NYC: Boy, 17, stabbed to death after giving homeless man $2

[RandySF]

NOTE: This story is of interest to me because of the rash of stabbings by transients in San Francisco.


He was killed by his kindness.

A Bronx teen, after giving $2 to a homeless man, was stabbed to death by a second man — apparently because the cash donation wasn’t big enough, the victim’s mom said Saturday.

Carl Ducasse, an aspiring attorney set to graduate high school this month, was knifed multiple times in his chest late Friday by a killer who remained on the run, police said.

“The homeless guy wanted more,” said a weeping Angela Ducasse, the slain teen’s mother. “He died because of $2. I can’t believe he’s gone.”

The victim’s parents, surrounded by a dozen family members and friends, sat in their home about a block from the murder scene at E. 175th St. and Walton Ave. in Mount Hope.


http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/boy-17-stabbed-to-death-after-giving-homeless-man-dollar2/ar-AAhgQl7?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=mailsignout

[Journeyman]

1. And thoughts of John Coffey come to mind: "He killed them with their love. . . .

"He killed them with their love. That's how it is every day, all over the world."

[lpbk2713]

2. Unfortunately this won't bode well for homeless people.

People who stereotype all homeless people will be repeating this story endlessly.

So sorry for Carl and his family.

[Aerows]

3. Serious question. Why are there homeless people in the US to begin with?

Answer: We don't take care of our own.

We are the last frontier in the minds of way too many people that don't realize that if we don't take care of our neighbors, nobody else will.

We are the most un-Christian "Christian" nation, and we will end up paying for it slowly or quickly, but you can bet that we will all bathe in blood for it.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

10. Because you can't smoke crack at the homeless shelter

The issues that keep many people literally on the street are substance abuse and mental illness.

My girlfriend has been assaulted twice by San Francisco's roaming psychopaths, the one that was caught theoretically wasn't homeless. She just preferred smoking crack to living indoors and had wandered off from the group home where she had been housed.

If you like hard drugs better than living indoors or you're too insane and paranoid to avail yourself of social services you're going to fall through the cracks.

Of course if we were to reopen the mental institutions and care for these lost causes like we used to the same people would go berserk saying that mental institutions are abhorrent and these people should be free to roam as they please.

[Aerows]

13. I don't even know where to start with drug addiction

and I honestly didn't even think about it.

What do you suggest?

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

18. Individually they eventually become one in the same

We need large mental institutions and the ability to force people into their care.

[Oneironaut]

25. Yup. This.

Too crazy to be out on the street, but people get mad when we try to put them in a mental hospital where they belong. It's better, in their minds, that they remain homeless and a threat to the public.

[ReRe]

16. "Me, We" ~ Ali

We ARE our brother's keeper. It takes a village to keep our neighbors who fall through the cracks of the capitalist pavement. It's always been my grudge against the capitalist system. If it's such a wonderful thing, and we're the "richest country in the world", then why is anyone unemployed and/or homeless and hungry? We are a nation of despicable Christian hypocrites, Aerows. IOW, not Christians at all.

[IronLionZion]

21. Inadequate mental illness support

and how difficult it is to get a job or to get your life back on track without a home to live in.

What is interesting is how there are homeless in cities that also have abandoned homes: Baltimore, Detroit, Atlantic City, etc.

Some cities have helped the issue by building affordable housing and saw a significant improvement in other factors like less crime and drugs and litter. NYC is a very expensive city. It can be unaffordable and frustrating in NY, San Francisco, DC, and others for the same reason.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

24. This has to begin with a recognition that some people will never function independently

By way of whatever handicap, substance issues or mental illness. Gifting that person a home is not going to meaningfully help their situation for any period of time. Many of those people will require institutional care for life, that is where we as a society are failing.

Targeting homelessness as a housing issue misses most of the causation.

[MousePlayingDaffodil]

27. Well put . . .

. . . I agree with you. Our public policy needs to be aligned with what you are saying.

[eggplant]

26. Simple. Reagan. n/t

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

28. Conservatives are cheap, but the left shares a lot of blame

It was the left that was beating the drums for de-institutionalization and a utopian community based mental health system so that people who could dead-stop not function independently in any capacity could would live fulfilling lives independently. This did not work because it couldn't have worked with any amount of time, funding or good intentions.

[Throd]

29. A lot of it was predicated on an out-patient model

The problem is that mentally ill people might not acknowledge their illness or accept their treatment. A lot of them stop taking meds that would otherwise allow them to function. I agree with your assessment that it was a cocktail of stinginess and misplaced compassion.

