Eldon Samuel III, accused of murdering his father and brother on March 24, says the stress of living with an autistic sibling caused him to snap.
The kicker? Samuel is only 14 years old.
Eldon Gale Samuel III’s 13-year-old brother, Jonathan Samuel, had autism, which Eldon told authorities caused his father, 46-year-old Eldon Samuel Jr., to develop an addiction to painkillers, and for his mother to leave the family…’Eldon, when asked why he did what he did, said “If [his brother] wasn’t there … we’d be a happy family,’” Magistrate Judge Barry Watson told reporters on Friday.
Eldon described ‘hating Jonathan for about five years,’ the Spokesman-Review reports. He told authorities that he loved his father, but that he acted crazy when he was under the influence of drugs…’He just beat me. I loved him, but the next time he came after me …,’ Samuel told police officers in a report quoted by Watson. ‘That’s self-defense, right?’
As much as I believe that Samuel should be held accountable and punished, if the abuse allegation is true, it’s hard to condemn him. What a sad story all around–he is, after all, just a kid.
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4 comments:
Turn to drugs, and this is what you get. Let's look at gun control and changing the Redskins name though. Why worry about how WEAK MINDED our population has become, that they rely on drugs to alter their state of mind, and being. Meanwhile, doctors and pharmaceutical reps, and companies, are fattening their pockets, while you wither away. Sad.
Desperate people do desperate things. I can't judge him. I think the system failed this family. Surprised social services wasn't involved. Growing up with an alcoholic father, I can relate to this! When he was sober, he was the nicest man you would want to meet, but when he drank, he turned into Mr Hyde! As soon as I was old enough, I moved out and never looked back.
Social Services is both overwhelmed and overrated.The problem cases number in the millions with national ratios of thousands to one.Properly addressing each and every issue is impossible.
The problem is selfish parents who force their normal kids to become caregivers to disabled siblings at a young age.It is a huge mental health issue.
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