any children of his own. He might even rape them as well if he did!
He only believes in one way to supposedly want anyone – the violent controlling dominating man-handling terrifying abusive way.
As soon as he even thinks about sex, he’ll turn into a monster! No one will be able to trust him with any children! If they do just one little thing, it will set him off and he’ll brutalize and molest them.
A SORI & CORI record will be with him for at least twlve years or more.
~Malik7.
Malik7 wrote:
“A boy who was 12 at the time this incident with him had occured, might have to go back to jail, possibly for the rest of his life!
He unintentionally killed a little girl when he was showing her wrestling moves by jumping onto her. he weighed about a hulking 175lbs then.
Well, the case was thrown out because the jury felt that because of his age, he didn’t understand the difference between manslaughter and murder. Well, later somewhere down the road, that same boy had robbed a pizza deliveryman at gunpoint!!
Because of that, he violated his parole, and the judge has the right to either let him go again or throw him back into into the slammer for the rest of his life.”
You’re talking about Lionel Tate, aren’t you Malik? In 2005 he was charged with Robbery & Probation Violation and faced 10 to 30 years. He copped a plea in 2007 to the robbery charge (against the advice of his lawyers) and received a 30 year sentence. This past February, he pleaded No Contest to the Probation Violation, and got an additional 10 years.
Lionel Tate is a hard one to figure out, and I’m not going to comment on him personally. I will say this: From what I’ve learned about both of them (and I’m more than a little bit familiar with Lionel’s case) anyone who is comparing Lionel to Sherman Burnett Jr really needs to take another look at these 2 kids. For one thing, Tate killed while showing a wresting move to a 6 year old girl, no sex was involved at all. Why he pleaded guilty to the robbery of the Pizza guy will baffle me forever, but remorse does enter into the equation – remorse for Tiffany Eunick, the little girl he killed. I don’t think Burnett, like the vast majority of sex offenders, is capable of remorse. That’s one sick kid, and he needs to be locked away forever, for everyone’s sake.
Yes Max, that’s the one – Lionel Tatae!
He had the whole country crying with him when he was shown crying in court at 13. I cried as well!
When he was exonerated 3 years later, it wasn’t too long before he found himself in hot water again!
There was a knife charge, then a gun charge and a pizza robbery at gunpoint. Even though he didn’t harm anyone in THOSE incidents, one of them, he asked for leniency again. Thr judge gave it to him, but when the time came for him to answer to the pizza robbery, the same judge, I think, became fed up. Lionel was like a dog who kept on coming back to piss on the rug!
I lost all my sympathy, respect and trust in him because he just wouldn’t change his evil ways!!! He can go rot in hell!! I’m sorry to have to even think that way, but enough is enough!!
Nathaniel Abraham is another smirk who keeps on pissing on the judge’s carpet. He was the 11-year-old who openly bragged that he wanted to shoot someone, and carried out his deadly game plan!! He was tried, convicted, did some time, was let go, and violated his parole agreement. now he’s back in the slammer.
Still another person, Nathaniel Brazill – 13 at the time, deliberately shot his school teacher in the head at point blank range, is doing 28 – 30 years for 2nd-degree murder!! I don’t feel any remosre for him either.
These boys go out and maim or murder innocent people, get up in front of their victims’ relatives in court and then smirk in their faces and at the judge for what THEY did wrong, them expect to be treated with kindness and sorrow, do a little bit of time, get exonerated, then they are right back in court again?!! Asking for leniency agaian?!!
The balls on them! They must have some the size of an elephant!!! Smirking and putting on this facade as well as their own spin on things and wanting to be let go!!
~Malik7.
Another high-prfile murder case was that or Eric Smith – also 13 at the time, who brutally attacked sexually assaulted, murdered and mutilated 4-year-old Derrick
Robie after having lured him into the woods in New York.
This kid, at the time, looked very small for his age, cute and innocent looking. But he was very deadly at the time!!
He’s doing life, I think. he was recently up for parole, but he was denied.
