A 15-year-old girl has been sentenced to life in prison for orchestrating the murder of a perceived romantic rival.
Her age makes the sentence shocking. But the circumstances of the case are even more shocking. She used promises of sex or the withholding of sexual favours to pressure her boyfriend into killing the other girl.
That's pretty manipulative for any person, of either gender, at any age, never mind 15. The boyfriend has admitted his guilt and is yet to be sentenced. But you really have to "marvel" at the lengths he would go to to gain sexual favours from this young girl.
But the bottom line is a 14-year-old girl lost her life because for whatever reason another girl perceived her as a threat to the convicted girl's romantic intentions.
If it was a movie plot we would hate the manipulative girl thoroughly. But this is real life. Are we supposed to hate her for what she did, or pity her because of her lost freedom?
As awful as it is to read how she manipulated her boyfriend and how cold her intention was, she was still only 15 years old. She must remain in prison for a minimum of seven years. She will miss her high school graduation. She will not enjoy the feeling of freedom the first time one drives a vehicle alone - until she's 22 at the earliest. She will miss out on the usual handful of minor romances of a teenaged girl.
But so will her victim - through no fault of her own.
The sentence seems harsh to some. Others will argue she does not belong in this society ever again.
It will be interesting to see where she is at seven years from now.
Three young lives ruined why?
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Published on
July 30, 2009
- Published on September 9, 2009
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Staff ~ The Moose Jaw Times Herald
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Comments
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- What?
- - September 18, 2009 at 15:08:02
What a horrible editorial... enough said!
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- Steven
- - September 18, 2009 at 14:41:32
Form an opinion and then write an editorial. For what it's worth, she orchestrated the murder of a fourteen year old girl. Seven years doesn't even scratch the surface of what should happen with her... fifteen or not.
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- SH
- - September 18, 2009 at 14:33:05
I assume this is alluding to the Rengel murder in which case the girl in question is 17 now not 15. The only lives worth mentioning have been ruined are that of the victim and her family.
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- Tabasco Shower
- - September 18, 2009 at 13:58:05
That's too bad about the murderer ruining her own life. Oh yes. Why are we talking about her? She deserves no pity. What about the victim, who will never get to experience ANYTHING, because she was cut down at age fourteen?
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- What?
- - September 18, 2009 at 12:42:13
Agreed. Why write this, u r so afraid to go left or right on the topic, it makes it redundant and pointless.
Soooooooooooo that happened.
