Teen gets 55 years for robbery, murder

[public servant]

[FONT=arial, helvetica][FONT=Times New Roman, serif]15-year-old gets 55 years for robbing and killing man[/FONT]
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By Vic Ryckaert
vic.ryckaert@indystar.com [/FONT] [/FONT]
[FONT=arial, helvetica]A Marion County judge sentenced a 15-year-old boy to 55 years in prison Thursday for the murder of an Indianapolis man last year on the Northeastside.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial, helvetica]Nevin Brooks was just 14 on March 17, 2008, when he shot and killed David S. Hardwick, 27, at Lexington Park Apartments in the 3900 block of Breen Drive, prosecutors said.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial, helvetica]While the teen's age weighed heavily in the sentencing decision, Judge Grant Hawkins said society must be protected from Brooks' violent behavior.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial, helvetica]"I am sure that if Mr. Brooks would have come from a different environment, we would not be here today," Hawkins said as he handed down the sentence. "Sometimes society creates its own toxic waste."[/FONT]
[FONT=arial, helvetica]A jury convicted Brooks of murder and robbery last month based largely on a gas station surveillance video that appeared to show Brooks trying to use Hardwick's ATM card 20 minutes after the execution-style shooting.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial, helvetica]Defense attorneys painted Brooks as a troubled child who grew up in tragic circumstances. He was born Feb. 4, 1994, to a 13-year-old mother and a 16-year-old father.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial, helvetica]His father, Tony Brooks, was convicted of murder in 2001 and is serving his sentence in the New Castle Correctional Facility.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial, helvetica]"Many people grow up the wrong way and don't do the things that he's done," said Danielle Hardwick, who was married to the victim for just six months before he was slain.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial, helvetica]Hardwick was a jewelry store manager with three children and two stepchildren he adored, she said.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial, helvetica]"David and I had so many plans for ourselves and all five children," Danielle Hardwick told the court. "Nevin Brooks took them away."[/FONT]
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[FONT=arial, helvetica]Sounds like a good sentence until you realize he'll be out well before he's 40. Plenty of time to kill someone else.
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[melensdad]

Sounds like the kid should have gotten more than 55 years.

 

[public servant]

Sounds like the kid should have gotten more than 55 years.

We'll say he serves 20 years of this 55 year sentence (with good time credit and credit for a GED and some other BS). He's out before he's 36. If he kills someone else and gets another 55 years, in theory he could still be out by around age 60 (same good time credit and some other programs). Plenty of time for a hat trick. This is wrong.

 

[DWFan]

Yeah, he's just a poor, misunderstood youth brought up under less than ideal circumstances with limited opportunities and bad choices for those he associates with. His mother, in the face of his repeated violent criminal behavior, will tell you that "he's a very good boy".
Either that or his mother is deluded and blind to the fact that she obviously was a part in the mindset this individual developed and he's simply a habitual criminal that doesn't give two squats about human life and will participate in a murder any time he feels he needs what his victim has.

My vote is #2. He got off easy. By the time he gets out, he should have a Masters in Criminal Training and still be young enough to use his education..

 

[MyGlockRocks19]

"Sometimes society creates its own toxic waste."

Toxic waste, huh? Well, from what I've heard, two popular methods of dealing with toxic waste are burying it or burning it....I'm fine with either.

I'm tired of hearing this "product of his environment" crap...anyone with even a half assed moral compass knows that killing someone in order to obtain their ATM card is wrong.

If society needs to be protected from his violent behavior, lets not beat around the bush. Take him out of society, permanently, instead of giving him the chance to learn some new tricks, on our dime.

 

[rambone]