Couple charged after son dies from being tied outside to tree

[Aingeleag]

This was printed up in "The Pantagraph", one of my local newspapers.


"RALEIGH, N.C. -- A couple accused of tying their 13-year-old son to a tree for two nights to punish him for disobedience has been charged with murder in his death, authorities said Friday.

Brice Brian McMillan, 41, of Macclesfield, told a deputy that the child was being disobedient and was forced to sleep outside Tuesday while tied to a tree, the Edgecombe County Sheriff's Office said. The teenager was released Wednesday morning but again tied up that night for bad behavior, authorities said.

The boy was left tied to the tree until the following afternoon when his stepmother found him unresponsive, Sheriff James Knight said in a statement.

Dwight Jefferson, an emergency responder with Pinetops Rescue Squad who was first on the scene, said he did not know the cause of the child's death.

``What we found was a 13-year-old laying on the ground ? CPR being done by his father,'' Jefferson said. ``Then we took over.''

Knight said the boy was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.

It wasn't immediately clear what the couple used to allegedly tie up the boy.

McMillan and Sandra Elizabeth McMillan, 36, also have been charged with felony child abuse. Two other children at the home, ages 7 and 9, have been placed in the custody of the Department of Social Services, authorities said.

They are being held in the Edgecombe County Detention Center under no bond. The sheriff's office said they did not know if the couple had an attorney.

Macclesfield is about 20 miles southeast of Rocky Mount."




Disturbing, much?

[Gio Takahashi]

Holy Shit. This is horrible. What kind of a fucking idiot would do that to their children for two days. They deserve that murder charge. I'm quite glad that the authorities took custody of the two other children to the Social services. This is insane.

[SpaceProg]

Hm... if he was only tied up in the evenings and left overnight, and released in the mornings... It's not that cold up in NC now. I doubt he froze to death unless there was a freak freeze.
The boy could have had a pre-existing medical condition that was untreated, or he could have been stung or bitten by a venomous creature that caused a reaction and killed him. I don't know if this would be murder on the parent's part, but it's definitely mistreatment, that's for sure. It may be manslaughter if the kid died as a result of being tied up and was stung by a bee or bitten by a snake. Even for a medical reason if aid wasn't called for or given.

[The Moody Ronin]

Call me sick and disturbed if you want, but I can kinda see the parent's reasoning. You'll get better behavior from children if the punishment isn't a slap on the bottom, or losing their TV for a week (while keeping their computer, their cell phone, their ability to go outside and watch someone else's TV, etc...), but rather being leashed to a tree like a dog. Of course, I don't see anyone doing this overnight or being so negligent in watching the kid that the kid has to time to drop dead before you even notice.

It wasn't immediately clear what the couple used to allegedly tie up the boy.

It was obviously razor wire. Nice, sharp razor wire...

[RonDo]

Better behave.

[Seegtease]

I'm all for punishment, but not abusive or life-endangering. Being tied to a tree is kind of risky even for a short time, since there are dangers outside. Definitely murder on their part, though.

[DoomKitty]

Lol I want to know how the kid died while being tied to a tree. Because being tied to a tree really isn't that extremely dangerous. Oh noes. Maybe the tree killed him.

...It's happening.... >.> <.<

[Arainach]

Dehydration's a good guess. Depending on weather, hypothermia. Depending on the tree and binding method, there's always fun things like allergic reaction to the tree or to an animal or insect, being attacked by animals/insects, or strangulation.

[SpaceProg]

If he was let loose in the mornings, I don't think dehydration would have been an issue.

Unless the unthinkable occurred and they didn't allow him access to either food or drink for two days. Even then, though he probably wouldn't have died from 2 days without water. He wouldn't be feeling very well at all though.

[Charlie]

Definitely warranting a murder charge. If they took all the kid's stuff, sold it, and kept him locked in his empty room for 24 hours, save food and bathroom breaks, that would've been a better punishment, in my mind.

[Arainach]

Better punishment for what? Disobedience? Sorry, selling all the kids stuff and locking him in an empty room is still grossly excessive for that.

[Gio Takahashi]

I really think it's more likely either heat stroke or hypothermia, depending on where they live. I can also agree of a possibility of allergy reaction to an animal biting him or whatnot. However, the fact of the matter is that they still left the kid tied to the tree for two days, that alone is just cruel and unusual. Was it even known that they at least fed him and gave him some water? Even so or not, I'm sorry, but that's just too much, which is why I believe they should be charged for murder.

Nobody deserves to be tied to the tree overnight like that in the first place.

[Aingeleag]

Here's a little bit of an update that I found on newsobserver.com, which is the Raleigh, NC paper, posted on 6-14-08

As for what he was being held with...
"his wrists bruised from the plastic ties that bound him" "the boy was tied with plastic ties akin to handcuffs. "There were other things on the body that led us to believe they used something different" in addition to the plastic ties"

"The boy had languished outdoors while the area was blanketed in dense, acrid smoke from the Pocosin Lakes wildfire to the east. State officials had warned residents to stay indoors because of the smoke's health threat.

The boy's father, Brice Brian McMillan, 41, and stepmother, Sandra Elizabeth McMillan, 36, were charged with first-degree murder and felony child abuse. They were being held without bail Friday in Edgecombe County's jail. Their first court appearances on the murder and child abuse charges are scheduled for Monday."

[Gio Takahashi]

Jesus fuck, he was tied to a tree in a Smokey condition?!

Wow. That is totally un-friggin-believable. There's no doubt that the parents definitely deserve the charge that was given to then. That's just incredibly horrible or idiotic of them to do that.

[Killer_Man_]

If his wrists were tied with plastic ties, I'm thinking of the ones you actually have to cut, couldn't they accidently tie it so bad that he gets poor circulation causing problems too?

[SpaceProg]

If he'd had asthma that would have been nigh on a death sentence, depending on exactly how smoky the area was.
He may have died from inhalation even if he wasn't asthmatic. Like I said, depending on how thick the smoke.

[Charlie]

Better punishment for what? Disobedience? Sorry, selling all the kids stuff and locking him in an empty room is still grossly excessive for that.

SAVE EATING AND GOING TO THE BATHROOM! Plus, he was fucking 13. If you can't take the heat from pretty much then and up in life, put your balls in the freezer.

That said, with the update on what happened, the idiot parents can rot in hell for their stupidity.

[Seegtease]

I agree with Charlie except for selling stuff. That's a permanent punishment and no punishment (on a kid) should be permanent. Well, at least not that drastic of a thing to be permanent. I mean, the parents can take some stuff, especially if they were the ones who bought it, and locking in the room with food and drink to survive is also okay. But the kid would have had to done something really horrible.

As for the parents, they're idiots even more for putting their kid out no doubt knowing of that danger. I wonder what the kid did to piss his parents off so badly?

[Arainach]

SAVE EATING AND GOING TO THE BATHROOM! Plus, he was fucking 13. If you can't take the heat from pretty much then and up in life, put your balls in the freezer.

That said, with the update on what happened, the idiot parents can rot in hell for their stupidity.As time goes on and I realize that you're not a troll, I become progressively more and more horrified.