Georgia baby-killing case: co-defendant testifies that older teen shot mother and her baby

[geek tragedy]

http://www.startribune.com/nation/220681051.html

Lang said he ran into Elkins that morning, and the older teen asked if he'd ever robbed anyone. Lang said he told Elkins he hadn't. A bit later, as the two were walking side by side down a street, they saw Sherry West down the block with a baby stroller. West and her child were returning home from the post office, authorities have said.

Elkins walked toward West and told her to give him her purse, Lang said. West refused and Elkins repeated his demand several times before pulling out a gun and hitting West in the face with it, Lang said. West still wouldn't give up the purse and tugged back when Elkins reached out and grabbed it, Lang said. Then Elkins threatened the baby, Lang said.

"He was like, 'Five, four, three,' and then she stopped him," Lang said.

Elkins asked for the purse again and West refused again, and Elkins began to count down from five again, Lang said. West still refused to give up the purse, and Lang said Elkins walked around the stroller toward her and shot at the ground and then shot West in the leg and asked for the purse again. Lang said he wasn't sure what happened next but said Elkins had been pointing the gun at the baby and Lang heard a third shot. Then both teens took off running.

About that supposedly explosive detail about gunpowder residue:

Defense attorneys also point to lab tests by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation that found traces of gunshot residue on swabs taken from the hands of West and the boy's father, Louis Santiago. Reports filed in court say the GBI found a single microscopic particle of gunshot residue swabbed from the father's hands, while more than five particles showed up in swabs from West's hands.

The GBI report cautioned that gunshot victims can end up with residue on them. During a preliminary court hearing, Santiago said he touched the bullet wound on West's leg before his hands were swabbed.

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/national_world&id=9209748

Sometimes things are as simple as they seem.

[MotherPetrie]

1. If a violent kid with a gun demanded my purse and my baby was in the line of fire....

I'd sure as FUCK hand over my purse!

[geek tragedy]

2. This one didn't. Elkins is still a sociopathic murderer. nt

[MotherPetrie]

3. And according to this account, mom valued her purse over her child's life.

[geek tragedy]

4. Irrelevant. nt

[MotherPetrie]

7. To the defense, maybe, if this account is true. If it is, it paints the mother in a terrible light.

If she had handed over her purse, her child might not have been shot. She made the choice to protect her material belongings rather than her child.

[geek tragedy]

11. Or maybe she panicked. Or maybe she just couldn't believe he'd do it.

Maybe she was desperately poor and couldn't afford to feed her baby without that money.

Not sure why you're so eager to play "blame the victim."

[Dreamer Tatum]

12. It's not a Court of Painting In Terrible Light. It'll be a Court of Law. nt

[Bluenorthwest]

6. I'd say she had the audacity to expect a modicum of humanity out of the robbers, it is not

common for people to kill infants in the commission of petty street crimes. Your words are seriously shitty. Blaming the victim is a fucked up thing to do. Always.

[MotherPetrie]

10. You've got to be kidding. The kid had a gun. I'm not blaming the victim, who was the baby.

I AM blaming the mother for valuing her fucking PURSE over her child. Deal with it. That's exactly what she did.

[geek tragedy]

13. She was shot and had to watch her baby get shot in the face. Go buy yourself some humanity

if you can't muster it yourself.

[MotherPetrie]

15. She valued her purse over her child. You think that's OK, YOU buy yourself some humanity.

[geek tragedy]

20. Have you ever had a gun waved in your face? People panic.

But, go ahead and blame the victim if it makes you feel better about yourself.

[MotherPetrie]

25. And you ignore the fact that she chose her purse over her child, if it makes you feel better about

yourself.

[geek tragedy]

28. You don't know what was in her head. nt

[LisaL]

38. Unbelievable.

Blaming the victim at its best.

[Shrike47]

14. You have any proof she was presented with the alternative choices?

He said give me the purse or I'll shoot your baby in the face? If so, then I'd agree she chose the purse over the baby.

In our society, the number of people who would have shot the baby is infinitesimal. It's so unlikely that many people didn't believe her story. Only a depraved sociopath shoots the baby.

[MotherPetrie]

18. Some kid threatens you with a gun, you've got your baby with you -- you hand over your purse.

You don't give the kid any reason to shoot your baby if you can help it.

