Michael Lanese
What is wrong with some parents these days? It seems like the more articles I read, the dumber these parents get. Michael Lanese, 67, of Upper St. Clair, PA is no exception. Lanese had 9 year old identical twin boys, Stephen and Christian. Which is odd for a man of his age.
On October 18, 2008 Lanese decided to take his twin boys with him to the flea market to sell guns. Sort of a family fun day, you see? Michael may have or may not have made some money that day, but I do know that one of his rifles did not sell.
The family brought the remaining guns home, and Michael insisted that Stephen and Christian help him clean his guns. Once the guns were wiped down with oil, Michael told them to take them upstairs into the master bedroom. Stephen and Christian then took ammunition from a gun cabinet and practiced loading and unloading the weapon.
Christian got bored and sat down in front of the TV with a bowl of rice.
Stephen Lanese pulled the trigger on a .348 rifle he had just unloaded.
The gun went off, and a high power round struck Christian Lanese in the back of the head.
Christian’s head exploded – he died instantly.
Meanwhile, Michael Lanese was downstairs reading a book.
“Just how totally shocking it is to see a young child that upset and I don’t think he really was even aware of what had happened,” neighbor Barb Benedict said. She heard screams and ran into the house. “He just kept repeating over and over again, ‘Is he alive; is he still breathing?”
Truc Phan, the boys’ mother, told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review several interesting details about life with Michael Lanese:
Truc Phan, the boys’ mother, testified that she warned her ex-husband on numerous occasions to keep his weapons locked away.
“You better move it and put it away,” Phan said she told Lanese. “It’s not safe with kids in the house.”
Phan gave Lanese custody of the children when they split up five years ago.
She also testified her sons often complained about being hungry and that the utilities to Lanese’s home were shut off several times for lack of payment. A neighbor gave similar testimony.
Phan testified that she arrived at the house the day of the shooting before police or medical staff. She said Stephen was crying in the front yard when she arrived. Soon after, she said she ran in the house to hold Christian.
“His head bleed out, his brain was out,” she said. “Blood was all over the place.”
Stephen Lanese had to be put in the hospital for severe shock.
Since the accidental shooting, neighbors said they have told investigators accounts of seeing the twins unsupervised on many occasions, playing with a hatchet and swinging a sword in the driveway. According to the criminal complaint, Stephen and Christian were once seen smashing a computer monitor with a baseball bat and hatchet with no shoes on.
The school nurse at the twins’ school, Streams Elementary School, notified Children and Youth Services when they began showing up with injuries on a regular basis.
The nurse reported that the injuries ranged from unexplained burns to black eyes. The twins told the school nurse that they got most of their injuries from playing with guns, knives and lighters.
On March 18th 2009, Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Jill E. Rangos ordered Michael Lanese to stand trial on involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment charges. The previous day Judge Rangos ruled that Stephen Lanese’s statement on the day of the shooting could be used against his father.
Michael says that he is a hunter and was only helping his children learn about gun safety. Apparently, he’s not a very good teacher.
This Story Was Written And Submitted By Tress
Does Michael Lanese Deserve Hell?
- Yes (61%, 119 Votes)
- No (39%, 75 Votes)
Total Voters: 194
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57 Comments »
Man, everyone knows you don’t leave the kids in a room alone with the gun and ammo! I grew up in the Alabama countryside, and my folks never let me and my sister around the guns without supervision. What an idiot father. And the poor brother having to go to the hospital in shock because he killed his twin by accident. This did not need to happen.
“Apparently, he is not a very good teacher.” Now theres the understatement of the year.
What a total retarded fuckwit excuse for a father.
i can’t vote this guy to hell, if stupidity was a crime……..
i also can’t believe most people have voted yes, we’re not talking about a stone cold killer here, we’re talking about a very very stupid man who will be suffering for his mistakes for the rest of his life.
have you all become so angry over what you’ve read here that you’ll vote this man to hell? is he equal to a child molester/killer? is he on par with ruthless murderers? do you think he has no remorse?
i hope the coming votes will be mostly “no” votes.
I’m going with no too DD. I figure if he’s any kind of a man, he’s already in hell.
