Baby Kelci was crying. The one-year-old’s mom was out at a club late at night, and an eight-year-old boy was left in charge. According to police, the boy “got extremely agitated” that the baby would not stop crying, and he beat her to death.
The baby’s mother, Katerra Lewis, 26 and her roommate, a mother of five, were out for a night on the town. Police say Lewis left the baby under the supervision of her roommate’s young children—none older than eight.
When the women got home from clubbing around 2am, they failed to check on the children, according to the police. The next morning, Kelci was unresponsive. Her mother called the police at 10:30am, when it was too late. Police say that had paramedics called sooner, Kelci’s life might have been saved.
The mother, Ms. Lewis, has been charged with manslaughter (causing the death of another due to reckless behavior) and is out of jail on a $15,000 bond. Her lawyer says that she has “a different story about what transpired.”
The boy has been charged with murder (intentional killing) and is now in the custody of Alabama’s Department of Human Resources. That’s right, the little boy, eight years of age, is charged with a significantly more serious crime than the mother who left her baby in the supervision of a bunch of little kids.
The Jefferson County prosecutor has not yet announced whether the other mother will face any charges at all. Her other four children are also in state custody.
Jail as a child care strategy
America is the lone developed country that routinely charges children with crimes. Alabama has no minimum age for charging children, so the boy, left without adult supervision and clearly lacking the emotional skills to handle a crying baby, stands charged with murder. He will be tried in the Jefferson County Family Court. If convicted, he could be confined until he is 21. (He cannot be tried as an adult in Alabama unless he was at least 14 at the time of his crime.)
Prosecutors have defended charging the child on the ground that if they didn’t, he “won’t get any services by the state.” Otherwise he would be entirely outside the system.
In other words, we are a country that has nothing to offer an eight-year-old, who in his short life learned that beating is a response to a crying child (I wonder where he learned that?), unless we charge him with murder. No therapy, no social services, no intense supervision, nothing, unless we brand him a criminal before he reaches the fourth grade. That is our shameful lack of compassion toward American children, our utter unwillingness to provide for their needs outside the criminal justice system, which is the last place we should be sending troubled kids. It’s the same cold shoulder that shrugs at the fact that we have the second highest rate of child poverty in the developed world.
Eight-year-olds do not belong in our criminal justice system. Young children are not capable of forming criminal intent, just like they are not legally capable of entering into a contract, or getting a driver’s license, or signing a will, or literally anything else. An eight-year-old is many years away from being legally allowed to drink or vote or join the military or hold a job, because an eight-year-old has a brain that is still in very early stages of formation.
I am a foster mother. I understand troubled kids. They’re all different, yet they all need the same thing: the loving supervision of adults. He was abandoned by his father (apparently) and abandoned at least for that horrible night by his mother (allegedly). Instead of spending money processing him through our broken, punitive, racially-biased criminal justice system, let’s take one-tenth of that money and provide him with the stable, watchful home life that he and every child craves.
That we would charge a young child with this crime or any crime shows how appallingly Neanderthal our criminal justice system still is.
The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Avvo.
Also see: 8 horrific murders committed by babysitters
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55 comments
Niccole
I'm sorry, but an 8 y/o should know better than to beat a baby. It appears he had some anger issues, no doubt from a negligent parent. All he had to do was call the police and tell them the situation. Both the women should face changes though.
SCF
Pretty sure he was born on parole.
Sarah
An 8 year old should know that you don't hit a baby! Both mothers should be charged as well!
Jean Conroy
And just where would he learn that you don't hit a baby?? Is it possible he has learned from this neglected mother that young children and babies should be hit, threatened, and abused in response to obtain a desired result in the young? If so, then you are inferring that he has some divine voice he has linked up with that has shown him constant love. Somehow, I think that voice, if it exists, has been drowned out-by his mother and much of the world around him. And you do not seem to express much compassion or thought either...sorry
tam
I missed it where did it say the mother was neglected?
