Brandon O’Quinn Rasberry, 32, was shot in the head in 2022 while he slept at an RV park in Nixon, Texas, about 60 miles (97 kilometers) east of San Antonio, investigators said. He had just moved in a few days before.
The boy’s possible connection to the case was uncovered after sheriff’s deputies were contacted on April 12 of this year about a student who threatened to assault and kill another student on a school bus. They learned the boy had made previous statements that he had killed someone two years ago.
The boy was taken to a child advocacy center, where he described for interviewers details of Rasberry’s death “consistent with first-hand knowledge” of the crime, investigators said.
Holy hell. Imagine moving to a new area with a new job. You’re starting over, and bam, you’re dead because you moved 2 doors down from an 8 year old psychopath who kills you in your sleep.
… who was just shy of his eighth birthday …
Seven.
He never even knew
That’s the way I wanna go. Surrounded by family and loved ones? No thanks. Random execution by some kid from the neighbourhood is my jam. I never want to see it coming, though tbf, that’s mostly the case.
Right?
Every day I wake up to the sounds of birds chirping, my beautiful wife snoring lightly next to me, and the feeling an overly attached heeler pressed against my legs, and all I can think is ‘Ah, fuck. I’ve woken up again.’Pfft, sounds like you can fix the snoring problem, even in america without insurance, by having an american 7 year old neighbor. Damn, I love america.
Thats a pretty good way to go. I think I will take stray bullet from school shooter. Just be walking by the school and get hit, bleed out slowly, and die in the ambulance. Later on conspiracy nuts will claim I am still alive and was a crisis actor.
RIP Omar
(Random The Wire reference)
I had a 7 year old girl brought to the hospital I worked out of at the time, while I was employed as a crisis intervention worker.
Flipping out, screaming, punching, kicking, biting, as they try to secure her on the stretcher. She kicks her mother in the face in the process, bad bloody nose, possibly broken, blood starts pouring out, 7 year old starts giggling and pointing at her mother as this happens.
Ya got me what the answer is to these situations.
Imo it boils down to a child needing to feel some semblance of control in their life, and because their brains haven’t developed enough to find more constructive ways to do that shit like this happens.
You see this throughout humans all over the world, adults and children alike. Self-determination and the ability to make choices, however small, is important.
And it literally can be as simple as you picking 2 outfits that are appropriate for the day and letting them pick which one to wear. That’s not to imply anything about the OP or the ER story…obvs every individual case is unique, and I’m not implying that picking your own underwear can cure psychopathy.
But, things as simple as this can cure neurotypical cases of children acting out if that behavior is rooted in a need for self-determination or control.
I recall reading an AMA on Reddit by a person who worked with child sex offenders (which is just yikes on bikes). They said that usually a child committing an act like this is impulsive rather than an ingrained personality trait or something like that. I wonder if such acts are similar.
Conduct disorder is though, but treating it early can reduce the risk of ASPD in adulthood which is mostly treated by prisons.
The boy said he had been visiting his grandfather, who lived a few lots away from Rasberry in the RV park. He described the 9 mm pistol and its “dirt and army green” color, and said he took it from the glove box of his grandfather’s truck.
A glove box is not safe storage of a firearm. Considering the grandfather sold the pistol after, I’m going to guess he knew what happened.
Gramps definitely knew what happened, and I’d be surprised if prosecutors didn’t go after him too for at least tampering with evidence or whatever.
However, depending on local laws, a glovebox can be considered safe storage for a firearm, so long as the glovebox locks. Not saying that is right or wrong, but my Blue state views it that way.
I disagree (slightly), and would like to point out that many glove boxes ARE LOCKABLE. In such a case, I would deem it viable short term storage. Would def not leave it in there 24/7 but that’s just me.
True. But unless it is actually locked, it is not viable storage.
What do you even do for something like this? A literal child? Do you lock them up for life? Rehabilitate under close supervision and reassess? Can someone like this even be rehabilitated?
Don’t know about US law, but where I live we have a “Preventative Detention Order” - the threshold for it is very high, but it essentially works as a sentence of “until rehabilitated”, you are incarcerated until the court decides that you are no longer a threat to the community, even in cases where a life without parole sentence wouldn’t be possible. In a world where I am supreme ruler, it’d automatically apply in cases where someone who has a conviction for a violent crime commits another violent crime.