~Malik7.
Yeah Malik, that little Bozo look-alike was denied back in June. Can you believe it was his FOURTH shot at parole? These little devils are proof that there really is such a thing as a ‘bad seed’. And what’s up with the parents? They should be sitting in the cell right next to their kids.
Christopher Pittman, the kid who was 13 when he put a shotgun in his paternal grandparents mouths while they slept and blew their heads off, set the house on fire to cover up the evidence, then stole their van and tried to say he was kidnapped, is a perfect example. He told police that grandpa deserved to die because he paddled the boy & grandma was killed because she did nothing to stop it.
Pittman’s mother abandoned him when he was an infant, came back around the age of 11, only to take off again. His father was going through his third divorce. After mom split the 1st time Chris bounced back and forth between his Dad in FLA and his Grandparents in NC. Do the parents take any responsibility for Chris after he murdered Pipa & Mima? Of course not. It was the medication he was on.
Yeah, you keep telling yourselves that guys. It’s a great salve for a guilty conscience.
You know, I don’t like being this hard. In fact, I’m not so sure it’s a good thing, or even the right thing. But How am I supposed to react? If somebody has a better idea, I’m open to suggestion.
Yeah, its hard. We live in a society where everyone passes the buck and no one wants to shoulder their share of responsibility. The thing i see over and over in a lot of these cases is that the kids come from broken homes. Not so much broken in the sense that their folks are divorced, but broken in that they have no decent role models to show them right from wrong.Its one thing to tell a kid that a certain behaviour is wrong,but when their mum abandons them for a new man,drugs, booze…whatever the reason, and their dad is either stoned or abusive, how are they going to learn to live in the world? Monkey see, monkey do. And then the parents turn around and try to say they did their best and they dont know what went wrong.Its a cop out. If you decide to have a child then you have to live your life doing what is best for the child. Not what is best for yourself. If your child has personality problems or mental problems, you will pick up on it and seek help, because you know your child so well and you want to help them.
Good parents seem to be in minority these days. Maybe if the parents were jailed along with their chidren, less kids would be committing crimes. Though more than likely our jails would just be overflowing with useless parents and their bratty offspring!
You’re so right!!
Seems as though ALL of these boys came from broken homes – up to and including Sherman.
The one biggest aspect most of all out of this whole thing, is there’s no man around the house to try to help these boys during
their most precious part of life; their pre-teen and teen years.
That is mainly when a young boy or girl is mostly likely to be particularly troublesome!
Their minds and brains aren’t fully developed yet like ours are, and so, THAT is the most vulnerable time for them to either be persuaded by lawbreakers to go sour and become hardened criminals, or just start going sour on their own.
you’re worried about being attacked, raped,
roughed up, mauled and left to die by an adult? Hmmph!! These boys are just as bad or worst!! They’ve beaten up, raped (Sherman only, so far) and and killed innocent people and expect to get leniency!
When Lionel at only 12, started showing that little girl wrestling moves, didn’t he know that he was hurting her? Didn’t he know that his then overweight huge 166-lb body was beginning to suck the life out of her? Didn’t he know that he carelessly beat the life out of her?
What exactly drives young boys to commit such horrible crimes? I wasn’t one of the lucky ones to have kids, but if I did, I’d love, nurture, take care of them and be in their lives every waking moment and sick by them, helping and loving them through good times and bad, teaching them right from wrong and give them all the attention they need or want!
That’s mainly why I tutor small children. I want to be a positive role model in their lives and hope that I can get through to them in hpes that they don’t become monsters of crime when they get older.
You tutor little kids, don’t you Malik? That’s really cool man. You seem really concerned about the little ones, your comments are well thought out, and I can feel your heart come through in every word. IMHO you would have made one hell of a Dad.
There is a HUGE difference in the case of Lionel who was playing wrestling and ACCIDENTLY killed a girl while doing so and that of Sherman here who made a habit of terrorising anyone and everyone who crossed his path, and raped and tried to kill a little girl.
