Gangsta's Child Abuse Key to His Suicide

Note: I wrote the report-and-opinion, below, for an attorney who hired me to help her represent a school district being sued by the parents of a middle-school student (15 years old) who committed suicide shortly after ditching school to lead a media-publicized public protest and demonstration on the day the U.S. Congress was considering measures that the student claimed--echoing community activists--were intended to deport undocumented Hispanics illegally living and working in California. We won the case. The school district did not have to pay the parents one dime. My report illustrates the lengths to which the parents went, in their crass attempt to rip off the school district, with bogus claims that twisted a social issue into a vehicle for selfish, personal gain while masking conditions at home that had tormented their deceased son.

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James E. Shaw, Ph.D.
Superior Court-certified Expert Witness: Member of the Panel of Experts, Los Angeles Superior Court, Foltz Criminal Justice Center. Expertise: Gangs; Juvenile Homicide & Violence; School Safety; Author of the nationally-acclaimed book, Jack and Jill, Why They Kill; Creator of the Homicidally-at-Risk Adolescent Profile (H.A.R.A.P.®); Writer of the B.R.A.V.E. (“Be Resilient Avoid Violence Everywhere”) Curriculum; Editor of The Los Angeles County Master Plan for School Safety; advisor on California Department of Education/Los Angeles County Office of Education’s Classroom Management Guide; Editor and Advisor on the Los Angeles County Sheriff Department/Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors/Los Angeles County Office of Education’s “Helping Improve Police Practices” (H.I.P.P.) manual for law enforcement working with students and gangs; and author of the forthcoming book, GANGrene: Youth Terrorism USA


May 14, 2007


XXXXXX, Esq.
XXXXXX & Associates
XXXXXX First Floor
XXXXXX, CA 92614

Re: XXXXXXs v. XXXXXX, Case No. XXXXXX.

My Reading of and Findings About the Supplemental Materials Recvd on May 10, 2007


XXXXXX and School
The school in which, according to Mr. XXXXXX, XXXXXX had good attendance and good grades, joined with law enforcement and the juvenile court in punishing him for bringing a knife on campus; further, Mr. XXXXXX cautioned him about the minimum-to-maximum punishments he could face by deliberately committing truancy. XXXXXX perhaps felt that, unlike XXXXXX’s view of his truancy being simply ditching school, he was marching to the beat of a national drum—immigration rights.

Stepfather’s Gun Used in Suicide Act
After acquiring the gun under very questionable circumstances, XXXXXX’s stepfather didn’t really get rid of the gun like XXXXXX’s mother insisted he do. Instead, he hid it in the garage. (A) It is important to note that some parents who themselves are gangbangers, or live around gangs, provide their male children with direct and indirect access to guns. My view is that there is a definite reason why XXXXXX’s father refused to get rid of the gun after acquiring it suspiciously (he tells Officer XXXXXX XXXXXX it was used in a “hit,” he recovered it and his friend gave him the bullets) instead of buying a gun legally and registering it. XXXXXX’s stepfather’s behavior is identical to that of a criminal gangbanger. Who, in their right mind (except a gangbanger) would obtain a gun which he knows may have “been used in a hit” (Officer XXXXXX). XXXXXX’s stepfather might well be a felon who has served time in prison and has a criminal record. (B) At the XXXXXX Juvenile Hall where I work, some parents have been arrested on Sundays, during the 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. visitation period, after attempting to spirit handguns past the sheriff deputies and metal detectors. (C) Parents who have served time in prison often make guns available to their male children. (D) Speaking of providing a gun to their child, who provided Anthony with the knife he took to school—his stepfather?

XXXXXX Projected Onto Himself His Gangster Heroes’ Life Philosophies
XXXXXX knew that both Hip Hop icons Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls died from injuries they received after being shot with guns. Viewing himself as a lover like Biggie Smalls and a [gang] “soldier” like Tupac Shakur, he wanted Smalls’ and Shakur’s music played at his funeral with the exact songs they wrote to extol, narcissistically, these virtues and views they held of themselves.

XXXXXX Saw Criminal Gangbanger’s Problems as His Own
XXXXXX latched onto himself the “problems” the late criminal Tupac Shakur extolled in his “Thugz Mansion” rap song, the song XXXXXX, in his suicide note, ordered be played at his funeral. True, it could be logically argued that none of what Tupac Shakur talks about in his bleak, depressing, barren rap applies to XXXXXX’s life at all. XXXXXX merely appropriated Tupac Shakur’s story as his own. Shakur’s blaming everybody else for “me being me” (my emphasis) is precisely the manner in which XXXXXX appropriated Mr. XXXXXX into his own personal misery and pain. Mr. XXXXXX had about as much to do with XXXXXX’s subsequent mental and emotional states, after he criticized XXXXXX’s school-ditching behavior, as a highway patrol officer has to do with a speeding motorist’s mental and emotional states following pursuit of him for reckless driving and giving him a citation.

