Scoop Link - Boy Had Violent History

Boy has violent history, young suspect in slaying had attacked other classmates, father says

Wednesday, March 1, 2000

By James L. Smith, Ken Palmer, Bryn Mickle and Linda Angelo
THE FLINT JOURNAL STAFF WRITERS

A 6-year-old boy who allegedly shot and killed a first-grade classmate was living in a crack house and had been suspended from school for fighting and other behavioral problems, the child's father told an investigator.

Genesee County Sheriff Robert J. Pickell said he spoke with the boy's father, an inmate at the county jail, late Tuesday night on behalf of Mt. Morris Township police.

When he heard about the shooting at Buell Elementary School, the man said he had a feeling his child was involved.

"He said a sickening feeling came over him ... because he knew his son and knew the type of problems he'd been having," Pickell said.

The father, 29, has been in jail since Feb. 20 for an alleged parole violation stemming from a burglary case, Pickell said.

The boy had moved out of his mother's home and was living with an uncle at a crack house, Pickell said the man told him. The child had been in trouble at school for poking another child with a pencil and for fighting, the father said.

When he asked his son about the incidents....

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