Ella
Too insane. Yes maybe he does know right from wrong, but a child is incapable of controlling themselves or having the cognitive skills to think rationally, and to fully comprehend the consequences! Poor babies, the mothers should be the ones facing harsher charges over the events that transpired.
Erin N
So many people on here completely miss the point, it has nothing to do with knowing right from wrong. Young children do not have the EMOTIONAL development to deal with such things. Emotions in an adult are not rational so how on earth can you expect a rational emorional response out of a young child? The human brain does not finish developing until around age 22. Children do not have the ability to predict the consequences of their actions.
This young CHILD does not need punishment, he needs compassion and help. His mother however does. The mother of the infant that perished in this tragedy deserves punishment. Keep in mind discipline teaches, it is for children. Punishment is for adults, who should have the mental capacity to know better before they act.
angelic
Age doesnt call for an excuse.. raised right or wrong by those around him doesnt justify and 8yr old beating a baby (1yr old) to death. I could understand if he pushed her and she accidently fell and died, but him beating her and punching her to death requires hate and anger, she had MASSIVE internal organ damage and severe trauma to her head. You have to be real stupid to think he "didnt" know what he was doing. All you people thinking its wrong to charge him with murder are the reason why then we have school shooting were 14, 15 and 17 yr old kill others; because no one put a stop to any bad behavior seen earlier in life, with the excuse that "they didnt know". If you know its wrong to steal at 8, you sure as hell know its wrong to punch and kick someone until they stop moving.
Jerry
To those wanting to protect this kid from punishment, are you out of your mind??? An 8 year old knows it is wrong to harm anyone, let alone a baby. Yes, he should be charged for the murder. It's not like he will get life or the death penalty. He will be held accountable for his actions. Stop blaming poverty for a person committing a murder! If that was the case then all poor or abused kids would be killing people. At 8 years old I knew the difference between right and wrong and I certainly knew it wasn't right to hurt a baby. Stick the kid in a controlled environment where he will be forced to attend counseling and pay for his crime. My god, reading these comments from people saying the child should be nurtured and loved after committing murder is sick! He needs to be punished. He killed a defenseless baby. No one taught him that!
Eliza
Unless you are involved with the law profession, please don't make any ignorant statements.
tam
So only lawyers can speak or have opinions and ideas?
Terr
I personally feel that the 8 year old probably had no idea that beating the baby would KILL it....he is young....yes he knew that harming the baby was wrong, but the brain is not yet fully developed at that age so he mentally was unaware of how to handle a situation like that. My heart goes out to him and everyone involved. Also, I think the mother should get neglect charges and lose custody of children but dont feel she deserves murder charges either because she did not have any control over that specifically happening...even if she had a 20 year old babysitter she cant control what happens outside of her site....soooo I feel like the judicial system should put themselves in this situation and judge that way!!!
Jo
This child should never have been in a situation requiring him to care for a set of three year-old twins and two younger children. It's insane to charge this child. The mothers caused the situation and are 100% responsible.
Of course the child needs help, they all need help.
Anon6199
I understand that the mother has been charged, and rightfully so. But to the people who are saying the kid can't be charged because he doesn't understand, does that mean if someone who is mentally handicapped and cant understand their actions commits murder they don't get any consequences? Regardless of if he meant to or not, he purposely caused the death of another being. If the baby didn't die he wouldn't be charged with murder, it would just be assault, but since it died he MUST be charged with assault. Age is no excuse for killing. It's common sense not to hit others. The kid is 8, not 3. he has lived long enough to know that it would have consequences. Let him go and later down the line he'll do it again with the same excuse of being a kid who doesn't understand.
Pinacoloda1
I totally agree!!!
derrick
Ok so if these women had any common sence they would know that when you have 5+ kids running around you don't need to be clubbing secondly yes the kid is young however you know by the time your 3 that hitting is not ok so he also brought that on his self. If mommy leaves and you don't know what to do there is always 911. My 4 and 5 year olds know this
Mike
Just one question. Where was dad?