[geek tragedy]

29. Are you saying she gave him a reason to shoot the baby? nt

[Dreamer Tatum]

30. Yes - evidently the honors graduate of the 20/20 Hindsight Police Academy

knows exactly what would have happened at every turn. Had she merely handed her purse
over, it would have been examined for Chiclets. The young scamps would have then put their
weapons away, doffed their caps, and sauntered away.

[geek tragedy]

31. And, of course, the obvious point:

even after she didn't hand it over, HE DIDN'T HAVE A REASON TO SHOOT A BABY IN THE FACE.

Not shouting at you, but you know what I mean.

[Dreamer Tatum]

33. Oh no - she gave him NO CHOICE but to shoot the baby.

"Members of the jury, we aren't contesting that my client shot and killed that baby. But
I ask you, when the purse was refused, what else could the young man do to express
his frustration at the rebuke? After all, we all know that when one threatens a person
with a gun and makes a demand, that threat is carried out IF AND ONLY IF the demand
isn't met!"

[LisaL]

39. Yep.

He is also accused of shooting another person some 10 days earlier, when that person refused to give him the money. Apparently that victim is at fault also, since the victim didn't give up the money.

[840high]

36. Stop blaming the victims.

[Union Scribe]

17. More bashing the victim.

[JI7]

9. i think the mother has some mental or learning issues

she was probably not able to get simple things like this.

but it seems like that also made people suspicious of her. she didn't act as they think a normal mother would have.

but all the evidence points to the boys.

[FrodosPet]

41. I want you as my lawyer!

Members of the jury: While your sympathy may be with the child and its mother, please remember in my client's defense that it was the MOTHER'S fault for not handing over her purse. Under such a bold provocation, my client, in order to protect his reputation and self respect, had no other choice available than to shoot the child. Not to do so would have been a broken promise - a LIE. And that is why I urge you to recognize Mr Elkin's right to STAND HIS GROUND.

In conclusion, I would like to thank you for your service, and I would like to invite you all over to my hotel for pizza, buffalo wings, and a selection of craft beers and cherry wine upon the conclusion of this unfortunate and unnecessary trial.

[CBGLuthier]

5. They are terrible horrible people who are one hundred percent responsible

But damn it why the fuck did she not turn over the purse. I hate to say it but they say time and again you can replace the money and the personal items. You can not replace a life.

But what kind of soulless monster can shoot a baby? This country is going down fast.

[geek tragedy]

16. See also the Charles Lane case.

Some people are just monsters.

[Arkansas Granny]

8. I know hindsight is 20/20, but one has to wonder if the baby

would still be alive if she had surrendered the fucking purse.

[Union Scribe]

23. Would any of you questioning this mother

also feel free to wonder aloud about victims of other terrible crimes? "Would she have been raped if she hadn't been out at midnight" etc etc. Enough of this victim-blaming garbage!

[Arkansas Granny]

32. I'm saying that if someone pointed a gun at me or my child

while they were demanding my purse, I would have given them my purse. Maybe the outcome would have been the same, but maybe they would have taken it and left the baby alive.

You are free to interpret my remarks as "blaming the victim" if that pleases you.

[Seeking Serenity]

37. That's exactly what I'm thinking, Union Scribe

"If she hadn't valued her personal freedom to wear what she pleased so much, she wouldn't have been raped."

Anyone willing to go with THIS bit of victim blaming? I don't think so.

I swear.

[kiva]

26. Well, the baby would be alive

if these two thugs hadn't killed him, wouldn't he?

[Arkansas Granny]

34. That's certainly true, but don't you think there's a chance that

the outcome might have been different if the thugs had been given the purse? I think it would have been the effort.

[kiva]

35. Maybe I'm just cynical,

but anyone willing to shoot a toddler over a purse would likely kill the child even if mom handed over the purse.

[Dreamer Tatum]

19. So far in this thread, the mother is to blame. Makes me wonder what Chris Lane did

to provoke those young men in Oklahoma.

Odd...I don't recall any similar equivocation in another highly publicized case that ended recently...

[geek tragedy]

24. At least the stupid "the mother did it" stuff is over.

*crosses fingers*

[Dreamer Tatum]

27. We've gone from her doing it to her being pretty much to blame...

I wonder why some people are more accountable for outcomes than others...hmmmmmmm...

[BlueCheese]

40. I'm really surprised.

I can't believe anyone would place any blame on the mother in this case.

[exboyfil]

21. So what happens to the shooter

and his accomplice?

[geek tragedy]

22. Shooter will almost certainly get life without parole.

The younger one is 15 and was roped in, so they prosecutors may recommend juvi for him.