DD, I always have respected your opinion. But I respectfully disagree. Trying to teach the children about guns and gun safety and all isn’t hellowrthy himself. True, he himself didn’t pull the trigger. But isn’t the ultimate lesson in gun safety to WATCH the children? He completely neglected to watch what the children were doing, and decided that reading a BOOK was more important? That’s hellworthy in my opinion.
I voted for hell only after I looked a bit deeper into this one. From what I found out, the two boys were constantly allowed to play with different types of weapons when at their fathers house. His lack of supervision and allowing weapons to be available to his sons was a concern that was bought up on a number of occasions with him by his ex-wife and 19 year old daughter. It would seem this was an inevitable ending based on his lack of parenting skills that so easily could have been avoided. If it was a one off incident I may be able to cut him some slack but this was an ongoing problem.
I agree with you Funk. They were left unsupervised all the time.
I have sons. Very adventerous and sometimes very naughty sons. They are 12 and 13 ad left to their own devices will get into all sorts of trouble. Like the time i caught them making a ‘spud gun’ and all the other silly and potentually dangerous things they do such as jumping off the shed roof, sleighing down the roof of the house on blankets…ect, ect. And im a really hands on mum. My entire life revolves around my kids. Any parent worth anything KNOWS to keep an eye on their kids.
No, you cant be there 24/7, but this guy wasnt ‘there’ even when he was. Who the fuck lets their kids load and unload a gun without being there to supervise? Or play with swords? This was a disaster waiting to happen.
Just food for thought Amy. God forbid, what if one of your sons was critically injured jumping off the shed roof. Do you think that you should be charged with manslaughter and neglect? I don’t.
I know this is a little different because the father should not have allowed his boys to be around guns, but do you think that he intended for one to get hurt or killed?
I suspect that the father is a bit of a jerk, and certainly didn’t raise his boys in the conventional way, but I just have to believe that he told the boys to never aim/fire/etc. and didn’t realize that that wasn’t good ENOUGH.
Neglect? I’ll buy that, but manslaughter? I would be on his defense team.
No Mazzi, the father probably didn’t intend for his sons to get hurt or killed under these circumstances but it also obviously wasn’t too much of a concern either. Drink drivers don’t intend to run over or crash into people killing them but they are still responsible for the outcome.
If she gave her kids the blanket and told them to take it up onto the roof, which is what Mr. Lanese basically did when he gave his CHILD A RIFLE AND TOLD HIM TO TAKE IT UPSTAIRS BY HIMSELF then yes. She would. If she taught them how to slide down the roof like Lanese did when he taught 9 year old boys how to properly load a gun, yes, she would.
Why in holy hell was the ammunition easily accessible to a 9 year old boy? Why did he know how to load a gun?? No 9 year old has any business loading or handling a gun unless he is living in a country wrought with civil war and is just trying to protect himself and even THAT scenario is nauseating.
The only thing a 9 year old needs to know about a gun and ammunition is that it is locked up in a cabinet they are not allowed to go near. Any parent who allows different probably shouldn’t have kids OR guns.
And before anybody calls me an anti-gun nut, you’re very wrong. I grew up on a farm. Tons of guns THAT I WAS NOT TO TOUCH UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE until I was older and responsible. None of us were. Up until it was sold a few years ago I still went to the farm to hunt. I do not hate or fear guns. I do hate and fear stupid people who don’t seem to know or care what they’re capable of.
This reminds me of the story of the 8 year-old who was killed when firing an Uzi at a local gun range.
This stuff is just plain creepy. I guess these parents believe the Russians are still preparing to parachute into our backyards. All able-bodied men, women and children need to be at the ready. Oh brother.
An FBI profiler said that a man who has a gun collection is often compensating for his feelings of inadequacy. When I read stories like this I’m reminded of that.
Stupid? Yes. Evil? Not so much. (Well, maybe he is evil, but it’s not apparent in the story). No hell.
Listen, I don’t approve of his parenting style, but I have known plenty of adults who grew up in this kind of environment who are fine. We cannot expect that every parent raise their child in exactly the same way, and we can’t stand on the outside pursing our lips and sending in CPS because the parents don’t do the things that we think are appropriate. Just think about how you raise YOUR child – would you want CPS knocking because a neighbor turns you in for having barefoot kids or bratty kids or whatever you do differently than your neighbors?
