The Mind of a Child Murderer
Shaniya Davis
Mario Andrette McNeill, 29, has been charged with the kidnapping, rape, and murder of 5-year old Shaniya Davis in North Carolina. According to the coroner, the probable cause of death was asphyxiation. Earlier in the week Shaniya’s mother, Antoinette Davis, was charged with human trafficking, child abuse, and prostitution. Law enforcement officials have not released all of the details, but it appears that, after selling her daughter to McNeill for sexual purposes and not getting her back, Davis reported her missing.
Meanwhile, in St. Martins, Missouri, 15-year old Alyssa Bustamante has been arrested and charged with the murder of 9-year old Elizabeth Olten. According to police reports, Olten was reported missing and, a few days later, Bustamante led them to her body that she had buried in the woods nearby. The victim had been strangled, had her throat slashed, and had been stabbed. According to police investigators, Bustamante told police that she committed the crime because she “wanted to know how it felt to kill someone.” She also indicated that, earlier in the week, she had dug two holes in the woods in anticipation of having someplace to bury Elizabeth’s body after she killed her. Due to the nature of the offense, Bustamante has been charged as an adult.
When tragedies like this occur one of the first, and most natural, reactions is one of disbelief. Honest, decent people can not begin to understand how anyone could, in cold blood, viciously take the life of an innocent child. We begin to search for logical excuses. Perhaps, during his sexual assault of Shaniya, McNeill somehow “snapped” and killed her. Maybe her mother was a brain-addled drug addict who didn’t really know what she was doing when she “sold” her daughter. And certainly no sane 15-year old could ever plan and follow through with the execution of another child. Surely she is suffering from some severe mental illness that clouds her judgement. We reason that, since WE are sane and would never contemplate such brutality, anyone who does must, therefore, be INsane.
Nothing could be farther from the truth.
One of the most difficult concepts for me to get across to my students each semester is that there are people in this world who happily exist in a different moral universe than the rest of us. There are those who think only of themselves and their personal pleasures and who care not the least about the care or comfort of others. These people are called “sociopaths” or “psychopaths” or are said to have an “antisocial personality disorder.” Oh, we can accept the fact that monsters like Ted Bundy and Aileen Wournos existed, but they were both adults when they committed their murders. How does that explain 15-year old Alyssa Bustamante? How could a mere child be a murderer?
It might help for you to understand that, at one time, both Bundy and Wournos were 15-years old as well. They didn’t suddenly “snap” when they became adults. Both Ted and Aileen were involved in self-pleasing criminal and anti-social activities when they were young.
The main point of this post is to reinforce one very important point: these murderers are NOT ill. There is no known treatment for their condition and they can NOT be rehabilitated. Face it, how can you possibly REhabilitate someone who has never been habilitated to begin with?
It is indeed a tragedy that all of these lives have been destroyed, in one way or another. And it is only human nature that we look for explanations and a way to make things “right” again, especially for the 15-year old murderer who will undoubtedly spend the rest of her natural life in prison. But, while medical science has provided us a preventative vaccine for the H1N1 flu and a laser-cure for nearsightedness, there is nothing that can be done to change the moral universe of a sociopath. Nothing.
I welcome your responses…
So basically 15 year old Alyssa was not “habilitated” to begin with? Also how are these murderers not ill? Because clearly they killed someone so wouldn’t that make them ill? Maybe I’m just not understanding it as well.
Jackie: You have really hit the main point of this post. It is very hard for good people like yourself to accept the fact that there are evil people out there who are not ill but who simply grew up with a different understanding of “right” and “wrong”. We sometimes assume that, for people to do evil things like murdering a child they must somehow be “sick”. While there are a few mentally ill people out there, they are NOT insane. They plan their crimes and carry them out in an effort not to be detected.
Thanks for your response.
Dr. Mahoney,
Very interesting post! It was interesting to face the reality that murderers like Bundy and Wournos both were kids at one point. I’m just curious, but is there a reason other than simply opportunity about why serial killers that we hear about tend to do so much more in their adulthood? I would assume that it has a lot to do with the fact an adult has much more freedom and the proper planning and hiding to execute such crimes…but my question specifically is; does the typical serial killer develop over time through various events or is it more of something one is born with or develops after a specific event in their lives?