Also, how the hell does an 8 year old get a gun? Surely whoever failed to secure it - or even worse gave it to a minor - would be looking at an accessory change?
Rehabilitation doesn’t happen in the U.S. It’s entirely about punishment.
If you’re in prison here, you deserve it. Even if you’re innocent.
Also, how the hell does an 8 year old get a gun? Surely whoever failed to secure it - or even worse gave it to a minor - would be looking at an accessory change?
Stole it from the glovebox of his grandfathers truck, it’s in the article.
But even if the glovebox was locked, if you have the keys to get into the truck, you have the keys to open the glovebox.
I hope the grandfather faces consequences as well.
Kid shot the other dude while he was asleep, so it could be the kid got up in the middle of the night, took the keys to the truck, and unlocked the gun.
I can’t see how you could hold grand dad accountable. Nobody could predict an 8 year old that psychopathic. :(
Yeah, literally no way this could have been prevented 🙄
Aren’t there any laws regarding safe gun storage?
In Texas?
https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/PE/htm/PE.46.htm#46.13
“IT IS UNLAWFUL TO STORE, TRANSPORT, OR ABANDON AN UNSECURED FIREARM IN A PLACE WHERE CHILDREN ARE LIKELY TO BE AND CAN OBTAIN ACCESS TO THE FIREARM.”
But then:
“(3) ‘Secure’ means to take steps that a reasonable person would take to prevent the access to a readily dischargeable firearm by a child, including but not limited to placing a firearm in a locked container or temporarily rendering the firearm inoperable by a trigger lock or other means.”
So, placing the gun in a locked glovebox in a locked car would be securing it as far as Texas is concerned.
Further:
"(b) A person commits an offense if a child gains access to a readily dischargeable firearm and the person with criminal negligence:
(1) failed to secure the firearm; or
(2) left the firearm in a place to which the person knew or should have known the child would gain access.
© It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under this section that the child’s access to the firearm:
(1) was supervised by a person older than 18 years of age and was for hunting, sporting, or other lawful purposes;
(2) consisted of lawful defense by the child of people or property;
(3) was gained by entering property in violation of this code; or"
So under c3 - The kid stealing the keys and getting the gun anyway would seem to exonerate grand dad.
If I put a gun in a safe and keep the key readily available to anyone, it’s not safely stored.
Yeah pretty sure c3 applies when the kid is trespassing on the property. He was staying there.
Sec. 46.13. (b) (2) left the firearm in a place to which the person knew or should have known the child would gain access.
There is no way that gramps can’t be charged for doing exactly that.
According to 46.13. (e) it is only a class A misdemeanor however. IMO this should be treated as a felony.
Glovebox of a car is not a proper storage space for firearms
Texas’ safe storage law only requires it be “secured”, not the methodology for securing it.
https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/PE/htm/PE.46.htm#46.13
(3) “Secure” means to take steps that a reasonable person would take to prevent the access to a readily dischargeable firearm by a child, including but not limited to placing a firearm in a locked container or temporarily rendering the firearm inoperable by a trigger lock or other means.
“locked container”. So in this case, a locked glovebox in a locked car. Now if he failed to lock either, that’s a problem.
Limit access to guns?
Hey hey hey that’s enough. Guns are not the problem at all. We need guns to protect us from bad men.
/s
For sure. I bet the guy who was shot in his sleep would have been fine if keep a gun in his hand while sleeping - to scare away intruders. Maybe another gun under the pillow for extra safety. Nothing can stop gun violence except more guns.
(still /s … Some people in the USA are really weird about guns, and I don’t want to fall afoul of Poe’s law.)
If that man had a gun connected to a booby trap to protect him while he was sleeping, he wouldn’t be dead at the moment!
Well firstly interview all of the child’s caregivers. Determine the living conditions the child has experienced for the past several years. Determine what failures of supervision happened that resulted in an 8 year old gaining access to a firearm.
Then remediate unsafe living conditions, provide therapy, and charge whatever people who were responsible for the kid with manslaughter.
ban gta duh
/s
Yep of course lol
Psychopathic behavior. Only thing to do would be lifetime commitment.
LiFeTiMe
Right …
I thought I was going crazy haha. Adults don’t even always do life for murder.
Sure you meant lifetime free mental services in response to something a 7 YEAR OLD did
Yup. Psychopaths can’t really be cured.
what about idiocy?