I am sure that this man did not want his son to die. I am sure that this man thought that his children were aware that we don’t load and play with guns. But this man did not realize (or remember) that 9 year old boys cannot be trusted to do the smart thing. Hell, when I was a 9 year old girl, and my brother was 10, we found a Luger in my Dad’s desk drawer. My brother picked it up, inspected it and test-fired at the window. Luckily it wasn’t loaded, and luckily my Dad saw that we had rummaged in his stuff, so he took out the firing pin, and hid the pistol. But just think if something slightly different had happened.
Anyway, I vote no hell. Besides this guy will almost certainly live his remaining days in more mental hell than he deserves. THIS was an accident and a mistake. It sucks for sure, but I don’t even agree with the manslaughter charge in this case.
Considering CPS track record that does scare me at all, but you are right he should not be condemned to hell because of his piss poor parenting skills or lack of parenting skills.. but if he cared just a little bit about those children the rest of his life is going to be a living hell, think could’ve, would’ve & should’ve.
I was thinking throughout this whole story where was the mother, then I get to the end to discover that she gave custody of her boys to this man. Why wouldn’t you fight for your children when you knew they were hungry, unsupervised, and without utilies quite a bit? I was a little blown away by that.
I was one that did vote him to hell. I voted that way due to the fact that a parent’s job is to protect their children. One twin ended up dead and the other one will forever have the picture in his head of shooting his brother’s head off. I condemned him to hell for what Stephan is going to have to endure his whole life because his father was too stupid and lazy to put his own gun away.
you actually hit the nail on the head. i am the “niece” of Christian and Stephan. i don’t want to actually say anything negative, but Michael is actually a very horrible parent and has 4 other adult children, which i am the daughter of Michael’s oldest son, and first child. i completely disown this man for they way he has treated my mother in the past (as when i was a baby/not born) but also for his parenting skills. he’s ALWAYS been neglectful of his children. He has had 3 wives and has had 6 children. 4 of which are adults, he shouldn’t even have been having more kids at his age anyway. its a shame. that’s really all i have to say. a shame and disappointment to me.
I’m the real daughter of mike Lanese jr. Mike Lanese is a good father and never wanted this to happen, he’s a good man. Ive known him all my life and All he’s done is love and care for my family and I. He doesn’t deserve hell because he never intended for this to happen. I love him he’s blood and will always will be.
Hi Victoria, I am Michael’s cousin, one of the original Lannis’s family members. My mom was Irene, Michael’s aunt but we called him Kenny’s she always said something terrible was going to happen in his life because of the way Uncle Joe and Aunt Francis always covered up for all of them Joe, Mike and Rita. I wish you the best and my love goes out to your family. Love your cousin Regina
Regina!!!! It’s Maggie- you gotta call me! Love your Lannis Cousin- Maggie
Well, if letting your kids play with guns and swords unsupervised is wrong, I just don’t want to be right.
Stupid, yes, but I’m with Mazzi- I can’t vote for hell on this one. Do I think there was a level of neglect? Absolutely, and he should face up to that, but I am guessing that this guy is in his own hell. When we were kids, we found more than one hatchet (or machete, or butcher knife…) laying around to jack with. My brother always had guns, (in my opinion, they should have been locked up when our dad wasn’t around, but they were not)- and you can bet there was more than one sword fight, but we didn’t have samurai swords. I don’t think my dad deserves hell- he loved us and took care of us, but I still know that we could have been the vicim of an accident like this. As for my kids- no guns. If my husband wants to teach him to shoot, it will be supervised at all times, and the guns will stay locked up.
What a Moron…. I have just one 9 yr old which is bad enough considering he has severe ADHD among other issues, I keep steak knives and other sharp utensils in a lock box since he tried to stab his brother for the T.V. remote. Parents now days are pitiful, they don’t pay attention to there children. I know we can not protect them from everything and they are going to be adventurous and that is part of being a kid. But what the hell was the mom thinking… there is no way in Hell I could give up my kids, Lanese was very irresponsible and unconcerned when it came down to those Boys he should have gotten off his ass put the damn guns up instead of reading a fricking book, the thing about words on paper they don’t go anywhere. Prick
No hell for this fucktard.