Ok so Lionel went on to commit other crimes, yes for those he should be punished.
Nathaniel PLANNED to kill someone. Eric Smith sexually assulted and murdured someone. The crimes of Sherman, Nathaniel and Eric are vastly different from Lionels.
I never said that they weren’t different from each other. Lionel may have accidentally killed the little girl, but the other three didn’t.
The point that I was trying to make is that 2 of these boys were let go and they became repeat offenders. They didn’t kill anyone else, but they were habitual offenders and showed no regards or respect for the law after promising the judge that they would stay clean. So they were both ordered to stay behind bars.
Ok i see that they were both habitual offenders, but the crimes themselves were vastly different in the case of Lionel. Dont get me wrong, im not condoning the knife charge or the armed hold up, but you yourself said that no one was hurt in either case. The difference with Lionel is that he MIGHT be rehabilitated. There is NO chance of that happening with the other three. They are predators. I just dont think that Lionel should be put in the same category with the likes of Sherman.
Lionel Tate and Nathaniel Abraham both burn the bridges behind them, thought they could cross them again and their luck ran out.
So now, they are both forced to do some time. Not the original life w/o parole that they were going to get, but they’ll be away for some time!
Thank you.
Lionel was pardoned twice; once for the accidental killing of the little girl and I think once for having the knife.
He would have been free right now, but when he held up the Domino’s pizza guy at gunpoint, that’s when the judge had washed his hands of him and ordered him to spend 30 yrs + 10yrs in incarcreation. He won’t get life, but hey, 40 yrs is a long time as well – less than 1/2 the time for Sherman’s. He wanted to try to cop another plea, but the judge was having none of it.
I really didn’t mean to say Lionel can rot in hell. I’m just disappointed in him that he just can’t seem to stop being a bad boy!
But how many chances does he need because he kept on screwing up? He could have stopped this. He could have gone on and done the right thing. Last I heard of him is that he’s now blaming his mom for all this because he says that she abused him when he was a little boy! Not sexually, but he says that she beat him a lot. That still has yet to be proven, but now it seems as though Lionel is looking for another alibi to try to get out as to his carelessness with the little girl and the other stuff he’s gotten into!
As for Nathaniel Abraham, he’s another worthless thug who just doesn’t give a damn about anything! He supposedly was trying to clean up his act by becoming a rapper. He dresses up like a pimp, as gotten back into trouble with the law, asked once again for leniency and was denied.
These two boys were given 1st and 2nd chances to be good and they still screwed up, yet Sherman was never even allowed the opportunity to be evaluted mentally before being sentenced, much less anything else!
~Malik7.
Oh. These boys will NEVER be able run for anything in politics because of their dark sick horrible disturbingly violent past! Their names alone will jolt people back to the evil crimes they committed as young boys!!
The best thing that they can do is probably to teach other young kids NOT to travel down the road which they’ve already traveled down. Scared straight!
~Malik7.
Thanks, Max!!
I LOVE AND ADORE children. Even the ones who committed those horrible and dispicable crimes when they were much younger – 11, 12 and 13!
God tells us all not to hate. As violent diabolical, sadistic and evil as those boys were when they were young, I just can’t stay mad with them. I can only hope that they’ll have learned their lesson when they get out, move on and will be positive role models for the kids who will be in there early teens and try to teach THEM right from wrong.
~Malik7
Even though Sherman did what he did, and has been branded as a hardened criminal and a monster, there are some on other blogs who are using the N-word when describing him.
I find that very offensive to myself and other Afro-American people!
Yes, he’s a criminal, but so are others, and the race card shouldn’t be played when describing ANYONE at all.
~Malik7.
I agree with you on that Malik7. Racism is alive and well. Im caucasion and i too find it offensive. My son used the N word once ( he picked it up at school) and did i ever let it rip at him. Not only did he get a “mum lecture” but he was also grounded for two weeks. This is no T.v, no Playstation, no friend, no sports…nada, nothing. He learned real fast what is and isnt acceptable.
