On August 2, 1993 Eric M. Smith (13) killed Derrick Robie (4) at a park in Steuben County, New York.
On the morning of August 2, 1993, Derrick Robie walked to his summer recreation program that was being held in a park a block away from his home. His mom couldn’t walk him because she had to take care of her baby. She says that Derrick insisted he walked alone to the park, so she let him. Only, when his mom went to go pick him up at 11am, she found out he had never arrived.
Four days after the death, and two days after Derrick’s funeral 13 year old Eric Smith confessed to have killed Derrick Robie. Many were shocked that a 13 year old was capable of doing those horrific things to Derrick. Experts believe it was possible because of Eric’s experiences with being bullied and past traumas. Whatever the reasons may be, one can’t deny that what happened to Derrick is heartbreaking.
This case is extremely shocking in all aspects. For one, I can't believe that a mother let her 4 year old son walk to a park alone. At age 10, I was barely allowed to bike to school with friends without any parent present. Additionally, the circumstances of Derrick's death was extremely sadistic and shows the killer is very mentally disturbed. No one would expect a 13 year old to be capable of this. Eric did something good by confessing but if he was so damaged that he was capable of sodomizing and torturing a 4 year old, how did no one see any signs he was in a downward spiral? If he was bullied and had traumatic events in his past, wouldn't his family and friends be concerned for his wellbeing and notice if something was off?
ReplyDeleteThis brings into the question of how to deal with child murderers. It is difficult to believe that someone as young as 13 would be able to imagine committing such a crime let alone going through with it. Clearly, his past troubles were causing him to act extremely out of line, so he would likely be given some sort of sentence that would accommodate his personal issues, but what about the sentence itself? As we known, Lionel Tate from child's play was the first child to be sentenced to life without possibility of parole for a crime that seems to be much less brutal compared to this one although they both resulted in a child being murdered by another child. It is shocking to think that extreme punishments would need to be implemented for children for such cruel crimes, but there is no guarantee that the people around them will ever be safe if they don't serve any punishment at all.
ReplyDeleteI'm extremely surprised to hear about this murder case because the child was so young. I'm also surprised that the murderer was thirteen years old. Even though Eric had past trouble with bullying and trauma, I don't think that excuses his behavior. I think he should have gotten help for the psychological problems that he was facing. I wonder what Eric's parents thought about their child killing another child.
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