But I must admit that the idiot’s cluelessness in parenting is one reason I refused to give up my three children to their father in the divorce proceeding. Men do things a LOT differently than women. Perhaps there are men who can raise small children just as well as the children’s mothers, but I haven’t actually met any in person. My ex-husband was just as likely to feed them ice cream for dinner, forget they were in the bathtub, and become glued to the football game while they escaped the yard as he was to keep close watch over them.
And if you have small children you know for certain that it takes only two or three seconds of inattentiveness to potentially lose them forever.
I know he didn’t pull the trigger on his son, but how neglectful do you have to be to let this happen? Children should not be playing with guns, and there is no reason that a child should be left alone with a gun EVER. The worst part of this was the poor brother who will have to live with this, he shouldn’t have been in the situation to begin with. Reading that the poor child was screaming “is he alive? Is he still breathing?” made me cry.
This guy was Bush level stupid, but that isn’t hell worthy in my opinion. He was a bad parent that didn’t provide basic safety measures, but I don’t think he thought it would ever end up like this and is suffering right now. He lost a child due to his own negligence and stupidity, that is enough hell for him.
Will parents never learn about guns in the house with kids around? Don`t know if you guys heard about the school shooting in Germany a couple of days ago? The guy named Tim killed 15 pupils and teachers and afterwards hisself. And why was it so easy for him to get hold of guns? Because his Dad kept them unlocked in his bedroom!! I really do hope that they`ll get the dad`s ass for being so stupid and thoughtless…
Hi, my name is Amy Lanese and I’m the “19 year old daughter” I’m actually 17, but thats alright.
I take care of Stephen after school until my parents come home and everything is going fine.
Anyway, he does deserve hell, I know he does. You can say I’m biased, but if you truly knew what kind of person he is, if you’ve lived with him…
You know, he is scum.
We had tried many times to persuade him to get custody, but he is an extremely selfish person. I’m sure he loves the twins, but he loves himself much more. You can tell, because he know claims Stephen is now “mentally incapable” and is pretty much trying all he can to escape charges. The defense are trying to prove Stephen is mentally incapable, so we can’t get custody, Stephen gets sent to a mental institution, and he gets free.
…
Is that okay? Calling your own son mentally instable to try and get out of jail?!
How selfish is that?
I believe those who think he doesn’t deserve hell only do not truly know what he really is.
But thank you for all who agree, I really appreciate/enjoy reading your comments.
Hi Amy (by the way, could you change your posting name a little bit? We have an Amy and it might get confusing.)
I am very sorry about everything that has happened to your family. And, if you are really his daughter and you think he is hell-worthy, that adds a certain amount of weight to the situation.
No, I don’t believe that a parent should put the blame on a child for something this horrific, but on the other hand, if the law is looking to charge your brother, then it might be better for your father to suggest that he is mentally unstable. And, even if he wasn’t before – he killed his brother – he WILL have some sort of psychiatric issues from that fact alone. It might be best that he get professional help.
I am not saying that this is the situation, but I just can’t think of any way that saying your brother is mentally unstable would help your DAD’S case at all. The only one it could possibly help would be Stephen, if they were looking at charges against him. I know he is only 9, but there have been some recent cases where boys this young have been charged as adults. I know you are (justifiably) angry at your dad, but you might ant to step back and ask yourself if it is possible that he is actually trying to help your brother?
Oh God no…theres two of us…this could be trouble;)
Amy, I am sincerely sorry for your loss and I hope Stephen gets the help he needs to get over this horrible accident. If you think your father deserves hell, well then, my vote is yes. I sumbitted this story, and at first I was really angry with him and his stupidity, but after reading some of the comments, I started to think about other people’s views about how stupidity isnt evil. Now that I’ve read your comment, I’ve decided on my vote.
Well, That changes things quite bit, in my opinion. Thank you for your comment Ms. Lanese. I’m glad to hear your brother Stephen is doing well..
I apologize for the story becoming so graphic in places – That was my doing. I’m the editor here at PYSIH, and I wanted to convey to the reader exactly what it meant to allow you young children to handle a high powered rifle unsupervised, so I made a couple of changes to Tress’ original text.