In other words, are there less young serial killers out there because the justice system identifies them or is it because they have not yet fully developed?
Hopefully that makes sense…
Robby:
We ALL develop into what we are today over time. We are all the sum total of our social interactions since birth. It’s the same for serial killers. Dr. Lonnie Athens has identified a developmental process called “Violentization” which he says explains the development of violent people. Information on Violentization can be found through a Google search on the internet.
Thanks for your response.
Well first off I do not agree that the 15 year old should be tried as an adult, because she is clearly not an adult. Our laws for children are set for a reason and I’m sick of kids being tried as adults.As far as her not being ill? I’m not sure about that either. I don’t think we can speculate about her mental health without further evidence and certainly not without brian scans and medical and psychological intervention. I do believe in Evil and can certainly without a doubt contribute her act as an evil one. Bt where did this evil come from? Where along her early life did thoughts like killing begin to come into her mind? what were her circumstances growing up? Regardless there is certainly no excuse but I do believe that it is vital to continue to study the brain and emotional health of these kinds of people and hopefully someday we may learn more about why they behave the way they do.
Maria:
She is clearly a sociopath and has no conscience whatsoever. I think that she was fairly honest when she told the police that she wanted to find out what it felt to kill someone. I also think that, if we look into her past, we will find that she has also killed animals such as neighborhood dogs and cats. There is one very important aspect of this crime, though. She dug the grave a few days in advance. Insane people do not plan ahead like that. This means that she has been fantasizing about killing someone for a long time. She obviously picked a smaller child because she would be unable to overpower and kill and adult. The state is undoubtedly going to try her as an adult because if she was convicted as a juvenile she would be eligible for release one day.
Thanks for your response.
I ALSO TRULY BELIEVE THAT THIS TEENAGE GIRL HAS SOME SERIOUS ISSUES TO KILL A LITTLE GIRL LIKE THAT JUST BECAUSE SHE WANTED TO KNOW HOW IT FELT TO KILL SOMEONE THAT IS INSANE. I DO NOT TRUST ANYONE OR ANYTHING AROUND MY CHILDREN BECAUSE OF THIS REASON RIGHT HERE. IF BEFORE SHE CONFESSED AND SAID SHE WANTED TO KNOW HOW IT FELT TO KILL SOMEONE THATS WHY I DID IT AND IF AN ADULT WERE TO TELL THE PARENTS OF THE VICTIM THEY PROBANBLY WOULD HAVE SAID THERES NO WAY A TEENAGE GIRL COULD DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS BUT TRUTH OF THE MATTER IS THIS TYPE OF TRAGEDIES ARE HAPPENING ALL OVER AND MORE FREQUENT AND ITS FRIGHTENENING…
RE: Child killers and sociopaths and psychopthats
I am not a lawyer, but sociopathy and psychopathy ,to me, are mental disorders. To bring out and old horse> are these not forms of mental illness? As was stated, these horrible people happily go about thinking murdering innocent children is just peachy. Thus, there is no or better said there exsists a highly abberant moral compass.To me there is no room in society for these dregs of humanity. Yet, how can we not label them mentally ill? These murderers cannot and will not follow the ‘normal’ status quo.
What I have trouble dealing with is even if these murderers do have a sense of right and wrong ( even just the fear of getting caught) how can they NOT be mentally ill?
Personally, I think the laws need to be changed. Let us call these murderers mentally ill and then put them on the gurney right away. It flies in the face of cruel and unusual punishment. There are too many people in this world already There should be no room for this unacceptable behavior. Even though it has been admited that capital punishment is not a deterrant. It is retribution. Personally, I say have at it. Get these killers off the streets and out of society permanently.
Prescott:
First, as you know, “mental illness” is not the same as “insanity.” Someone who is depressed is “mentally ill.” If you watched the HBO show “The Sopranos” then you know that Tony was “mentally ill.” That does not, however, excuse in any way criminal actions including acts of violence. But even the concept of “mental illness” presupposes that, at one time, a person was of “sound mind.” My position is that sociopathology is a condition that exists but is not necessarily a change from “normality.” It just……is.