Ken
You just made an ignorant statement?
Diggy
The Dads were most likely removed from the children's lives by the court system when the courts gave the mothers primary and ordered dad(s) to pay child support so mother could continue clubbing and making more babies.
Kimwa
I was babysitting at 9 years old. I knew the difference between right and wrong and I knew how to take care of kids. I knew who to call if I needed help. The mom is responsible for leaving an 8 year old to take care of the child or children, she needed to make the determination if that specific 8 year old was up to it. And she needed to make sure he had someone to call if he needed help. Everyone has cell phones, he could have called her if something was going wrong. Both of them need to be punished!
Chrissy
Do you really think an 8 year old has a cell phone? Does this sound like a household that has a landline and gives phones out to 8 year olds? Do you think mom would have heard her phone ringing in the club?
I don't know what kind of judgement your family has, and maybe you were an advanced nine year old. The eight and nine year olds I know are still playing with Barbies (as they should be) and are not capable of being responsible for younger children for long periods of time.
As the author of this article stated this kid needs counseling and love, not punishment. Living with this is punishment enough. Both mothers should be jailed for child neglect and endangerment.
Linda K.
I totally agree with you! This mother should be charged at least as an accomplice in this situation! She was selfish and totally irresponsible in her actions. As stated in the article, where did this child learn about hitting in response to crying? I have seen mothers spank their children when the child was crying and heard them say, "you gonna cry? Here, I'll give you something to cry about." This is unacceptable behavior and what does it teach the child or others observing? This is such a tragic and sad situation for this young child! I will be keeping him in my prayers!
Thank you!
I think charging the mother as an accomplice is an interesting idea.
For the prima facie case of accomplice liability you would need to prove 1) actus reus of assisting to commit a crime 2) mens rea of intending to assist in the commission of a crime.
Usually a voluntary act is required for accomplice liability, however there is an abundant amount of case law that has charged a married partner for failure to act when their child was being abused by their spouse. Here the mother probably committed a crime by leaving the 8 year old in charge of the other children, but it would be hard to expand this to accomplice liability.
If instead your actus reus becomes a failure to act -- then you could meet the first element of accomplice liability "assisting to commit a crime." The second element "intending to assist in the commission of a crime" is also met by the failure to act.
For that reason it could be possible to charge this mother at the level of murder! I hope the prosecutor at least throws this option out to the jury if this mother is dumb enough to take this to trial.
Sarah
Um... The fact that you are asking about cell phones and if an 8 year old has access to one makes you look incredibly stupid! Do you not have neighbors? Because I do. I was taught by 3 years old that if something happened and I couldn't find or call my mom, that I go ask a designated neighbor to help me and they could certainly call 911 or something! It's not a matter of whether this boy had access to a phone, it's about how the mother should have taught him by 8 years old what to do in a situation where he needed help!
GAILNY
This is insane. The mother should be 100% responsible. I cannot believe that they would even consider charging an 8 year old when they aren't even legally old enough to be left alone,never mind in charge of a baby! What the hell is this world coming to?
George
You people astound me 8 year olds do not comprehend right from wrong. their is no way he should be put in this compromising situation at that early age. he needs severe counseling now and the mother should be fixed and jailed immediately . half of you morons commenting don't know right from wrong.
a mom
I am appalled by this behavior our society displays. We need to show love and kindness to children so they can learn to love and be kind! No developed society should hold an eight year old or for that matter any minors, responsible for crimes they commit. Our society owes it to the children, to be nurtured, to be loved, to be cared for until they are of age they can make their own legal decisions.
To all: Remember who you vote for when comes time to choose your next president! HUMAN LIVES MATTER or Wall Street matters!
Dan
Death penalty for an 8 year old?