XXXXXX’s Distorted View of Life Blinded Him to Confiding in Those Close to Him
As did Tupac Shakur, XXXXXX seemed to think he was all alone in this world. That is the danger of Hip Hop music: It invades the psyche and infects the very soul of unstable, unsure, emotionally-fragile youth who then, in a badly-blurred and entirely out of focus world-view, see their own life as a mirror-image of the rap artist’s life. This is distortion of the worst sort, accompanied by the paranoia, blame, anger, spitefulness and, particularly, uneven behavior: Dating Joycelyn for two weeks but not introducing her to his mom, yet narcissistically calling her the “best one I ever had”, as though his Hip Hip idol Biggie Smalls was listening; being close enough to his natural father to play basketball with him but not confiding in his father about his stepfather’s abuse of him (Offcr XXXXXX’ report), or his plan to boycott school over the immigration rights issue; talking with his mother only once about the immigration issue; struggling to get a paltry few middle school students to join his walkout and, after being warned by XXXXXX High School students about getting cited, failing to muster support from any OHS students.

XXXXXX, Idolizing a Real-Life Gangster, Deliberately Broke Truancy Law
XXXXXX’s hero, Tupac Shakur, was a criminal, a thug who proudly declared himself so with his huge tattoo, “Thug Life” on his chest and stomach. I did not see evidence of XXXXXX having any tattoo (it might be worth verifying whether he did or not). Shakur was a criminal; criminals break laws. XXXXXX was determined to break the law despite (a) knowing he was on probation for a weapons violation at school; and (b) hearing, first-hand, warnings from OHS students that they were cited for walking out of school. Unlike Shakur, however, who absolutely did not care what society thought of him, XXXXXX did care. And he felt the bitter sting of failure when the students he hoped to muster in support of his walkout slipped from his grasp like a handful of sand through his fingers. A middle school student’s dream of having high school students follow as he leads them can be intoxicating—a true power rush. Hip Hop icon Shakur had a nation of young criminal street gangs to “back” him up, with his hostile, anti-social, cancerous, toxic views. XXXXXX still relied on (1) “good” students to validate his view of himself and provide him approval cues and social status; and (2) the XXXXXX Middle School to approve of him, in loco parentis. However, he was totally unprepared for coming face-to-face with failure. Power-mad as he was, the emotional impact of playing thug by ditching school and using immigration rights as his national issue—as had Tupac Shakur, in his Thugz Mansion rap, used police as his national issue—was simply too much for him. Being denied the end-of-year dance must have been a hard slap in the face. XXXXXX perhaps felt he had to “dance” to other people’s music and was simply tired of all that. His idol, Tupac Shakur, at least, danced to his own.

XXXXXX Decided to Hurt the School for the Penalty Imposed on Him
XXXXXX desperately needed the school’s validation and support. His phone comment to his mother about “getting in trouble at school” (Offcr XXXXXX’s report) must be seriously considered in this regard. He felt he did not have the school’s validation and support, and the realization pained him beyond his ability to tolerate. Vice principal XXXXXX’s decision was permanent. There was no way he would change the cancellation of the Disneyland trip or the order that XXXXXX not go to the school dance. XXXXXX decided, therefore, to make a final decision for the school (falsely blaming Mr. XXXXXX for his school problems), one they would also never be able to change: His own death.

XXXXXX’s Suicide Note Shows He Fell Off His Own Emotional Cliff
Just like his elliptical (incomplete, insufficient), one-time reference to his mother and others about immigration rights, XXXXXX made a passing, confusing reference to “Mr. Bent” (sic) in his suicide note. He failed to explain why “Mr. Bent is a motherfucker.” In his rambling, disconnected note, he didn’t include Mr. XXXXXX in any key topic sentence or explanatory paragraph. If Mr. XXXXXX was the source of his mental and emotional distress, he would have opened his suicide note by directly and clearly stating precisely why, how, and when Mr. XXXXXX caused him pain and suffering. More important, he did not verbally blame Mr. XXXXXX for anything at all. Rather, he stated that he had to kill himself because “I’ve got too many problems.” He did not say whether he had problems with any person or persons, or what, exactly, his problems were. He didn’t even mention whether others had problems, simply that “a (sic) have to many problems.” It must be seen that the passion he exudes for his family, friends, and girlfriend, in his unique, elliptical and immature style, did not transfer over to discussing his “to many problems”, whether they included Mr. XXXXXX or not. Therefore, his silence in this regard must be seen for what it is: A refutation and rebuttal of other [plaintiff] expert witness’s “last known contact” (my emphasis) theory: Mr. XXXXXX was one of XXXXXX’s last known contacts; therefore, he pushed XXXXXX over the edge. That view illogically assumes facts not in evidence. XXXXXX fell off his own emotional cliff. He was not pushed by Mr XXXXXX.

