What might drive a person to try to kill someone else? There may be many reasons. Among them may be that the person who is alleged to have committed the crime suffers from some mental disease.
If it should turn out that such a condition did contribute to an alleged act, it deserves to be fully considered in the course of legal proceedings that might follow. Some might say it is required for the sake of fully protecting the charged individual’s rights and ensuring that they have the greatest opportunity to make a life for themselves.
The victim of an alleged attempted murder suggests that such consideration might be called for in connection with the teenage girl accused in his case.
The suspect is 17 years old and reportedly an honor roll student in a local Raleigh school. A conviction on the two counts of attempted first-degree murder she’s charged with would seriously alter her life and it might not be appropriate if her mental health is in question.
According to the police, the girl is suspected of having tried to poison her grandmother by spiking a pot of collard greens with insecticide. As a result of the alleged attack, the grandmother and a male friend who ate the greens ended up in the hospital overnight recently.
The grandmother says she had confiscated the girl’s cellphone because she had become a bit too attached to it and that the girl was trying to get back at her for that. Both she and the other victim say the girl has since confessed and that they’ve forgiven her. But at last word the teenager was in custody and being held on $500,000 bond.
Both victims express astonishment that anyone would do such a thing over a cellphone. And the male victim suggests that’s a sign the girl needs to be helped.
Source: WRAL-TV, “Police: Fayetteville teen poisoned grandma’s collards,” April 25, 2014