Coverage should focus on the greater tragedy

I have read with a mixture of shock and dismay the stories in the PG over the past week about the killing of Kenzie Marie Houk. Eleven-year-old Jordan Anthony Brown is charged in her shooting death ("Boy, 11, Charged in Slaying of Father's Girlfriend," Feb. 22). It is an unexplainable tragedy that an 11-year-old could take such actions.

However, I am very disturbed that the nature of your coverage has focused overwhelmingly on determining the right forum to try Jordan Brown or the means of punishment for someone of his age. What about the greater tragedy? Where is the coverage that focuses on the two young children who have been left behind without a mother to raise them?

While the case does perhaps provide an appropriate occasion to consider Pennsylvania's juvenile justice system, articles that emphasize concern for this defendant are somewhat misguided. If ever there was a case that proved the merits of treating a juvenile as an adult, this is it.

 

STEPHEN PEEPELS
Squirrel Hill