When will people stop being so ignorant?
True. Who knows? Those types of individuals will reap what they sew! They’ll get theirs in the end!
It’s just blasfamous! Your son must be a preteen.
I’m Afro-American, and I don’t like ANYONE who is a racist!! If a racial slur is made in my presence, then boy will I lean hard & on the perpetrator! I don’t roll with that!!
Yeah, he was 12 at the time. The thing was that he didnt even understand what he was saying. My two oldest boys are part Native Australian. Here in Australia they get called everything from Abo’s to plain old ‘black cunts’ or Boungs. Although they both take after me and my fair complexion they still get called names sometimes. Once i explained to him how using the “N” word was similar to calling a Native Australian a Abo or a Boung he got it. He was still grounded tho, just to make sure the message got thru loud and clear.
if the parents were upset at the judge for the sentence rather than their son for his actions, then they can join him in hell. it wasn’t the judge who raised such a pos demon, after all.
“He was still grounded though, just to make sure that the message got through loud & clear.” Haha!! I like that one!
Eternal;
Yes, the judge, in his own words, was noted as having said that he was also sending a very strong message loud & clear, to any other young child who might be thinking of commiting similar horrible crimes such as this. Like the one Sherman commited.
The little girl wants him there so that he won’t do this to others and that he more than likely won’t do it again when he DOES get out.
Shereman WILL have plenty of time to think about the lude & lasivious behavior and the brutal beating that he inflicted on his victim. This might also stop him from being so promiscuous. Makes you kind of wonder that if he were attacked and raped by one of the immates there, would he put himself in his victim’s shoes and start showning some remorse for what he has done to her.
Looks like now there is a boy in cusody who is younger than Sherman – Jordan Brown. They just seem to be getting younger and younger!!
~Malik7.
The little girl is definitely a survivor. I hope she will be able to have a good life and move past this horrific event. Sixty years may seem excessive, but this young man already is clearly showing the signs of a sexual sadist. I could easily see Sherman raping, torturing, and killing in his future if he had not been stopped. His family background definitely needs to be looked into. Does he have mental issues or is this learned behavior because of the environment he was raised in? Cases like this are truly shocking because it still boggles the mind to think that someone so young could be so cold, calculating, devious and evil.
This seems to be the most puzzling thing!
You might hear about others who are also sex offenders who might have gotten some kind of help whether they are in prison or not, but what about Sherman?
Yes, he commited a horrible crime, but I think it was more than just the rock being thrown at him. He was like a loose cannon waiting to explode.
What REALLY made him snap and go off on the girl? We may never know because he was never given the chance to be evaluated mentally! I don’t question the fact that he was incarcerated for the crime. It’s just that the judge could have let Sherman’s attourney have him checked out in a mental facility for 30 days before rendering his verdict. To see if some kind of trauma might have been suffered by Sherman during or from his troubled past.
so I guess the next time someone does something very minor to me, like throwing a rock or looking at me funny, I’m now allowed to beat the crap out of them and forcefully sodomize them. Or at least, according to this kid. Good to know.
I would say let’s start with him, but he’s still underage. Let’s wait for him to get to big boy jail and see what fun he really has.
Idiot. :)
WOW. they’re getting younger & younger!!
Also, did anyone hear about the 8-year-old girl who was gang-raped by 3 little boys and a young teen who is only 14?
She was was tricked into thinking that she might get some candy from them and they forced her to the floor in an abandoned building. Each boy took his turn groping and raping her was the others held her down.
One boy is as young as 9 years old! The other 2 are about 11 & 12.
The girl was then denounced by her family and they had her put in child custody of the state!
The oldest boy, Steve Tuopeh, faces the possibility of being given a sentence as long as Sherman’s. The children, including the victim, are all from Liberia, Africa. One of the boys is her own cousin!
This case is all too powerfully similar with and familiar to the one involving Sherman!