The calendar shows that the end of August is here. For many school age kids, it means that summer vacation is over, and it is back to the grind of another school year. For some students, this last week is about one last hurrah or a final party before returning to the halls of academia. For some troubled youths though, it presents a final opportunity to cause havoc.
Such was the case in the suburb of Duncan, Oklahoma. Three teenagers found themselves sitting around, looking for something to do on a hot, late summer day. What they decided on is the reason why some people say that America’s youth are out of control. After seeing a jogger run by their residence, the three boys mounted up in their vehicle to pursue 22-year-old Christopher Lane.
One can guess that this was not going to end well, but the outcome was extremely heinous. As 17-year-old Michael Dewayne Jones drove the car, 15-year-old James Francis Edwards Jr. and 16-year-old Chancey Allen Luna shot the unsuspecting man in the back. Lane struggled down the road a bit, and then collapsed. Two neighbors ran to try and give the man aid, but it was too late.
This is not a surprise, but the three teens were not very bright. The police apprehended them quickly and placed them all under arrest. While being questioned about the crime, Jones had something say on the motive for the shooting. According to an ESPN.com article, Jones said “that they were bored and killed Lane for “the fun of it.” What has the world come to when kids turn to murder to relieve boredom?
For Lane, it was sadly a case of the wrong place at the wrong time. Lane, who was Australian, came to the United States on a baseball scholarship. He would have been in his senior season at East Central University, but now his dreams of playing professional baseball are gone. He had just returned to the States in the last week. Lane and his girlfriend, Sarah Harper, happened to be in Duncan visiting her family.
In some states, the real travesty would be that these teens would have been charged as minors. That is not the case in Oklahoma, though. The ESPN piece noted, “Prosecutors charged 15-year-old James Francis Edwards Jr. and 16-year-old Chancey Allen Luna with first-degree murder on Tuesday. 17-year-old Michael Dewayne Jones was charged with being an accessory after the fact and with using a vehicle during the discharge of a weapon. Jones is charged as a youthful offender but will still have his case heard in adult court.
Though Jones was the oldest defendant, it appears he got the lesser charge for giving police details of the slaying. The murder is also causing issues on a national scale. A former Deputy Prime Minister in Australia, Tim Fischer, said that tourists from his country should boycott the United States. He also implied the death was a result of the policies of the NRA, which allow guns to be available for evil purposes.