Wow, A young life ruined........

"PONTIAC, Mich. — A 15-year-old was found guilty Wednesday in the fatal beating last year of a homeless man, a day after a second teenager was convicted and a third was taken into custody.
Dontez Tillman was charged with first-degree felony murder in the death of 61-year-old Wilford Hamilton, a homeless man who prosecutors say was beaten in Pontiac by a group of teenagers in August 2008. The charge carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison with no chance of parole.
Authorities said Tillman confessed to police that he participated in the attack. Tillman’s attorney had called the case against her client weak, saying it lacked direct physical or witness evidence and relied on a confusing, “jumbled” police interview.
Tillman will appeal, defence attorney Marsha Kosmatka said.
“No one wins a murder trial,” she said.
Gregory Townsend, assisting prosecuting attorney, declined to comment.
The Oakland County Circuit Court jury reached the guilty verdict a day after beginning deliberations.
Tillman hung his head and wiped away tears as he was shackled and led from the courtroom.
The verdict came a day after a separate jury found 15-year-old Thomas McCloud guilty of two counts of first-degree felony murder for attacking Hamilton and a second homeless man, Lee Hoffman, also 61.
Sentencing for both McCloud and Tillman was scheduled for Nov. 13.
A third teenager suspected in the attacks was taken into custody Tuesday evening, Pontiac police Detective Steve Wittebort said. The suspect’s name and charges weren’t released ahead of a court appearance set for later Wednesday.
The third suspect was interviewed Wednesday morning and “there were admissions of involvement,” said Wittebort, who declined to elaborate."




Sure he screwed up, he deserves a punishment, but life in prison?

Thats got to be devastating. He's only 15, Surely he screwed up, but I don't believe life in prison is the answer.

Over here a young girl and her 19 year old boyfriend killed her family. The intent of the plot to do it was clear, she is out of prison now. Not sure about the man but I presume if he's not, the release is coming up soon.


http://www.calgarysun.com/news/world/2009/10/28/11556711.html

Sure he is only 15 and he messed up big time. But he took the life of another person, so why should he get to enjoy his?

i dont know man.. that is a tough one.. nothing good comes out of going to prison.. nothing... prison is where people go to learn how to commit more crimes in my book.. but what is the answer? clearly, if at 15 this kid gets himself involved in killing some homeless dude, he has no place in a productive society does he? life in prison is a long time man, and if you have ever been behind bars for even an hour or two you will know this, as i do, to be true..
i really don't get the violence that the us tends to breed though.. it really is scary to think about, and we have more people in jails and prisons than most countries, and it still does nothing to deter people from committing crimes or acts of violence..
what are the answers? i am not sure, but i think that every parent and father figure needs to teach their kids about respect for oneself as well as others, and to teach that a life of crime really is a waste of life.. i wish i had more answers than ?'s about where our society is heading, but i dont

At 15 you understand the difference between right and wrong but I agree that some people could change but when they commit a crime, especially taking the life of another, they should have a good long to change. Now I am not legal savvy, but is life actually life or is it only 25 years as I have heard before?.. If its only 25 years before this kid has a chance at parole, I dont think they were too far off, it took 15 years for this douche to become such a douche, I say give him atleast 15 more to get over it..\\

Edit- saw he has no chance for parole, sucks, I guess if your willing to take a life for no reason you should also be willing to check the mandatory punishment for your crime of choice in your area..

He took the life of a human for no apparent reason as self defense. He should rot in prison for life. 15 you know right or wrong unless you are raised in a bad enviroment & this would be the first of many killings for this one. Must have seemed okay because the guy was homeless. Sounds like an initiation for this scum. I guess who would miss a homeless person right?

yeah.. thats kinda what i thought too.. mayb they thought that they would get away with it because after all it was just a homeless dude... and if you are killing at 15, what would you be doing at 35? nothing good i would assure you..

That is exactly right do what ever you are taught @ a young age.

racerboy71 said:

i dont know man.. that is a tough one.. nothing good comes out of going to prison.. nothing... prison is where people go to learn how to commit more crimes in my book.. but what is the answer? clearly, if at 15 this kid gets himself involved in killing some homeless dude, he has no place in a productive society does he? life in prison is a long time man, and if you have ever been behind bars for even an hour or two you will know this, as i do, to be true..
i really don't get the violence that the us tends to breed though.. it really is scary to think about, and we have more people in jails and prisons than most countries, and it still does nothing to deter people from committing crimes or acts of violence..
what are the answers? i am not sure, but i think that every parent and father figure needs to teach their kids about respect for oneself as well as others, and to teach that a life of crime really is a waste of life.. i wish i had more answers than ?'s about where our society is heading, but i dont

Click to expand...

Not just teach respect for oneself, but life in general.. As for society, so long as "society" as we know it continues to be so sheltered and allowed to live in alternate reality then we will continue to have this problem. Too many people lack the ability to think on their own, and figure things out for themselves, because its become accepted, even expected to rely on other people for our information and typically the people we are getting that info from rely on us as their livleyhood so they preach to us false info and lies that sway us even more towards their biased thought process until we are completeley brainwashed and the result is news media and governmental control of the people. IF you know anything about the news media or government you know the are inefficient ignorant corrupt pieces of shit yet they run this country and the thinking of a vast number of its occupants.. Basically what I am getting at, we as a society can only be as good as our source of information and the values and morals which we are governed by.

Seems like a good way to keep him from killing somebody else, i have a problem with having to support him now.

IMO-they should NOT put him in jail for the rest of his life........................


instead, they should beat him just like he did to the homeless person

maybe you should have titled this thread "A HOMELESS PERSONS LIFE RUINED

America 1, Canada 0
This is one time i would take american law over canadian, setting permeditated murders free sounds pretty scary. How many people do you know that are like "Hey I know this awesome dude Jimmy, he's chill, he used to kill homeless dudes, but he's okay now".

They should send him to Russia. I hear that the beating and murder of homeless people is quite prevalent over there, he would fit right in.

scooby snacks said:

maybe you should have titled this thread "A HOMELESS PERSONS LIFE RUINED

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Amen to that.

If he did kill an innocent person, then fuck him.

we need to bring back keel hauling as a corporal punishment

How can someone learn from their mistakes by being put in jail for the rest of their life? Seems like a simple waste, now our tax dollars go to feed and house him for the rest of his life.

hwy420 said:

How can someone learn from their mistakes by being put in jail for the rest of their life? Seems like a simple waste, now our tax dollars go to feed and house him for the rest of his life.

Click to expand...

I wonder if you would say that if it was your grandfather he killed.

I have an answer to the life in prison, offer the firing line option again for murderers and those who receive sentences over say 20 years... the cemetery business would be booming, and it would take care of the using taxpayer money problem.

Or maybe that would be too easy... you see, life behind bars for murderers should be nothing compared to the complete lack of life for the victim...

scooby snacks said:

IMO-they should NOT put him in jail for the rest of his life........................


instead, they should beat him just like he did to the homeless person

maybe you should have titled this thread "A HOMELESS PERSONS LIFE RUINED

Click to expand...

then you would be assuming that the OP feels that the homeless man's life had any worth....

these kids wanted to beat someone to death to feel powerful, and they chose a homeless (most likely piss drunk) man to do it, as they are a bunch of sociopath pussies who would NEVER have the balls to put themselves in real physical danger....

i agree, they shouldnt be put in prison for life.... just long enough to get their punk asses plundered, and then they should be taken out back and shot.... like any other diseased animal