But what happened to Christian is not nearly as sickening as what your father is doing to Stephen in court right now. You see this kind of thing happen all the time. Parent faced with the choice of fighting fair and probably going to jail, or further trashing their children’s lives in an attempt to beat the rap. If Michael was a real man, he’d plead guilty and allow Stephen to get on with his life. We can all see now where Mikey stands on that idea.
I’d be failing in my responsibility as editor if I didn’t make the rest of the readers on the site aware that you may be a kook posing as Amy Lanese. I don’t think so, but we’ve had things like that happen before. If you’re really Amy, please don’t take this as an insult. I’m just doing my job.
Hey Max, I am not disagreeing with you, but think about this logically. The authorities are almost certainly deciding what charges to bring against the father AND the son, if any. The father could not use his son’s emotional or mental instability as his OWN defense. The only rational explanation for suggesting that the son is unstable would be to protect the child.
If Amy is really the daughter, she is young and has been under the influence of her mother, who seems to have a bad relationship with the dad. It is quite possible that Amy does not understand why he is doing certain things.
Regardless, I still stand by the idea that Michael Lanese was stupid at best and negligent at worst, but I don’t think – based on this story, that he is hell-worthy. If there is more, as the daughter suggests, then maybe, but not simply by the circumstances of this situation.
Yeah Maz, and if I was his lawyer, I would probably say that Stephen was too traumatized by the shooting and his statement is unreliable. That doesn’t sound nearly so bad.
I’m usually smarter than that comment – what the hell was I thinking? Thanks for the wake up call Maz. Like they say, your friends will tell you when you’re right, but your good friends are the ones that will tell you when you’re wrong.
{{{{Hugs}}}}
OK, I’ve been lurking this blog for quite some time, but this is the first time I’ve been driven to comment.
This guy’s parenting skills, and seemingly life skills?
Epic fail x 100. Probably to an extensive exponential beyond that.
Seeing your kids grow up to be healthy, stable and capable adults is the number one goal as a parent.
Obviously one son will never have that chance, and the other’s future is highly damaged.
Pretty Hell-worthy, in my eyes.
Personally, I think the mother deserves hell too.
WHY would you leave your kids in the custody of someone you repeatedly had to tell to lock away the guns?
Because sometimes the law says you have to. What was she supposed to do, not give him access, get thrown in jail and he gets permanent custody? Oh wait, I guess she could have gone to CPS cos they never fuck things up.
This is what happens when fucktards have kids. People who can’t even take care of themselves and keep their damn electricity on have no business having children. This man has no common sense and should be held accountable. I dont care how “expereinced” someone is with firearms, those children should have never had access to them in the first place. Period. And Mom knew that Dad played with fire by being negligent in the past with the guns. Every time they went and stayed with Dad, it was like russian roulette. It was bound to happen given the circumstances. I am sorry that idiots breed. Truly.
This POS gives responsible gun owners a bad rap.
Hello, my name is Gina and I know Stephen and Christian’s mother “Truc Phan”, but we call her Lilly. I’m not damning Michael to hell, but I can tell you that neglect has been an ongoing problem. When Lilly and Michael divorced, she thought she was doing the right thing by leaving the boys with their father and she really didn’t understand the legal system too well (she still doesn’t). Over the last two years (that’s how long I personally have known her), Lilly has found these boys with no food, utilities or supervision on numerous occasions. She went to see the boys on Christmas of 07 and was confronted by a neighbor who Michael had left with the boys while he was in Vietnam looking for a new girlfriend. The neighbor gave her a hard time and presented a POA stating she will call the cops if Lilly tried to take the boys anywhere as Lilly wanted her boys to be with her for the holidays. Instead, Michael made sure they were spending the holidays with their neighbor rather than their own mother…or father. Michael never had any real concern for his boys in my opinion. His concerns have always been for himself. Does this mean he deserves hell? I don’t know. I’ll let God be the ultimate judge, but I do belive he should be held legally responsible for his actions or lack of. Yes, he may be hurting, but I can assure you he’s not hurting any more than Lilly or Stephen. Stephen and Lilly are already in their own personal hell as they continue to suffer with their loss.
While u may know Lili (Truc) what u may not know is that she didn’t want the respondsability of those boys she left the year of the divorce to visit Vietnam to be with a teen she met on line.
