6 Year Old Tried for Murder
Today not so different from yesterday after all…
In Paintsville, a small eastern coal-mining town in Kentucky, Carl Newton Mahan became the youngest person ever tried for murder.
On May 18, 1929 Carl, age 6 and his friend Cecil Van Hoose, age 8, found a scrap of iron that they planned to sell to a junk dealer for a little extra money. Cecil took the scrap from Carl and hit him in the face with it. Carl got his revenge by running home and grabbing his father’s 12 gauge shotgun. He ran back to Cecil, pointed the gun at him and yelled “I’m going to shoot you!” And he did, killing the boy.
He was tried for murder, and got up on the stand to tell the court what happened. For the rest of the day long trial he sometimes laid and slept on the defense table. After 30 minutes of deliberation, the jury decided that manslaughter was more fitting…
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You’re right about things not changing much over the years. Are you familiar with the James Bulger (not Whitey) murder in England? This one gave me nightmares: http://archives.newyorker.com/?i=1994-02-14#folio=048
The horror the child (and his mother) must have endured. Yes, the story definitely had me in fits. The first time I read it I tried to learn where they (the perpetrators) are now, but couldn’t find much. I think one changed his name and ended up in trouble again later. Time tor research.