When the investigation was done on Tiffany's body it showed that she had 35 body injuries, Kathleen had no idea where any of the injuries had come from and her mother Deweese didn't know either, so the only person that could know was Lionel. While Lionel was being interrigated by police he admits to them that while he and Tiffany were playing tag and play fighting she hit her leg on the stairs and hit the table. Police saw nothing wrong with them playing because they were kids and they have played together before but when the police compared Tiffany's size to Lionel's it showed that Tiffany weighed 48 pounds and Lionel weighed 170 pounds, even though Lionel might have not meant it he could have been the reason for Tiffany's death.
Lionel was convicted for Tiffany's murder at the age of 12-years old, he was facing life in prison for a first degree murder charge. Many people thought this was cruel punishment for Lionel because he was a young boy going to an adult prison for the rest of his life, the community believed Juvenile Hall was the best punishment for Lionel.
After Lionel was released in 2004 on parole he was sent back for violation of probation because he was found with a knife and he also robbed a pizza delivery guy. Lionel is now serving 30 years in jail because of his bad behavior. There are many reasons why Lionel could have gone back to jail after he just got out, it could beccause he went at a young age jail is all he knows or it could be because deep down inside he was always a criminal.
This case identifies how the law is blindly followed despite reason or age. One can experience similar punishment for putting a gun to another's head in comparison to a 12 year old playing with a 6 year old. This ruling was extraordinarily unjust, as it damaged the life of a young boy that was only guilty of child play and exposed him to the jail system that brought him up to know nothing other than criminal activity. Rather than building his future through attending school and having a foundation of education, this little boy became absent of parenting and was being taught that he is a criminal through his jail experiences. I believe his action of carrying a knife and robbing someone only occurred due to the fact he did not know any better, as he was exposed to similar behavior growing up without any positive guidance. The experience that he went through is especially shocking, as it could happen to any of us because of some of the rough horse play we all experience on occasion as children.
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