9-year-old charged with murder in 5 Illinois fire deaths

[fla4fun]

One of the big things we talked about in my psychology classes in college (especially my abnormal pyschology) was medication side effects.

In other words it's not always because their illness makes them believe others don't know what they are talking about essentially. Medication side effects, in general not just about mental illness, can have a big component on our willingness to take them.

We had a young man in his early twenties working at our company. Unbeknownst to anyone, he was on medication for mental illness. One of the side effects of the medication was weight gain. He thought the weight was the reason he didn’t have a girlfriend, and thought he was doing so well that he could go off his medication long enough to lose some weight. He didn’t tell anyone he was doing so. His mom worked in my department, and didn’t know he wasn’t on his meds until he didn’t show up for work one day and she went out looking for him. Fortunately he didn’t harm himself or anyone else, but the the next two years that I worked with his mom, they never did get his meds regulated properly for him to function the way he had been. We all felt so sad about it, and I often wonder how it turned out for him and his family.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

We had a young man in his early twenties working at our company. Unbeknownst to anyone, he was on medication for mental illness. One of the side effects of the medication was weight gain. He thought the weight was the reason he didn’t have a girlfriend, and thought he was doing so well that he could go off his medication long enough to lose some weight. He didn’t tell anyone he was doing so. His mom worked in my department, and didn’t know he wasn’t on his meds until he didn’t show up for work one day and she went out looking for him. Fortunately he didn’t harm himself or anyone else, but the the next two years that I worked with his mom, they never did get his meds regulated properly for him to function the way he had been. We all felt so sad about it, and I often wonder how it turned out for him and his family.

That is a sad story but I'm glad that at least when you're mom was working with him he didn't harm himself or anyone else though that's so unfortunate they couldn't get the meds quite right. I hope things turned around for him though

 

[ronandannette]

What is the basis for assuming this boy is schizophrenic? Was there a diagnosis? His act seems more psychopathic. Is that a condition children can have?

 

[wgeo]

"I stood at the window and I told my kids I was sorry I couldn't save them. Mommy was right here and I loved them. You know, so, at least hopefully they heard that. I told Jason I loved him... And then something told me that they're gone," Alwood said.

"So there was a moment where you could hear them screaming. You could hear your fiancé, and then it ended," Barnett said.

"I don't know what's worse. Hearing him scream, or when it stopped," Alwood said, choking up with tears.

Alwood said her son had been recently diagnosed with a form of schizophrenia, ADHD, and bipolar disorder, and that he is a loving son who deserves a second chance.


That's the quote from the interview she gave - to me at least it sounds like she was standing at a window while she could still hear them screaming. I can't fathom being at a window and hearing that and not breaking the window. Now, perhaps breaking a window and adding oxygen to a fire is a bad idea, but I'm guessing that in my fear of the moment I would bust through anything to try to get to my children. Very hard to know what it would really be like, but that just seems like an odd quote.

She mentioned the schizophrenia, but as this interview happened so long after the fact, its unclear if he had that diagnosis before or after he set the fire.

In my opinion, mental health care in this country is severly lacking.

 

[nicolita3]

Yes, there are schizophrenic children. Incredible sad.
Look up the story of January "Jani" Schofield. Her younger brother was also diagnosed with schizophrenia.

There have been several TV shows about them, it is a very sad situation for the whole family.

 

[luvsJack]

There was 7 of them living in that mobile home. Are they big enough for all 7 to sleep in the same area? Maybe she slept in the living area on a convertible couch/bed? The fire could have separated her from getting to them.

Since the son allegedly set the fire to kill the rest of the family, (he's charged with murder, not manslaughter,) he might have set it in such a way that she could escape. Or he might have woken her up, so she could get out. His 9 yr old brain might have thought he'd need his mom to live with. But, he didn't need/want the others? That could be why she says it was a mistake. He woke her up so she could get out. So she'd like to think he would have lwanted the others to get out too, but they couldn't. Just speculating. We don't have any facts yet, how it went down.

Most mobile homes that I have seen of that size, usually have a similar layout. One bedroom on one end, living room and kitchen in the middle then a hallway with one or two small bedrooms and another bigger bedroom on the other end. So it is possible that she was on one end and everyone else down the hallway. Or that she was in the living room which would likely put her closest to the door.

 

[LSUmiss]

Yes, there are schizophrenic children. Incredible sad.
Look up the story of January "Jani" Schofield. Her younger brother was also diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Let’s just say I think it’s highly unlikely that he is & I would love to see the evidence used to dx him with it. I’ve seen at least a few of misdiagnosed kids. Psychiatry is by far an exact science & a person can end up with several diagnoses throughout their lifetime. My money would be on a severe behavioral disorder like conduct disorder. Ppl want to give kids the benefit of the doubt & don’t like to give out conduct disorders lightly so they give them more palatable diagnoses, but sometimes it is what it is. Conduct disorder is basically childhood Antisocial Personality D/O...think serial killer.

 

[LSUmiss]

There have been several TV shows about them, it is a very sad situation for the whole family.

I have seen this too &, while bizarre, I think she looks more on the spectrum.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

His act seems more psychopathic. Is that a condition children can have?

When I was in college we had been taught that psychopathic isn't used for those under 18. Conduct-disorders was usually the term along with different types of behaviors was used. I believe a newer-ish development are Callous-Unemotional traits. I don't have much knowledge on that because I wasn't taught on it at least not that I remember.

 

[LSUmiss]

What is the basis for assuming this boy is schizophrenic? Was there a diagnosis? His act seems more psychopathic. Is that a condition children can have?

Yes. Usually officially called conduct disorder.

 

[ronandannette]

Yes. Usually officially called conduct disorder.

