Prosecutors don’t charge parents in recent youth suicides

On the same day in December and only hours apart, a 10-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl used unsecured guns in their homes to shoot themselves in the head.

The Clark County coroner determined weeks later that the cause of death in each case was suicide, confirming what investigators had suspected.

The Metropolitan Police Department forwarded the cases to the Clark County district attorney’s office for possible prosecution of three parents. In each case, at least one parent was at home when the child pulled the trigger.

The parents, who have not been named by police, faced possible felony charges of child endangerment with substantial bodily harm.

Prosecutors with the district attorney’s office said last week they declined to pursue charges in the two cases because evidence indicated the children wanted to kill themselves. The parents had no idea that their children were suicidal, prosecutors said.

“As much as we want parents to be responsible for the safety of their children, you’re not in the head of the child,” said Chief Deputy District Attorney Alexandra Chrysanthis. “If you have no indication they are contemplating taking their life, it’s very difficult for us to second- guess what a parent should have done.”

Chrysanthis said each case was “tragic and heart-wrenching.”

Relatives of the teenage girl declined comment. Family members of the 10-year-old boy could not be reached for comment.

The Review-Journal reported at least one case, in 2005, in which a parent of a suicidal child was prosecuted for leaving an unsecured weapon at the home. The child later used the firearm to kill himself.

There are also other recent examples of children finding unsecured weapons and accidentally shooting themselves. Adults were charged in those cases.

Assistant District Attorney Chris Owens said attorneys are “very aware” that charging parents in such cases adds to the pain of having lost a child. A line also has to be drawn somewhere, Owens said. Do prosecutors charge parents whose children commit suicide for not hiding knives or leaving prescription drugs in the open?

Those potentially lethal items could be used by children to kill themselves, but Owens believes that’s going too far when parents don’t even know their children are suicidal.

ONE TRAGIC DAY

On Dec. 13 about 2:45 p.m., 10-year-old Kameron Asgari shot himself after finding a weapon at a home in the 5800 block of Ponderosa Way, near Russell Road and Jones Boulevard.

Shortly after 11 p.m. that night, 13-year-old Marina Momcheva shot herself at a home in the 2100 block of Dragon Claw Lane, near Lake Mead and Holly­wood boulevards. She died from her injuries five nights later. Marina was an eighth-grader at Bailey Middle School.

Lisa Teele, supervisor for the Metropolitan Police Department’s Abuse and Neglect Detail, strongly believes adults have a responsibility to secure firearms to keep children safe. She told the Las Vegas Review-Journal as much before and after the two child suicide cases were submitted to the district attorney’s office.

Reached last week, she said she was satisfied with the prosecutor’s decision not to press charges in the two suicides.

“It is our job to present a thorough investigation to the district attorney’s office,” Teele said. “It is their job to review the information that is presented. I have the utmost regard for the work that they do. … These type of cases are difficult, and it is a tragedy and great loss to these families, to our community and to everyone involved.”

Chrysanthis said in Kameron’s case, the boy’s mother was home when he shot himself. Police also named the boy’s father for possible prosecution although he wasn’t home during the shooting, she said. Chrysanthis was unsure why the father was singled out in the shooting in the police investigation.

She said Kameron’s mother saw him go upstairs. Two minutes later, she heard a gunshot. The boy had retrieved the gun from the master bedroom. Chrysanthis said the gun was not secured.

In Marina’s shooting, Chrysanthis said police submitted a case against her mother and father. She said Marina’s father was home during the shooting.

Chrysanthis added that Marina apparently picked up the unsecured gun from a kitchen counter. She shot herself in a bathroom.

The child’s father apparently asked Marina’s sibling for a glass of water about 11 p.m. Minutes later, he heard a gunshot.

Chrysanthis said the family kept the gun in the kitchen “out in the open to protect themselves from the outside.”

Chrysanthis and Owens said the cases, although similar, were looked at individually. Both prosecutors said the ages of the children who fatally shot themselves factored into the decision not to charge the parents. The children were old enough to understand the threat posed by guns, she said.

Owens said there were a variety of factors considered in both cases.

“It’s not any one thing, it’s not two things, it’s not three things,” Owens said. “It’s balancing a lot of different things.”

IDENTIFYING THE WARNING SIGNS

Rosemary Virtuoso, coordinator for the Clark County School District’s Department of Student Threat Evaluation and Crisis Response, said there are warning signs adults need to be aware of when dealing with depressed children who might be suicidal.

Suicidal children might display feelings of sadness and hopelessness, she said. They may exhibit behaviors that demonstrate their depression, such as moodiness, having their grades slip or withdrawing to their bedroom. They may stop talking to their parents about their problems.

She said these feelings or behaviors can easily be misinterpreted by adults as typical angst. “You could see how easily a parent can miss some of that,” Virtuoso said.

Virtuoso said the district runs a program for students in middle school and high school that teaches them about the warning signs of suicide. It encourages them to alert adults they trust if they feel suicidal or believe a friend may be.

Virtuoso said it’s not unheard of for someone as young as Kameron to commit suicide. Grief counselors were dispatched to the schools attended by Kameron and Marina after they died.

Virtuoso said suicide is an issue that affects all demographics.

“It’s difficult 100 percent of the time,” Virtuoso said. “It’s not easy for any level because it impacts everybody,” including parents, teachers and classmates.

Virtuoso said children as young as 10-year-old Kameron might not understand the finality of suicide.

In 2011, 15 children ages 17 and under committed suicide in Clark County, according to the coroner’s office.

PROSECUTIONS PURSUED

In 2005, Geoffrey Wells pleaded guilty to child endangerment in the death of his 12-year-old son. The Henderson boy shot himself in August of that year while his parents were engaged in a bitter divorce.

Authorities said Wells’ children, ages 12, 10 and 8, had easy access to rifles and shotguns that were left unsecured in their home.

Adults in other more recent cases also were prosecuted after leaving weapons unsecured, leading to accidental shootings involving children.

In December, 37-year-old Sidney J. Jacobs was charged with one count of child abuse and neglect with substantial bodily harm in the Sept. 25 death of 6-year-old Robert Martin IV. The boy was fatally shot by his 11-year-old uncle at Jacobs’ Henderson home.

The older boy told police he found the 9 mm handgun in a cardboard box labeled “treasure chest” and thought it was a toy. He pointed it at his nephew and pulled the trigger, expecting confetti to shoot from the barrel, according to the police report.

Jacobs and his girlfriend were in an upstairs bedroom drinking vodka and listening to music during the shooting.

Jacobs faces a preliminary hearing in Henderson on Thursday .

In May 2010, a Las Vegas police officer and his wife pleaded guilty to misdemeanor use or possession of a firearm by a child under 18. Jared and Shawnee Bledsoe were sentenced to 50 hours of community service and had to take a gun safety class.

In February of that year, police said the couple’s 2-year-old son was put to bed in his parent’s bedroom where he discovered his father’s .45-caliber gun in a nightstand.

The gun discharged, striking the boy in the arm and abdomen. He survived his injuries.

Contact reporter Antonio Planas at
aplanas@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4638.