That being said, I have to agree that this child, who was for years sexually and emotionally abused by the very person responsible for her care and upbringing- doesn't belong in jail. What she needs more than anything else is a safe place to recover, surrounded by people who are willing to love and protect her.
Continue readingA 14-year-old girl acknowledged killing her father with a 12-gauge shotgun blast to the face to end years of sexual abuse and could be on juvenile probation until she turns 21, her attorney said Thursday.
Defense attorney Patrick Nightingale said the girl accepted an offer from the Allegheny County District Attorney's Office to be adjudicated delinquent, the juvenile court equivalent of a guilty plea. She was placed on probation on a charge of involuntary manslaughter, the least serious grade of homicide in Pennsylvania, the attorney said.
"I think the DA's office has been consistently very enlightened in its approach because they know my client suffered significant trauma at the hands of her father," Nightingale said. "And I'm very happy on behalf of my client that we won't have to live through that trauma again in a trial setting."
The girl was 13 when she shot Matthew Booth Sr., 34, on July 30 in the squalid home they shared in Elizabeth Township, a rural suburb about 20 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. Nightingale and the girl told authorities Booth had abused her since she was about 7.
For a child to be put in such a disgusting environment is horrifying enough, but for this 'father' to steal years of her life by sexually abusing her- dead really was too good for him. We can now only hope and pray that this child is able to overcome everything in her life, and find a place to heal.
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