Michael did go to Asia on business and if he was fortunate to
Find a wife that could help raise up two boys that’s good. Showing up at Christmas after two month absense to be confronted by ( not a neighbor ) but a paid live homemaker and housekeeper is a lot diferent than the picture you portray. Lynne
What kind of mother sees her kids without food, electric and other basic necessities of life and continues to leave them with this low life, yes thats what I said, I know Michael and the Lanese ( Lannis) family have money so what is the problem?? Seems mom and dad are not around any longer to buy their way out of trouble with the law. What ever happened to Evelyn Lanese?????? Spent some time in the womens jail but Michael didn’t.
Regina, call me or email me janeeyre75@aol.com…Mag
We had guns in my house growing up. My brother was a Marine Sniper and had his guns in the house. I was young and I didn’t even know where the keys to gun safe were. The first lesson I got as a teen on gun safety was simple. Dad took me to the garage and took out a gun. He showed me it was empty. He explained that if I accidentally fired it, and even just hit his lower leg with the bullets designed for that weapon he would be beyond help before I reached the phone to dial 911. We were taught to respect the right to own guns as the biggest of reponsibilities. That constant alertness when guns were out was required. My uncle is a gunsmith and he taught me the same thing. You never, ever leave guns with children.
It is beyond me that someone could leave deadly weapons in the hands of children. Yes, train them if you must, but for fuck’s sake the first lesson is safety.
I have read with interest the comments that people wrote about with information recorved from newspaper accounts and they are very inaccurate. Ask any one who knows this family and you will find a caring and loving home enviroment. The only bus and knives were toys. While both twins suffer from ADHD they have recieved counciling for years. The only time in four years that hunting rifiles were there was a day before the tragedy and that was a result of hard economic times. This parent didnot permit his children to play with these guns and ammo was obtained from a hunting cabinet that was secured. This event has changed forever the lives of Stephen,Michael, Amy, Truc and this family as it deals with there grief and tragic loss. They were never left alone ask anyone who knew this family. Stephen has experienced severe Tramstic Stress as a result and may never be able to talk about it. Michael was dedicated parent and will never recover from this event. And yes while he was reading ( no TV) and the twins playing vidio games in a bedroom only feet away. Try not to judge till the facts are known. May Angels watch over this family in there time of sorrow and grief. Mark
ADHD and allowed to play with loaded guns?
Sorry guy, although he made his own bed to lie in, he does NOT Have my sympathy.
I was very good friends with a teen who had ADHD. Even while highly medicated, he was so distractable and random it could be hard having a conversation with him. “Oooh, shiny” is how he described it.
The mom should have done her research on the law… she could have possibly gotten her sons back if the dad was up to shenanigans. But in the end, it was dad who failed, and his sons who have to pay for it.
that parent in no way permited children to play with guns and the mother was willing to dispose of her obligation of two boys at the digestion of her eighteen yearold parimour. What’s reported in the news is inaccurate.mark
So what you’re saying is that mom screwed up and Dad screwed up ROYALLY? Not making things any better by the way.
Also, much like unprotected sex, playing with loaded guns only takes one time to lead to disaster.
Clearly.
I don’t know if anyone actually reads these posts anymore due to how long it’s been. I posted and never came back on until now. I didn’t read everything, but I wanted to touch base on a few things that were said after my last post just in case anyone comes back on. CYS was called on Michael a few times when he had the twins. But nothing was done. I don’t really know what all lead to the twins being left with their father when he and Lilly first divorced as I didn’t know her at that time. But I know she never imagined he would be so neglectful despite how selfish he was in their marriage. She did try to get the boys to live with her before Christian’s death and ran into legal problems and the boys wanted to stay with their father due to the amount of freedom they had. They didn’t always like staying at Lilly’s, because she had rules for them to follow. Remember, they were 9 and probably liked being able to do whatever they wanted. Lilly visited with the boys often and took them groceries when she saw they had no food at their fathers several times. She visited with them every week or every other week and spent holidays and birthdays with them. She loved and still loves her children very much. She has put her own personal needs and wants aside on many occasions so she could give her children what they need and her time….just like any one of us mothers would. She wasn’t made aware of all the accusations of neglect until later. She knew financially, they were suffering since utilities had been shut off and she had to pay for their groceries. But she didn’t know about them playing with weapons. She knew there were weapons there and told him to put them out of the twins reach, but was not aware that they had actually played with them until it was too late. Also, it seems as though “Mark Lane” may really be Michael…the father, who is now on the run. And just an FYI, Stephen is doing well in school, at home and continues with counseling. Lilly and Amy are doing well too. I just saw Lilly two days ago and they all still struggle with the loss of Christian, but unfortunately, this is what it took to get Stephen in a stable, loving environment….home with his mother and sisters. I still won’t say Michael deserves hell, because I never knew the man and don’t feel that I have the right to judge him as a father or anything else. Also, I know how much it stung when I read that some people think Lilly deserves that. Being that I know her personally, I would never want to see her suffer anymore than she already has. She’s a good, hard working, loving and unselfish mother. She may not have handled things the way you think she should have when her and Micahel divorced, but I can assure you she did all she could to be there for her boys over the last few years and certainly does not deserve hell. Please keep this family in your prayers.