Thank you. I also just read in @wgeo 's post above that the boy had recently been diagnosed, which I missed previously.

 

[LSUmiss]

"I stood at the window and I told my kids I was sorry I couldn't save them. Mommy was right here and I loved them. You know, so, at least hopefully they heard that. I told Jason I loved him... And then something told me that they're gone," Alwood said.

"So there was a moment where you could hear them screaming. You could hear your fiancé, and then it ended," Barnett said.

"I don't know what's worse. Hearing him scream, or when it stopped," Alwood said, choking up with tears.

Alwood said her son had been recently diagnosed with a form of schizophrenia, ADHD, and bipolar disorder, and that he is a loving son who deserves a second chance.


That's the quote from the interview she gave - to me at least it sounds like she was standing at a window while she could still hear them screaming. I can't fathom being at a window and hearing that and not breaking the window. Now, perhaps breaking a window and adding oxygen to a fire is a bad idea, but I'm guessing that in my fear of the moment I would bust through anything to try to get to my children. Very hard to know what it would really be like, but that just seems like an odd quote.

She mentioned the schizophrenia, but as this interview happened so long after the fact, its unclear if he had that diagnosis before or after he set the fire.

In my opinion, mental health care in this country is severly lacking.

Yeah & that’s a lot of diagnoses which tells me they are unsure what’s going on or he got multiple diagnoses from multiple provides. I will say I often see kids with behavioral issues end up with a laundry list of diagnoses. Diagnoses are often based on the self-report of the parent and/or child. Sometimes that’s a very unreliable source especially when there are also behavioral issues.

 

[angelbaby129]

This story is fairly local to me, within an hour or so. Our local paper had more articles when it first happened. I'll try to link here, but in case it doesn't work, she says that her fiancé carried her outside unconscious after the furnace exploded and he ran back in to get the children. https://www.pjstar.com/news/2019042...goodfield-inferno-that-killed-five-loved-ones

 

[kimblebee]

This story is fairly local to me, within an hour or so. Our local paper had more articles when it first happened. I'll try to link here, but in case it doesn't work, she says that her fiancé carried her outside unconscious after the furnace exploded and he ran back in to get the children. https://www.pjstar.com/news/2019042...goodfield-inferno-that-killed-five-loved-ones

I can’t even imagine...

I went to the gofundme link, just to see and it’s been deactivated. It only raised $1600 and that’s just so sad to me.

This family has a lifetime of healing to do.

 

[DLgal]

I have seen this too &, while bizarre, I think she looks more on the spectrum.

It wasn't that long ago that most autistic children were diagnosed with schizophrenia because they hadn't yet figured out what autism was.

Delusions and hallucinations are not part of autism at all, though. Aren't those basically the hallmark of schizophrenia? If a kid is hearing voices and is so detached from reality that they are deluded, that's not autism.

To complicate matters, though, one can be both autistic and schizophrenic. So, there's that.

 

[RamblingMad]

Charge him.

Gangs recruit kids to commit crimes knowing they’ll get away with it because of their age. I don’t
find age a reason to be lenient.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Charge him.

Gangs recruit kids to commit crimes knowing they’ll get away with it because of their age. I don’t
find age a reason to be lenient.

His aunt, whose young daughter died in the fire, is on record as saying she wants him in prison.

 

[Disney1fan2002]

This kid needs to be locked up for a very long time. Now, where he gets locked up, should be yet to be seen. mental health facility or prison? He needs serious mental health intervention. That will take years in itself to determine if it is helping him or not. This boy should never be on the streets again. I know he is only 9, but Ted Bundy was 9 once, as was Jeffrey Dahmer and John Wayne Gacey. If any of those guys exhibited the evil this boy has at that age, and we just let them go because they were "only 9".....

I truly believe that it is extremely rare, but there are children that are born purely evil.

 

[EveDallas]

"I stood at the window and I told my kids I was sorry I couldn't save them. Mommy was right here and I loved them. You know, so, at least hopefully they heard that. I told Jason I loved him... And then something told me that they're gone," Alwood said.

"So there was a moment where you could hear them screaming. You could hear your fiancé, and then it ended," Barnett said.

"I don't know what's worse. Hearing him scream, or when it stopped," Alwood said, choking up with tears.

Alwood said her son had been recently diagnosed with a form of schizophrenia, ADHD, and bipolar disorder, and that he is a loving son who deserves a second chance.


That's the quote from the interview she gave - to me at least it sounds like she was standing at a window while she could still hear them screaming. I can't fathom being at a window and hearing that and not breaking the window. Now, perhaps breaking a window and adding oxygen to a fire is a bad idea, but I'm guessing that in my fear of the moment I would bust through anything to try to get to my children. Very hard to know what it would really be like, but that just seems like an odd quote.

She mentioned the schizophrenia, but as this interview happened so long after the fact, its unclear if he had that diagnosis before or after he set the fire.

In my opinion, mental health care in this country is severly lacking.

She heard them screaming and just stood at the window. Nope. Nope nope NOPE. Not in a million years. The only way I would have left that house is if someone bodily dragged me out and restrained me.

 

[luvsJack]

This story is fairly local to me, within an hour or so. Our local paper had more articles when it first happened. I'll try to link here, but in case it doesn't work, she says that her fiancé carried her outside unconscious after the furnace exploded and he ran back in to get the children. https://www.pjstar.com/news/2019042...goodfield-inferno-that-killed-five-loved-ones

Well that makes more sense than what she said in the interview. Thank you for posting the link.

So apparently the boy did something to the furnace. So now the question, I guess would be what he did and what his intention was.

He has been charged but his mom says it was a mistake.