http://www.mlive.com/news/jacitpat/inde ... 097870.xml
Now read this:
http://www.mlive.com/news/jacitpat/inde ... 115210.xml
I'm not justifying my friends actions by any means, but it's amazing that reporters fail to bring into play some important facts:
Several encounters with authorities were symptomatic of Christopher David-Charles Seffernick's troubled past, court records indicated.
The Brooklyn teen, whose body was found Wednesday morning in a wooded area where he hanged himself, was on probation for unlawfully driving away a motor vehicle in Calhoun County in September 2001, Michigan Department of Corrections records show.
Chris's past was troubled with court records. He constantly filed with the courts and social services about his parents beating the shit out of him. That summer of 2001 his mom gave him permission to take the van out to hang out with some friends, me being one of them. Within a couple of hours she filled a stolen vehicle report, knowing Chris had the van. He tried to go home, but his parents flipped, so he left again with the van and proceeding to stay at my house for several weeks.
He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 180 days in jail, where he was given 138 days credit and two years probation, according to Calhoun Circuit Court records.
He pleaded guilty knowing he couldn't win, so he just went for the lesser sentencing.
As a juvenile, Seffernick tried to run away from his Hanover home several times.
When I was younger and my parents beat me I ran away too.
As a 15-year-old, he petitioned Jackson Probate Court for emancipation from his adoptive parents. The petition filed in November 2000 was dismissed.
I tried going through social services as well, trying to get my sisters and myself away from an alcoholic, drugged out and violent mom. Social services did a whole lot for my situation. I ended up just going to the cops and committing my mom to a mental institution. Shows how much social services pwns.
As a 16-year-old, Seffernick had an assault-and-battery charge related to a domestic situation on March 15, 2001, and spent time at Starr Commonwealth, a residential home for boys in Albion, a state police spokeswoman said.
My dad hit me too, but when I was big enough I hit back, but I didn't go to
Starr Commonwealth because I wasn't going to leave my sisters alone there. That "residential home for boys" is a place where kids can go that need to get out of shitty situations. It's not always for the trouble makers, it's also for victims as well.
I'm not saying he's a victim and everyone pitty him, if he did indeed do this, and it points in that direction, there's no justification whatsoever. But still, I think these other facts bring a different light into the situation.
But this guy was a good friend of mine...
I have no idea what I'm thinking right now.