In January of 2011, a woman named Julie Schenecker shot her two children in their Florida home. Julie armed herself with a .38 Caliber Revolver the night before with intention in killing her children. Julie first shot her 13 year old son named Beau in the head twice. Afterwards she walked up behind her 16 year old daughter named Caylx while she was doing homework and shot her once in the head then in the face. The police interviewed Julie after the murders and she claimed to have done it because “they were talking back and being mouthy.” Julie's trial is happening now and they have decided that she will not receive the death penalty due to mental illness.
We were talking about the Puritans in English a while back and this case reminds me of them. Puritans had certain beliefs and thought that everyone should think in the same way that they did. When someone didn’t think in their way they thought they would be doing God’s work by killing them, for no reason. Julie did the same thing as the Puritans. She thought that she children should behave a certain way and when they didn’t do as she wanted them to she killed them both. `
This is a cruel and depressing story. The children were just minding their own business then killed by their own mother. They both could’ve had a bright future but now we will never know. A mother has no right to do something like this. Even if Julie’s kids were being “mouthy” there was no need to shoot them over it. There are many other techniques to try and stop them from being disrespectful. Another thing I don’t understand is how Julie was denied the death penalty because of mental illness. In my opinion the death penalty is what she needs. This woman murdered her own children, and for what reason? They claimed that she has mental issues but she raised her children for 16 years, she had a normal family and everything seemed like it was going good for them. Just because she randomly killed her children for a non legitimate reason doesn’t mean she has mental issues. If she was sane enough to go buy a gun to intentionally kill her children then I think she is sane enough to face the death penalty.
- What is the central idea of the passage and how is it developed and refined throughout the selection? Use evidence from the selection to support your answer.
- The central idea of this passage is to inform the reader of information about what Julie did and give information on her life before the crime. We learn more about the murder when in paragraph eight the author says, “Officers at the scene found the boy still in the passenger seat, with his seat belt on. The report said Schenecker then shot her 16-year-old daughter, Calyx, in the face as the high school cross-country star studied on her computer at their upscale home.” This quote gives details on the murder and shows that one of the ideas of the passage was to inform us of the murder. In paragraph ten the author gives more information by syaing, “Julie Schenecker was born in Muscatine, Iowa. There, she was an athlete and that continued in college, where she played volleyball for the University of Northern Iowa.” This quote proves that another idea of the passage was to give us background information on Julie before the murder happened.
“Florida Military Mom On Trial For Killing Her Teenagers.” Fox News. N.p., 28 Apr 2014. Web. 4 May 2014, <http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/04/28/jury-selection-to-begin-for-tampa-military-mother-accused-killing-her-2/>
Roberson, Richard. “Every Bullet Has Someones Name On It.” Photograph. Flickr. Yahoo, 25 Jan 2008. Web, 4 May 2014, <https://www.flickr.com/photos/61593595@N00/2220085330>