XXXXXX’s Abusive Stepfather, Not XXXXXX, Caused His Emotional Distress
Friends of XXXXXX and his family rushed wildly and erroneously to blame Mr. XXXXXX for causing XXXXXX’s mood swing that stopped its pendulum at the exact moment he decided to kill himself. However, case documentation shows that:

➢ (a) XXXXXX offered no defense for himself when Mr. XXXXXX criticized him and friends for ditching school. At least, in the knife incident he and family said the knife was simply, innocuously in his backpack, without telling the “other” story: he brought it to school and pulled it out to threaten another student in a fight;
➢ (b) he brought no other support (family or friend) to defend what he mistakenly thought was his “constitutional right” to walk out of school to protest a national issue.
➢ (c) XXXXXX had told another boy that his (XXXXXX’s) stepfather was physically abusing him and his three-year old sister. The mother of the boy to whom XXXXXX told this called a school employee, XXXXXX XXXXXX, and reported this. Ms. XXXXXX subsequently told Officer XXXXXX XXXXXX.
➢ (d) XXXXXX also told the boy (according to the reporting mother) “he rather be dead, than to be living at home.” (See Officer XXXXXX XXXXXX’ report.)
➢
➢ Personal Anger and Disappointment Turn to Vengeance
➢ XXXXXX was extremely angry at himself and bitterly disappointed with his “performance”: He simply failed to organize and lead others to his way of thinking. Whether protesting the perceived “anti-immigration” legislation was his real reason for ditching school that day or not, the actual reason for his role in his own death was he could not go home and accept further parental abuse and accept the failure of being totally unable to convince enough students to boycott school. Therefore, others would have to pay for his shame, pain and suffering: Mr XXXXXX, his family, and, especially, his friends who weren’t “there” for him.
➢
➢ How Stepfather’s Alleged Abuse Might Have Affected XXXXXX
➢ Being physically abused by his stepfather would:

➢ (a) force XXXXXX into silence. Snitching is taboo, especially when it reports a blood parent or step parent; hence, no mention of his stepfather in his suicide note, just a vulgarism for “Mr. Bent” (sic);
➢ (b) XXXXXX’s silence (my previous comments) is consistent with his talking with his mother on the phone after the ditching incident and the trouble it might cause him at school but, according to Officer XXXXXX A. XXXXXX of the XXXXXX Police Department, XXXXXX “did not give any indication that he was going to harm himself in any way.” And why would he? If he never told his mother what her new husband, his stepfather, was doing to him, why should he tell her about the morbid thoughts he had about taking his own life? [Victims of abuse frequently respond this way; stoic, and, working in silence, they harm themselves, not those harming them.]
➢ (c) cause him to feel his mother had betrayed him as a result of his not being able to confide in her about what her beloved second husband was doing to him (perhaps she knew and did not intervene for her own reasons);
➢ (d) cause him to desire to rise above himself and his circumstances at home; thus, the immigrants rights issue was the “ticket” he sought for pursuing this goal; and
➢ (e) reinforce to him, in overwhelming terms, that no matter what his big, lofty goals were about a student walkout, he was not big enough (or loved enough by others) to keep from being physically abused by his stepfather. XXXXXX’s failure to convince enough others to join his walkout, was proof to him that he was nothing more than a kid physically abused by his stepfather. Nothing more.
➢
XXXXXX, a Social Failure
➢ My first point of view: XXXXXX failed in getting more than 20 students to walk out with him to protest perceived anti-immigration laws. Looking at his paltry few confederates filled him with such anger and embarrassment, that he and some of his male friends retreated to a liquor store. He had to face the bitter truth when, upon leaving the liquor store, he saw that no additional middle school students, and absolutely no high school students, had joined him.
➢
➢ My second point of view: If XXXXXX was a gangbanger (ignore his family’s denial about this—family members regularly and consistently lie to authorities about their children’s gang acts and activities), then his failure to get more students to join his walkout was because rival gangs do not mill in the streets and “unite” for one cause. They just don’t stop fighting each other and instantly join hands together in a [political issue] walkout to show “unity.” With XXXXXX, the failure must have cut deep inside him, and the bile must have stung like bitter poison when he realized: No gangbanger is going to join a middle school student’s school walkout and risk getting shot and killed in a drive-by blaze of gunfire by rival gangs resenting some of their own members publicly walking (or, as they say, “kickin’ it”) with the enemy.
➢
➢ XXXXXX’s Final Act: Vengeance and Criticism
➢ XXXXXX’s act of suicide virtually guaranteed that, at his funeral, those very students he wanted to accompany him would now [be forced to] march past him in respect at his funeral. Though flawed with spelling errors, a line from his suicide note says it all, from his heart: “tell everone (sic) in my school there (sic) invide (sic) to my funel (sic).”
➢
➢ Sadly, for XXXXXX, despite, or rather because of, his stepfather’s alleged abuse of him, combined with his massive embarrassment and shame at failing to attract a large following of students to join him in walking out of school, his act of suicide was the highest form of self-criticism.


Respectfully submitted,