You be the Judge.

[church mouse guy]

Authorities said that an unnamed car thief was beaten to death by the father of the children who were still in the car when he stole it.

At around 9 p.m. on Thursday night in Philadelphia, a 25-year-old woman drove her child — and both of her boyfriend’s children — to the pizza place where her partner worked. She left the kids in the car and went inside, whereupon a 54-year-old man jumped into the car and sped away....

Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small told local NBC affiliate WCAU that the woman and her boyfriend were taken into custody, where they cooperated fully with law enforcement officers. According to Small, both the homicide unit and the District Attorney’s Office must now determine whether the father will be charged.

Fortunately, none of the children — all between the ages of seven months and five years — were harmed.

(The father caught up with the car when it got stopped in traffic.)

Should he be charged?

Police: Man Beaten to Death After Stealing Car with Kids Inside | Breitbart

 

[GoodTidings]

No, he should not be charged. He was defending his children. Who knows what that man would have done to those children? There is not a real man alive who would not have done the same thing and gladly go to jail for it. If I had to choose between finding out some kidnapper/thief killed my children, or killing the kidnapper to save my kids and go to jail for it, that man would be a dead man.

 

[Reformed]

The problem inherent with these news stories is that we do not know what we do not know. Often key details emerge at a later date.

 

[Deacon]

It’s life in Philadelphia...

Even if he’s charged the cops probably wouldn’t show up for the trial.

Rob

 

[InTheLight]

Authorities said that an unnamed car thief was beaten to death by the father of the children who were still in the car when he stole it.



Should he be charged?

Duh. He should be charged with second degree murder, or at the least voluntary manslaughter.

Being the victim of a car theft does not give you carte blanche to kill someone.

If the guy gets a good lawyer and a jury trial he should be exonerated. I would hope so, anyway.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL

 

[GoodTidings]

Duh. He should be charged with second degree murder, or at the least voluntary manslaughter.

Being the victim of a car theft does not give you carte blanche to kill someone.

If the guy gets a good lawyer and a jury trial he should be exonerated. I would hope so, anyway.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL

He was defending his children, not the car.

 

[HankD]

He will need a good lawyer to make sure of the fact that he was acting out of defense of his children.

Otherwise, if it was just because of the car theft then at best its manslaughter.

 

[InTheLight]

He was defending his children, not the car.

Article says, "an unarmed car thief..."

 

[GoodTidings]

Article says, "an unarmed car thief..."

But his children are in the car and an unarmed man can inflict a lot of harm on children. If it were my kids, he would be in a lot of trouble.

 

[InTheLight]

He will need a good lawyer to make sure of the fact that he was acting out of defense of his children.

Otherwise, if it was just because of the car theft then at best its manslaughter.

The definition of manslaughter varies from state to state. It could be considered manslaughter if he had no premeditated malice. That's going to be hard to prove since when the father caught up to him he immediately started to beat him up. Presumably, the father was thinking he was going to put a beat down on this guy as he was chasing him down.

 

[InTheLight]

But his children are in the car and an unarmed man can inflict a lot of harm on children. If it were my kids, he would be in a lot of trouble.

The crime being committed is auto theft.

Yeah, he'd be in a lot of trouble if it were my kids too. However, he would be beaten bloody, unconscious and locked in the trunk of my car waiting for the police to show up, but not dead.

 

[GoodTidings]

The crime being committed is auto theft.

Yeah, he'd be in a lot of trouble if it were my kids too. However, he would be beaten bloody, unconscious and locked in the trunk of my car waiting for the police to show up, but not dead.

The crime is more than that once there were children involved and no one should be charged except the perp and he is dead. The reason he chased it down like he did was because of his kids. Any good parent would have done what he did and if the guy died as a result... oh well.

 

[InTheLight]

The crime is more than that once there were children involved and no one should be charged except the perp and he is dead. The reason he chased it down like he did was because of his kids. Any good parent would have done what he did and if the guy died as a result... oh well.

Yes but you don't get to kill a person because they stole a car and kids happened to be in it. The perp was unarmed, driving a car. The kids were in the back seat. If he meant to do the kids harm he could have pulled over after a couple of blocks and assaulted them, but he didn't.

 

[HankD]

The definition of manslaughter varies from state to state. It could be considered manslaughter if he had no premeditated malice. That's going to be hard to prove since when the father caught up to him he immediately started to beat him up. Presumably, the father was thinking he was going to put a beat down on this guy as he was chasing him down.

Easy law case: The father did not know whether the perp was armed or any other circumstances pertaining to the safety of his children (others involved with the commission of possible ransom kidnap, etc...).

 

[Benjamin]

It's hard to say because as mentioned we don't know the details - whether he kept beating on the subdued man until he killed him or in the heat of the defense didn't know his own strength and killed the guy which could even be by a single blow. I would be inclined to justify the outcome unless there was clear evidence that the situation was under control but the beating was unmercifully continued until the guy was killed - then be thinking manslaughter giving benefit of the doubt toward temporary insanity which would be understandable for a father trying to save his children..

 

[HankD]

It's hard to say because as mentioned we don't know the details - whether he kept beating on the subdued man until he killed him or in the heat of the defense didn't know his own strength and killed the guy which could even be by a single blow. I would be inclined to justify the outcome unless there was clear evidence that the situation was under control but the beating was unmercifully continued until the guy was killed - then be thinking manslaughter giving benefit of the doubt toward temporary insanity which would be understandable for a father trying to save his children..

Right it will probably be not guilty by reason of temporary insanity.

 

[canadyjd]

Generally speaking, the father only gets to use the force necessary to stop the threat. If the man is out of the car and unconscious and the father continued to punch him until he died, he could face charges. Hard to imagine a jury convicting him, though, but stranger things have happened.

Peace to you

 

[HankD]

Generally speaking, the father only gets to use the force necessary to stop the threat. If the man is out of the car and unconscious and the father continued to punch him until he died, he could face charges. Hard to imagine a jury convicting him, though, but stranger things have happened.

Peace to you

Yeah and we don't know all the little details of what happened when he caught the kidnapper.

 

[Benjamin]

Yeah and we don't know all the little details of what happened when he caught the kidnapper.

A few details: "The aforementioned boyfriend charged out of the restaurant and after the car. When it was blocked by traffic, he caught up and dragged the would-be abductor from the vehicle. He and other bystanders then assaulted the man. Emergency medical services responded to the scene and took the thief to Temple University Hospital. But just after 10 p.m., he was declared dead."

Sounds a bit of vigilantism from a mob...???

 

[HankD]

A few details: "The aforementioned boyfriend charged out of the restaurant and after the car. When it was blocked by traffic, he caught up and dragged the would-be abductor from the vehicle. He and other bystanders then assaulted the man. Emergency medical services responded to the scene and took the thief to Temple University Hospital. But just after 10 p.m., he was declared dead."

Sounds a bit of vigilantism from a mob...???

yeah but he aint gonna do anymore kidnaps.