Aussie student in OK shot and killed "for fun"

Reba

Reba

Retired Terp
Premium Member
Joined
Jun 8, 2004
Messages
54,903
Reaction score
1,518
This is horrible!

Teens charged after allegedly killing Australian student in Oklahoma for the 'fun of it'
Published August 21, 2013

Prosecutors on Tuesday charged two teenagers accused of gunning down an Australian student in Oklahoma for the “fun of it” with first-degree murder, and a third teen with being an accessory.

Officials say 22-year-old Christopher Lane, who was visiting the U.S. on a baseball scholarship at East Central University, was jogging along a road in Duncan, Okla., after visiting his girlfriend on Friday when he was shot in the back, allegedly by the teens.

Terri Moore from the Stephens County Courthouse says 16-year-old Chancey Allen Luna and 15-year-old James Francis Edwards Jr. were charged as adults with first-degree murder. Both are being held without bond.

Bond was set at $1 million for 17-year-old Michael Jones, who allegedly drove the vehicle carrying the other suspects. He was charged with the use of a vehicle in the discharge of a weapon and accessory to murder after the fact. Jones is considered a youthful offender but will be tried in adult court.

Prosecutor Jason Hicks called the boys "thugs" in court, saying Luna was sitting in the rear seat of a car when he pulled the trigger on a .22 caliber revolver and shot Lane once in the back. Hicks said Jones was driving the vehicle and Edwards was in the passenger seat.

Edwards has had run-ins with the law previously and had been in court Friday, the day of the killing, to sign documents related to his juvenile probation.

"I believe this man is a threat to the community and should not be let out," Hicks said as he requested no bond for Edwards. "He thinks it's all a joke."
The 17-year-old wept in court after he tried to speak and was cut off by the judge.

"I'm appalled," Hicks said after the hearing. "This is not supposed to happen in this community."

Police Chief Dan Ford said Lane appeared to have been chosen at random, saying in a variety of media interviews since Friday's killing that one suspect told officers that he and other boys were bored and that they followed Lane and killed him for "the fun of it."

A woman tried CPR and paramedics arrived on scene, but Lane was pronounced dead an hour later.

"He went by a residence where these three boys were, they picked him as a target, they went out and got in a vehicle and followed him," Ford told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, according to AFP.

"[They] came up from behind and basically shot him in the back with a small caliber weapon, then sped away," Ford added.

Richard Rhodes, a builder who discovered Lane lying face down, said he was targeted with a .22 caliber revolver.

Police tracked the teens down using surveillance video from a business that is near the shooting scene, KOCO reports.

On one of the alleged killer's Facebook pages, investigators found the message: "Bang. Two drops in two hours," Sky News reports.

"I think they were on a killing spree. We would have had more bodies that night if we didn't get them,” Ford said in an interview with the Australian Associated Press.

Peter Lane told Australian media there was no explanation for his son's death.

"It is heartless and to try to understand it is a short way to insanity," he said.
The mother of the 16-year-old accused in the killing said her son and his two friends were part of a “wannabe gang,” but insisted that he is not a killer, KOCO reports.

The father of the 15-year-old also denied his son had a role in Lane’s death, but said the boy had run-ins with the law before, News.com.au reports.

On Tuesday, Lane's girlfriend, Sarah Harper, laid a wooden cross at a memorial that formed along the road where Duncan was killed.

"We just thought we'd leave it," Harper said. "This is his final spot."

Harper said she doesn't know who started the memorial, but it means a lot.
East Central University is setting up a fund so Lane’s parents, who are still in Australia, can come to Oklahoma.

The school is in Ada, about 85 miles west of Duncan. Lane started 14 games at catcher last year and was entering his senior year.

"Chris was a well-liked young man here on campus. His teammates thought a lot of him. Seemed to be a bright, promising student," Dr. Jeff Williams, the athletic director at East Central University, told KOCO.

Australia's Herald Sun newspaper said Lane's former team, Essendon Baseball Club, would turn its Sunday game against the University of Melbourne into a tribute to Lane to raise money for the family. Roses and a baseball were placed on the home plate on Monday with the message, "A wonderful young man taken too soon. Why?"
Click to expand...

Teens charged after allegedly killing Australian student in Oklahoma for the 'fun of it' | Fox News
 
DA releases 911 call following 'thrill kill' of Australian college student in Oklahoma
Published August 21, 2013

Oklahoma authorities Wednesday released a 911 call from a woman reporting that Chris Lane, an Australian national who played baseball for East Central University, was shot in the back as he jogged along the side of a road.

The caller, Joyce Smith, was in her car Friday afternoon when she saw Lane stagger across the street in the town of Duncan, which is about 30 miles southwest of Oklahoma City. Lane collapsed on the side of the road with his back bloodied, she said. She called 911 and told the operator that Lane was unconscious.