Oh, man, if only there was a cure for idiocy…
Amazing that you know so much about this child’s medical diagnoses. Where are you getting this information?
The fact that he straight up killed a guy he did not know and had no contact with. That’s classic psychopathic behavior.
Follow that with threatening to kill another kid at school and bragging about how he already killed someone already.
Ah, so you’re just full of shit and diagnosing someone you’ve never met with credentials you do not have.
what are the main elements of psychopathic behavior? surely it isn’t about how much contact you have with the guy you kill. what in particular about that behavior is psychopathic?
https://www.healthline.com/health/psychopath
behavior that conflicts with social norms - Yes
disregarding or violating the rights of others - Yes
inability to distinguish between right and wrong - Yes
difficulty with showing remorse or empathy - Yes
tendency to lie often - Unknown, but likely.
manipulating and hurting others - Yes.
recurring problems with the law - Yes.
general disregard toward safety and responsibility - Yes.
expressing anger and arrogance on a regular basis - Yes.
So out of 7 categories, this kid hits 6 of them.
arrest the parents for leaving weapons lying around. Bar him from gun ownership until 1,000 hours of community service are done.
He doesn’t need a gun again, at all
You act like he killed someo…
Oh.
You make sure it can’t breed, and then you arrest the parents, do the same, and lock them all up.
I dont know if you are a troll or just an honest sociopath. And i honestly dont care. But to just impulsively call a child “it”, and then continue going down such an unfeeling, inhuman line of thought, imo, is morally obtuse and offensive to society as a whole. Your response here is neither welcome nor encouraged. Sincerely, fuck you.
Troll
Hey, at least I don’t kill people. I’m the bad guy.
Well seig my heil, honey! Jong my Un, loooooord.
Just want to say that psychopaths exist.
They unfortunately do, but at that age the brain is still partially goo:
According to the National Organization of Victims of Juvenile Murderers, cognitive function develops concrete to abstract between the ages of 12 and 15. This means that a person can genuinely understand that specific behavior brings specific consequences. However, research has shown that a teenager’s brain does not resemble an adult’s fully matured brain until they reach their early 20’s. Source: Google’s summary for "has a 12 year old brain developed enpugh to understand murder
And this kid was 7 yrs old.
The kid is rotten. While he may still be developing, most kids do not kill strangers in cold blood. He was either already on track to develop into a psychopath, or the murder firmly put him on that path. Note how he got caught because he was bragging about it.
Is it too late to save the kid? Maybe not, it’s certainly worth trying. But considering what he did, and the environment he’s living in, I don’t foresee him getting the dedicated mental resources he needs.
I always wonder why people think murderers are “worth saving”. My guy stole someone’s entire life, why should he get to have one and have special attention made to it?
The scope is far greater than eye for an eye. While they’ll never be able to undo what they did, there is a possibility that they may make positive contributions to society. Contributions that could save multiple lives. That’s not even going into the problems of allowing a state to ritualistically murder people.
What if we measure that some people make a negative contribution to society ?
I don’t mean criminals even, just people who are for a reason or another, a net loss, and we know for sure.
You’ll always have people who are a net loss. That’s the whole point of living in a society, to overcome together and take care of those that cannot take care of themselves. If everyone was self sufficient, we never would have joined together to be the herd animals that we are.
“The measure of a civilization is how it treats its weakest members.”
This.
Then talk of rehabilitation because they might make a positive contribution undermines that.
What if we measure that some people make a negative contribution to society ?
I don’t mean criminals even, just people who are for a reason or another, a net loss, and we know for sure.
If you don’t want people to compare this to Naziism, perhaps don’t just reinvent the concept of “useless eaters.”
I’m sorry, but the logic is built in to
“While they’ll never be able to undo what they did, there is a possibility that they may make positive contributions to society. Contributions that could save multiple lives.”
When used as a justification to oppose
“I always wonder why people think murderers are “worth saving”. My guy stole someone’s entire life, why should he get to have one and have special attention made to it?”
It’s just violence all the way down with you people, isn’t it?
You: “I don’t like murderers, so I want the government to become the murderer of murderers!”
This doesn’t even remotely address my genuine question. It’s just dickheadedness all the way down with you people isn’t it?
You: “I just make random shit up and say you said it, I’m infinitely intelligent.”