i’m sorry for the loss of a young boy, but i hope the father burns in hell for his neglect. if things were really that bad, why did he have the kids still? ADHD and hard economic times make no excuse for why the children were allowed to have a gun unsupervised. my mother’s bf had his guns in a touch pad safe that you needed a code to get into. i think it should be mandatory to have something that safe put into your home if u mix weapons and kids. if he was a business man or whatever to be able to go overseas, he should have had the money for better weapon protection AND food and electricity.
I couldn’t agree with you more Dani. There is no excuse for any child to be able to get their hands on a weapon like that. I just feel so bad that a little boy had to lose his life due to his father’s neglect and bad parenting. I also feel bad that Stephen will remember the incident for the rest of his life.
Gina, I also feel very strongly that “Mark Lanes” is truly Michael K Lanese, or his birth name Kenneth Michael Lanese. This person is truly selfish. He is not in his right mind, and hasn’t been for many years. He visits this site regularly and has also pretended to be “Vickie”, his granddaughter. Victoria, posted her thoughts from her heart. “Mark Lanes” then posted his bullcrap pretending to be Victoria by stating he/she was Vickie, the real granddaughter, who loves her family BECAUSE THEY ARE BLOOD. That is one of the most overused statements by Michael Kenneth Lanese. He always stated “blood is thicker than water”. He has always been out of his mind. He has always grossly neglected all three of his adult kids from his first marriage. He was instrumental in getting his first wife put in prison with help from his now deceased parents to get her out of the way. His second “wife” if you call it that, he made sure she was put in a mental institution due to his games. He played with this poor woman’s mind so much, she lost it for a while. He made sure she lost custody of her only daughter as well, also with the financial help of his now deceased parents. His last “wife” Truc, is a very simple person. Not in a bad sense. She was always seeking simply love and companionship for her and her only daughter at the time when she met Michael K Lanese, AKA Mark Lanes. He used her finances up many times playing the “stock market”. I am unaware as to why they eventually broke up, but I was not surprised due to the incredible cruelty that this sick individual put on her over the years. I know for a fact that he was grossly negligent. His “housekeeper”, TJ (Tong Jackson) told a source that many, many times she would try to warn Michael K lanese, AKA Mark Lanes about the boys playing with armed weapons, and she would be told by ML to “mind your own business”. That was also another classis line from his truly incapacitated mouth. Now, it is understood that ML is running with a Tony Doan, who apparently was friends with the family when they were together, (Truc and ML) in upper st clair. I wonder what the incentive is for a vietnamese person to want to hide such a mentally ill person. I am almost sure it is because ML may know something about Tony Doan that Tony Doan doesn’t want made public. ML frequently makes up credit accounts in his adult children’s names, and he has been known to open internet accounts using his eldest son’s home phone number. This person, ML is not right in his mind. That may be his only saving grace for all of his cruel actions over the yearrs. He is cruel mostly to women, women he can use and abuse. He is also quite cruel to his first three children. Michael, Michelle, and Brad. He does not seem to abuse his relationship with his other adult child, Shanti, who by the way is presently on some sort of “road trip” after she just lost her job mysteriously.