[independentpiney]

30. Very true

This NYT article gives a fairly good summary of the forces that led to de-institutionalization of the mentally ill and a failed community based system
http://www.nytimes.com/1984/10/30/science/how-release-of-mental-patients-began.html?pagewanted=all

[Boldine]

4. I gave all the change I had to a homeless couple

and then was shouted and cursed at because I didn't give more.

I now only give to charities that help the homeless.

Condolences to Carl's family such a tragedy.

[ReRe]

20. I have helped many people...

... down through the years, and got my heart broken in two, literally. One time, a fist in my jaw resulting in a lost tooth, another time stolen property from my home. It hurts MORE when someone you have helped betrays you. I too give to charities instead of direct alms now. I often wish I had a $fiver tucked away to share, but we live in a cashless society now. I need to remember to tuck away a few $5s so I will have them. This case is so sad. Life sucks, then you die. Not fair.

[busterbrown]

5. Terrible Thing.. Mental Illness.

Need to control myself going off on this particular homeless guy...

This thread is so right... As a country we need to step up...for the homeless and mentally ill..

[RandySF]

6. Mental illness + sharp objects

Transients in SF often carry knives for self-defense. But sometimes their affliction prevents them from discerning the real threats.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

12. That means forced institutionalization

The left will say it's abhorrent and the right will refuse to pay for it.

[Just reading posts]

7. Horrible story. I don't think I've seen a truly homeless person in years, other than when I visit

NYC (I don't count scammers begging on street corners).
Not saying they aren't out there, but I guess I never go wherever they hang out.

[oberliner]

11. Where do you live that you've never seen a homeless person?

Just curious.

[Just reading posts]

17. A small mountain town in Colorado.

I do go to Denver from time to time, but normally only to the suburban parts of the Metro Area. I don't have any occasion to visit the seedier parts.

And not "never", but it has been quite some time. The exception being trips to NYC, where you can't help seeing them in the subway and streets. On my last trip I saw a homeless person digging through a trash can. Very sad, and something quite eye opening to me.

[X_Digger]

8. Fuck. *sigh* n/t

[libodem]

9. .

[smirkymonkey]

14. Horrible. So sad.

No good deed...

[oberliner]

15. Other reporting contradicts the claim that he gave the man $2

Police said Ducasse had been walking with a friend when another man walked up to them and asked the victim for money. The victim said he didn't have any, but the man tapped the victim's pocket and said he heard jingling.

The victim responded that the sound was his keys and walked away. A second man then started to follow the victim, and stabbed him in the left side in the heart.

http://abc7ny.com/news/teen-stabbed-to-death-in-robbery-after-suspect-hears-jingling-in-his-pocket/1391541/

Carl Ducasse, 17, went out with a friend late Friday night to buy a milkshake, his mom said.

Two men who had been sitting on the steps of a nearby homeless shelter followed Carl and his friend to the store and back. One asked Carl if he had any money. He answered that he did not, said sources. Then, Carl’s mother said, he dropped his phone and bent over to pick it up.

At that point, the second man attacked Carl with a knife, said police.

“And just like that – they stabbed my son,” she said. “My son was born here and he died here.”

http://nypost.com/2016/06/18/teen-stabbed-to-death-by-panhandler/

[Rex]

31. Thanks, that sounded a little strange.

So they might have been homeless or not. Usually homeless people don't kill others over 2 bucks. Sounds like a mugging gone bad.

[Aerows]

32. When has a mugging

not gone bad?

[Rex]

33. Ha true, I guess when someone dies.

As opposed to the mugger just getting your wallet.

[Elmergantry]

19. When approached by a panhandler...

They usually say they are in desperate need of something. Last week it was a woman who said she needed diapers as she held a pack of cigarettes and a iPhone. I replied, Stay here I will be back with some diapers as I don't give out cash. Mumbled some excuse about not being able to stick around...so that was that.

Some are in true need, some just want $ for the next fix.

So sad this guy was killed for being kind.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

22. That is my favorite thing about the crust punk panhandlers

They always seem to have the latest smartphones, digital cameras and fresh limb-covering tattoos.

[jalan48]

23. I worked in a homeless shelter for 18 months.

Mental illness, drugs and alcohol play a major part in the problem. Drugs need to be legalized and addiction treated as a health problem. Even with that approach the issue of employment at a good paying job looms in the background. How many of us could face a lifetime of fast food restaurants or Walmart without resorting to something to relieve the pain?