I read things like this and they make reasonable sense, but at the same time I’m fairly sure I remember being much younger than that and still knowing that it’d be wrong to kill someone.
People thinking like a premeditated murderer when is obviously an impulse act that got their hands on a loaded gun and a brain full of movies tell him that’s for pointing and shooting.
He probably did it because that’s what guns do you point them at heads and click them.
Then shit got way more real than he ever imagined. And it’s too late now. Imagine “oh shit I’m in trouble” of kids doing stupid stuff. Except this time mommy can’t help. Nobody can’t help.
Though shit for a 7 year old, I almost can’t believe he kept it in for more than two years
that’s what guns do you point them at heads and click them.
With real guns, you don’t click them but instead you use your actual hands and finger to make em fire.
Jokes aside, you could update your initial example from movie to vgame and click would make more sense contextually :)
also, that was the first thing I said to myself, how the hell can a youngin hold something in THAT FUCKING SERIOUS for THAT FUCKING LONG?! I did dumb shit as a kid and a few weeks of guilt were hell. We ain’t all built the same i guess
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The boy said his grandfather later sold the pistol. Deputies located it at a pawn shop. Shell casings from the previous crime scene were matched to the gun, investigators said.
Even considering that, I have concerns about how the police questioning of a ten year old was handled.
It says he was taken to a child advocacy center. Whatever that is
I assume it was done properly though, messing up a murder investigation when it’s basically a slam dunk would be pretty damning if it turns out they mishandled it.
A child advocacy center has specially trained staff (therapists) who do forensic interviews and provide therapy, mainly to kids enduring the aftermath of abuse and neglect. They work closely with the police and the prosecutor to get the case resolved and many also provide therapy dogs to go to court with the kids.
I haven’t heard of them interviewing a kid suspected of a crime but perhaps it is their protocol for a kid this young.
Hold on, did the grandfather know about this?
Little shit knew how to fire a gun but didn’t know about remaining silent.
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Now imagine if you had access to a loaded firearm.
Paranoia runs deep in that family. Feel sorry for the kid.
Into your heart it will creep
A M E R I C A
All the comments debating child psychology when the Grandfather kept his gun in a glovebox and then sold it immediately after the murder. Like, what the fuck?!
I don’t give a damn what the kid was thinking, that Grandfather is the one we need for justice to be served.
You know this probably wouldn’t have happened had gramps kept the gun on him, if he wanted it as a truck gun probably for “self-defense”, or whatever, and then just like. put it in an actual combo safe in his house once he got home. Even if you’re evaluating this from like, what I’m presuming to be the motivations behind gramps keeping a gun in his truck, it doesn’t make any fuckin sense. a truck gun is totally useless, how the fuck is he gonna, presumably shut off his car, use his car key to open it up, then access his firearm in a timely manner in the 1 in a million chance he needs it? Not to mention if someone steals his car, free gun, boom.
What a dipshit. This guy shouldn’t be allowed to have a firearm.
I don’t think you have a clue what scenarios having a gun in your vehicle matches.
matches.
?
I’m not usually for capital punishment, especially for minors, but I think putting this one down is more akin to euthanasia than murder. I really don’t believe that someone who managed to do this and keep quiet for two years at that age can be rehabilitated.
absolutely disgusting take
Just think that this person could be on a jury.
Yeah juries are scary things, get a couple of true crime lovers and you’re gong down no matter what, get a jury that relates to the killer and they might just walk despite the evidence being strong and go on to rape and kill many more…
I bet if we could see real statistics of how often serious the jury gets it wrong that it’s basically a coin flip
He probably votes
At that age they have no understanding what “dead” means. We do not know if the child kept quiet or if just no one took his ramblings seriously and kids that young often have no words for what happened especially if it is dramatic, the kid might have made drawings instead that went unnoticed. We also do not know if the gun owner threatened the child to stay quiet.
Please let people who know children and their mental capabilities and have experience in treating them as is needed do their job and stay away from making such brutal assumptions. It is ok to not know things, that’s why specialists exist. It is not about “believing” when it comes to a decision of life or death, feelings need to stay back. It is ok to find a child murdering someone disturbing without following a gut feeling for what should be done.
We actually do know if the kid kept quiet… because it mentioned in the article that he didn’t.
You sound like you very much like capital punishment for children…
Absolutely indefensible take.
You first
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