I think Michael Kenneth Lanese AKA Mark Lanes AKA Kenneth Michael Lanese should do the right thing for once in his selfish life, and turn himself in to the nearest police authority. He claims to his brother, Joseph Lanese that the trial is “politically inclined” to go against him. My response is, “so what”? If ML has any respect for his now deceased son, he would do the right thing and face court no matter what. But the selfish mentally challenged idiot would rather see his friend, Joe Zaher, and his brother, Joseph Lanese go to jail for him. The police also threatened to put his oldest son in jail as well, and I am unsure from my source as to why that didn’t happen. My source told another source that Joseph Lanese has and still is completely aware of ML’s location. Why does this man protect his younger brother? Perhaps because Joe is completely aware of ML’s mental illness and feels sorry for him. I feel sorry for Stephen, who like ML’s previous wives, was abused and grossly neglected. Many years of therapy may not ever right what was done on that fateful October afternoon. My source also informed me that the day they all went to sell the rifles, they actually did meet with the man they wanted to sell the rifle to, and when the man offered only $850.00 for all three rifles, ML scoffed at the offer, holding out for more. My source told me that ML thought his one Winchester was worth at least $1,000.00 to $3,000.00. His incredibly selfish greed is what brought those weapons home. He could have sold it that day, and the boys would still be alive together. Instead, ML and his selfish, mentally ill behavior is what made him bring those weapons home to kill one of his son’s while he sat on his couch clearly ignoring his children’s behavior and actions once more, for the final time. This man needs to face his music, go to court, face his accusers, state his case, and be prepared to spend some time in jail if need be due to his gross negligence. If nothing else, out of respect for his deceased little boy. Marge Simpson.
Wow Marge. I had no idea about his history with his adult children. I never wanted to judge him, because I didn’t know him personally, but I care about Lilly and have seen how his actions have affected her and her children even before Christian’s death. Everything I am hearing through the media, from others who knew him and what I have read in reports only supports everything Lilly has been telling me for two years now. It certainly does sound like he has mental issues. Like you said, that may actually be his saving grace. Regardless, the amount of selfishness and greed truly amazes me. My children are my life and nothing comes before them or their needs. I can’t imagine being so reckless and irresponsible by allowing my children the chance to get a hold of a loaded gun. I wish things hadn’t ended this way. While I’m glad Lilly (Truc) has Stephen, I wish it didn’t take the death of his brother to make that happen. They are in my prayers everyday and I hope Michael is caught and held responsible for his actions soon. Thank you for your side of the story.
Marge, you said everything absolutely correct…
Absolutely.
This guy is a freakn sociopath. He really is…
I hope they catch him soon and lock him up good.
The above all is correct except, His true last name was LANNIS, Kenneth Michael Lannis, the parents of ML changed it when his first wife Evelyn went to jail, no thanks to Kenny Lannis, Michael Lanese get it straight, that is how I think he got out of the country with a pass port under his true name Kenneth Michael LANNIS, they only changed it to Lanese when it was legally necessary. Also i remember seeing his first wife with black and blue eyes given to her by that monster. No matter what that monster did in his life he came out smelling like a rose, NOT THIS TIME, I want to see he CAUGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Folks…get yor heads out of your butts. To be part of a page titled “people you’ll see in hell”, may lead one to believe you even understand what hell is about. The truth is, EVERYONE deserves hell. Not one person alive is without sin. Ever tell a lie? Ever stolen anything, regardless of its value? Jesus even says if we look at a woman in lust, we’ve already committed adultury in our hearts. He even says if we hate another person, we’ve committed murder. So wake up and quit being so prideful. If you think for one moment that you don’t deserve hell, then you just might be there in the first row. Thankfully though, God sent His Son, Jesus Christ into the world so that all who believe on Him might be saved. It has NOTHING to do with deserving hell or not. Now pick up your friggin Bibles mybe you’ll learn something, and have some respect for for God, for cryin out loud.
I am stephen is actually one of my friends in USC and he still looks depressed
The mother said that she split up with the father and decided to leave the kids in his care. But this is the clincher for me, i told him not to leave the guns around and lock them away and then i also was told that the kids were not been fed and hungry, often they had no utilities because he had trouble paying. now pls correct me if im wrong, shouldn’t the mother in her role as a mother gone into the house and got her children if these things were happening. The father is to blame for the tragedy but the mother is to blame also, because she knew that these things were going on and did nothing.