Eleven-year-old Jordan Brown's photo could be a snapshot for a school ID.
But the unsmiling boy from Western Pennsylvania is actually posing for his mug shot after being booked on two charges of homicide.
Police said Brown killed his father's pregnant fiancé Feb. 20 at the family's farmhouse in New Beaver. Brown is accused of shooting the woman in the back of the head with a shotgun, then getting on the bus to go to school.
It's tragic that Western Pennsylvania has captured the nation's attention via a tragic death as national news stations have grabbed hold of the story. But the incident highlights two issues that must be addressed: how to treat juveniles charged with adult crimes and how to keep those types of crimes from ever happening in the first place.
Under normal circumstances, a juvenile should be protected within the legal system and treated like a child. However, Pennsylvania law is not prepared to handle a juvenile who has committed an adult crime. Therefore, Brown may set a precedent in the state, as well as in the country, for how policy makers and district attorneys handle child criminals.
Because of the severity of the crime, Brown has been charged as an adult.
Pennsylvania currently only has two options: charge the defendant as an adult or as a juvenile. Most states, excluding Pennsylvania, offer a third option of an adult-juvenile combination that allows the criminal to serve time in a juvenile facility until he reaches a legal age and is moved to state prison.
Lawmakers have been scrambling for even proper accommodations for an 11-year-old inmate. Brown has been moved three times in a week, most recently on Monday.
Brown was moved from an adult prison, where he didn't fit into any of the uniforms and had to be isolated from the rest of the criminals, to a juvenile detention center in Beaver County. It cost almost $4,500 a week to house Brown, because 24-hour security was needed, compared to a normal cost of $1,400 at the county jail.
On Monday, authorities moved Brown to another juvenile center in Erie where his stay would be less costly.
Officials seem at a loss to adjust to the unusual circumstances of the case. Brown is the youngest person in Pennsylvania to be charged as an adult. Yet the tragedy could have been avoided years ago if Brown had received the specialized help he obviously needed.
Now Brown's history is being sorted out in the media as the public tries to pinpoint where everything went wrong. Every custody battle and restraining order against Brown's father is being dragged through the mud.
A human brain does not fully develop until the age of 25. As a child, Brown should understand right and wrong but perhaps not fully comprehend the consequences of his actions. Some have speculated that Brown felt threatened that he would lose his father's attention to his new stepmom and her unborn son, as well as her two young children.
A child who had such a volatile childhood with custody battles should not have had access to a gun.
In Pennsylvania, no one under the age of 18 can buy a rifle, but 12-year-olds can get a hunting license. According to the state game commission, the number of junior licenses for state residents ages 12-16 dropped from 98,233 in 1998 to 41,743 in 2007.
Brown's parents should be held responsible for the actions of their son, particularly allowing access to a gun.
And now Pennsylvania lawmakers are left to sort out how to handle an 11-year-old accused of murder. Although we can hope this type of tragedy never happens again, Pennsylvania law needs to prepare for more children who are charged as adults.
Jessica Turnbull is a senior majoring in journalism and is The Daily Collegian's Wednesday columnist. Her email is jlt5044@psu.edu.