[...] Mario Andrette McNeill, 29, has been charged with the kidnapping, rape, and murder of 5-year old Shaniya Davis in North Carolina. According to the coroner, the probable cause of death was asphyxiation. Earlier in the week Shaniya’s …This Blog [...]
Dr Mahoney
Interesting post!
It’s understandable that an extra chunk of emotions is added to the debate when kids play the role of both murderer and victim.
A big chunk of the debate on your article seems to be due to the misuse of the words “insanity and mentally illness” Of course when a 15 year old girl kills another girl, one instantly deems the act as “insane”, because it’s an act so far away from what one expect to be a kid’s normal behavior. However, as you have stated in one of your replies, insanity is not equivalent to being mentally ill, and an act called insane by the public doesn’t have to be committed by either a mentally ill or insane person.
That being said, and to follow up on my question in today’s class: – What is then the best of all compromises regarding murders? Clearly even kids are able to commit brutal crimes, but at the same time, the law (in the United States), generally, distinguishes an adult from a minor when prosecuting criminal suspects.
Do you think the American society would be better of if all premeditated murders were treated the same by the state, regardless the age of the murderer? Is that the best of all compromises, or do you think prosecuting a 15 year old murderer is to be considered “cruel and unusual punishment” according to the 8th amendment?
You say that it many times is hard/close to impossible to REhabilitate a person who has never been habilitated in the first place. If that is so, would then the most rational act against murderers would be equal punishment, regardless of age?
Prosecuting a child (under the age of 18, but older than 7) for murder in and of itself is not “cruel and unusual.” Cruel and unusual pertains to the punishment that is meted out after conviction. Society, as a general rule, is loathe to sentence a child to life without parole, and the Supreme Court several years ago prohibited the death penalty for anyone under 18 at the time of the offense. Good people don’t want to believe that any child could be a cold, calculating murderer but they do exist. Until some reliable method of rehabilitation can be developed, the only possible punishment for child murderers that guarantees the public safety is incarceration.
I feel enlightened I am currently one of your students and you make a good case I used to believe people would snap but after all the facts you present I no longer do,..And children who kill other children just freak me out!!
I find a number of generalisations in your article, that in itself is not necessarily a flaw, they could it fact be based on patterns, however, I’m not sure that is the case here. I would like to ask a couple of questions. Are all serial killers sociopaths and are all sociopaths killers? In your opinion. Also, I find a number of cotradictions, both in you country and mind kind of odd. There is no representation without taxation. So, we get a vote. Not withstanding the odd situation in your country and mine where under 21 and 18 year old kids are taxed and yet have no vote or political force, is not also odd – and moving the goal posts when it suits us – that individuals are deemed not children based on actions rather then other criteria which seem to describe them as such when it suits us. When will people lesrn to understand the difference between dwscription and prescription? Comments, if you please.
I’m not sure what country you are referring to as your e-mail address is generic .gmail, but I’ll try to answer your questions.
First, not all killers are sociopaths and not all sociopaths are killers. There are people who, in the course of their lives due to anger, frustration, intoxication, or all of the above kill someone. I had a friend of mine murdered by his wife while they were going through a divorce but I would not consider her a sociopath. Also, there are many sociopaths in business and in politics who would steal, cheat, and manipulate people for their own personal gain and pleasure but would not kill anyone. I would recommend a couple of books that you might find interesting. “The Sociopath Next Door” by Martha Stout, Ph.D., “Snakes in Suits” by Paul Babiak, Ph.D. and Robert Hare, Ph.D. and “The Mask of Sanity” by Hervey Cleckley, M.D. (this one is available for free as a downloadable .pdf file)
Your other question seems to be about children being tried as adults for their violent actions when they were under the age of 18. I have an objection to this in some (but not all) cases. If the end goal is rehabilitation and a successful return to society, then I think the worst possible thing we can do to a 15- or 16-year old is to incarcerate them for 20+ years and hope they come out rehabilitated and readjusted. Won’t happen. On the other hand, there are young murderers and rapists who deserve lengthy prison sentences because they are sociopaths and can not be successfully treated or “cured”.
Thanks for your feedback. I hope you enjoy my blog.