Greg
The child and his mother should both be held responsible. I saw a picture of the child and he looked like he was more than capable of understanding what he was doing. For his mother and her friend to leave them home alone is reason enough to charge both mothers, even though only one has been charged. To do nothing will only justify other kids doing the same thing and thinking they can get away with it. I hope they're both are found guilty and sentenced to the maximum terms allowable.
Tiffany
Ur an idiot to think an 8 yr old has enough understanding just cause I saw him. The boy needs serious help kids only mimic what they'er taught. I'm sure he doesn't even know how to spell responsibility. You also need help understanding things I see.
Kandie
I agree. Some kids are more developed than others. These children SHOULD HAVE HAD A BABYSITTER PERIOD!
ken bradford
You are absolutely right, today's norm is giving excuses for child and adult actions, there has to be a KNOWN DETERANT...
roz
Sadly, We have to look at the background here. This child exhibited behavior that was modeled for him. I was raised in poverty and knew that if a child won't stop crying "beat his butt" that is the cringeworthy awful truth!!This could have been myself or my siblings at this age. We had a nephew when we were young and that child was spanked/beat for every infraction and I now look back it with horror and shame. As I grew older I began to realize that we shouldn't be beaten nor should we beat kids (almost a rite of passage in our culture). I went on to study and obtain a Masters in Child Development and I teach these courses in college as well...we have to know as a society that an 8 year old was trying to get her to probably "shut up and go to sleep" the only way he knew how.......The Adults however are a different story.
eddie
People need to use the belt ( spare the rod -spoil the child) not saying beat the the child just show that parents are the boss not the child
Eileen
Eddie - Why do people think violence is the only way to teach a child? Violence only teaches the child that with violence they get the result they are looking for. Try to have a humane bone in your body. Belts are for holding your pants up.
Sherelle
I agree. His mother should serve his time. There was no reason for both adults to go out clubbing together.
Kay
Would be curious to know if the other five children were there? If so how old we're they and was he responsible for caring for all these children? The mother in my opnion is clearly responsible for the death of this child. If she taught the child right from wrong she would have never left him alone with the child. So obvious she has not taught him right from wrong. I don't believe this boy deserves to be treated like a criminal? We are adults with children, how many times have you taken care of your own children and had to be patient with a crying baby? This child needs guidance and counseling with supervision and obviously did not get that from his mother or she would not have a deceased child.
ken bradford
Yes, this child needs some aggressive reprogramming.
Melanie
Hey, he was 8 years old and he was left in charge of the younger kids. No adults were around, you should not leave kids that young to take care of kids.
Lainey
So you think he shouldn't be charged? By 8, he knows right from wrong. My question, how do they know for sure that he did it? Was the baby already injured, is that why it was crying? Had mom or roommate already hurt the baby? Did they think he would get charged, and they'd get away with it? Just wondering.
Mom and roommate should both do serious time, and never get the kids back. They should be spayed. Spayed because they act more like animals than humans.
Wonder how many times they had been investigated before. They roommate had 5 kids. So probably on some government hand out. Getting paid to be a single mother, no one checks on the children. This system is beyond flawed.
Amanda
At 8, yes he knows right from wrong and should be held accountable. But not charged with murder!! However, why did the mom and the roommate leave the kids home alone when none of them were over 8???? The mom and the roommate should be charged with a lot more!! Since when is partying more important then being a mother!?!?!
Michele
This is where we as Americans have an issue that really needs to be addressed. The fact that we sit back and let criminals go free or good people get in trouble because "that's the law". Well politicians have no problem changing laws or creating new ones when they want but they can let a murderer or rapist or child molester go free knowing they are guilty because "it's the law" AGGGHHHHH
Dr JoAnne MacTaggart
There must be something other than a charge of intentional murder. An 8 y o neglected and put under this type of pressure to care for others in the absence of his own needs being met, and theirs is at risk to endanger himself and others, but by no other reason than natural consequences of abandonment.