Smith said he was grasping for air and making a 'huh, huh, huh' sound. One person told Smith the man had been shot.

About five minutes into the call, Smith said, "I hear no sirens. I see no lights. Oh my gosh, how long is it gonna be?"

At that point, a woman was performing CPR. KOCO reported that seven minutes into the call, Smith told the dispatcher that Lane had stopped breathing. He was pronounced dead an hour later at Duncan Regional Hospital.

Officials say Lane, 22, had just visited his girlfriend.

Police Chief Dan Ford said Lane appeared to have been chosen at random, saying in a variety of media interviews since Friday's killing that one suspect told officers that he and other boys were bored and that they followed Lane and killed him for "the fun of it."

Prosecutors on Tuesday afternoon charged two teens, 16-year-old Chancey Allen Luna and 15-year-old James Francis Edwards Jr., as adults with first-degree murder. Both are being held without bond.

Bond was set at $1 million for 17-year-old Michael Jones, who allegedly drove the vehicle carrying the other suspects. He was charged with the use of a vehicle in the discharge of a weapon and accessory to murder after the fact. Jones is considered a youthful offender but will be tried in adult court.

Prosecutor Jason Hicks called the boys "thugs" in court, saying Luna was sitting in the rear seat of a car when he pulled the trigger on a .22 caliber revolver and shot Lane once in the back. Hicks said Jones was driving the vehicle and Edwards was in the passenger seat.

Edwards has had run-ins with the law previously and had been in court Friday, the day of the killing, to sign documents related to his juvenile probation.

"I believe this man is a threat to the community and should not be let out," Hicks said as he requested no bond for Edwards. "He thinks it's all a joke."
The 17-year-old wept in court after he tried to speak and was cut off by the judge.

"I'm appalled," Hicks said after the hearing. "This is not supposed to happen in this community."

Peter Lane told Australian media there was no explanation for his son's death.

"It is heartless and to try to understand it is a short way to insanity," he said.
Click to expand...
Read more: DA releases 911 call following 'thrill kill' of Australian college student in Oklahoma | Fox News
 
so much cruelty...i normally against under 18 being tried as adult but in this case it in everyone intrest they throw key away
 
Mainstream media, Al Sharpton, and Jessie Jackson:

*chirping noise*
 
I believe anyone who kills has no place in society and should suffer the same fate.
If you shot someone, you get the firing squad. If you stab someone, hell stab them too. Let them suffer the same exact fate they did to someone else. If you strangled someone, hang em. There is no such thing as humanity for them, why should they die peaceful with a pain free lethal injection? Make them suffer, suffer the same fate. I believe that will cut down on crime as well, anyone remember public hangings or executions in the early 1900's.... its a wake up call.
 
sonocativo said:
I believe anyone who kills has no place in society and should suffer the same fate.
If you shot someone, you get the firing squad. If you stab someone, hell stab them too. Let them suffer the same exact fate they did to someone else. If you strangled someone, hang em. There is no such thing as humanity for them, why should they die peaceful with a pain free lethal injection? Make them suffer, suffer the same fate. I believe that will cut down on crime as well, anyone remember public hangings or executions in the early 1900's.... its a wake up call.
Click to expand...

3 teens are juvenile so no death penalty.
 
One reason I say that is....
There has been murderers under 18 AT THE TIME OF THE MURDER, but by time it gets to court they are 18 or older and charged as adults... lets see if they drag it out til then.
 
Jones wept in the courtroom after he tried to speak about the incident but was cut off by the judge who said it wasn't the time to sort out the facts of the case. Jones faces anywhere from two years to life in prison if convicted on the counts he faces.

The two younger teens face life in prison without parole if convicted on the murder charge.
Click to expand...

Christopher Lane Murder: Teens Charged In Shooting Death Of Australian Baseball Player

I know summer can be very boring but no excuse to break the law - I don't understand why judge didn't send troubled teens to adventure camp instead of commit more crime.
 
Jones was a driver, he will get the easy off charges. The passenger depending on involvement and the shooter is the oldest, he will get the brute of the charges, and most likely if he is close enough in age they will keep pushing the case around till he is of age. It happens, and if they do let him off easy, I wouldn't be amazed in todays world where the justice system is for the criminals. But the judge seems like he has a good head on his shoulders.
 
kokonut said:
Mainstream media, Al Sharpton, and Jessie Jackson:

*chirping noise*
Click to expand...

this is not the time or place for your political agenda in here. shame on you. have some respect for this guy.
 
I say pull all the military out and bring them home to protect our land, and send all criminals over to do what they like...kill, and join the fun there.
 
Back
Top