The counties in many states watch over the welfare of children, providing caring homes, psychotherapy, education, and medical needs. However, his soul has now been sadly touched as much as his mind and body have been traumatized. This is indeed an all too common tale of our social condition.
Janet
The comments, unbelievably indicate the total missing of the point. First, it does not take much to beat an infant to death, second, nobody in their right mind leaves children that age alone at all, let alone in charge of other children. The mother went out clubbing? It is amazing her children survived as long as they have, but obviously not unscathed! No where did the author say there should not be consequences, but jail is not for children. And the mother who left the kids , both of them should be held accountable. The kids need a different home, the entire family needs major counseling not just for grief, and that includes the 8 yr old who may not have realized what the outcome would be.
Latoya
I only agree with punishment of the child however i do completely hold the parents responsible as well behavior is something that is learned not something your born with. That little boy did not know his own strength.even when i leave my children with an adult when i come in my first stop is to check on my child she didn't even check on the baby but she's out on bail. That's just irresponsible just my opinion sad that a child has to be labelled because he lacked proper guidance
Sarah
Have you by any chance seen a picture of this 8 yr old that you are trying to protect? He looks like he could pass for a 20something yr old. He is entirely obese, and nothing about him, not even the look in his eyes, screams innocence.
Luna
Sarah, what does his appearance or weight have to do with anything? Are you saying that If he was small and cuddly he'd deserved a lesser sentence? Your comment focuses ENTIRELY on the individual ( and totally irrelevant aspects of the individual) and TOTALLY ignores the context.
J.B.
What does obese have to do with anything?? Except it probably points BACK to the mother/parents who dont take care of their kids or teach them consequences or anything. He's probably always left alone and has to eat whatever he can (junk).. my child is 9 and a little bigger than most kids but that doesn't mean he's bad or a killer.. but I also have taught him right from wrong.
McDougall
The photo you saw was of the MOTHER, not the eight year old. You must not be very bright if you can't tell the difference between a woman in her 20's and an eight year old boy.
D’Anna
You think an 8 yr old can't form criminal intent? Dead wrong. I had two kids try to DROWN me at that age when I was also 8. We aren't talking about a 2 yr old honey. And if he doesn't know that kind of right from wrong, he doesn't belong in society.
Stephanie
Well said!
Rachel
Having worked with children in care and inside jails and prisons you raise a couple of valid points-howver at eight years old- a beating must have been very severe to kill an infant! If you think that this warrants nurturing and care with NO consequences- then I have to disagree. Where was the nurture and care for the little girl? The parents are quite clearly responsible but the eight year old should not be without punishment- are you familiar with the Jamie Bulger case in the UK? Despite all the care, security and help the 10 yr old monsters who mutilated this two year old went on to reoffend on release- maybe people with your view could learn some lessons from that tragedy
debra
Part of the problem is that we don't hold children accountable for their actions, WE ALWAYS WANT TO BLAME THE PARENTS. but by age eight we know that hitting someone is wrong. Both the parents and the child should be held responsible for this. Maybe a murder charge is extreme but to let him get away with this is not going to help him either. If we let him get away with this, he will grow up and blame his parent and others every time he does something wrong. Their is no right answer for this, but doing nothing is definitely the wrong thing to do.
Janet
What is wrong with everyone? Held accountable, yes. Jailing an 8 yr old? Who is accountable for that crime? Everyone who suggests it!
You guide children and if there is mental illness or aggression you get it treated, you do not leave that kid in charge. Are 8 yr olds capable? Of course, which is why we do. Ot leave other, younger kids unsupervised in their care!
Lue
I agree with you Debra..murder is harsh,but he need to know the consequences and the severity of his crime. Now we can not say whether he has any mental issues,the mothers know that you put children in harm when they are let alone.What would have been said if he would have burnt the house down while trying to fix a bottle?