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Posted on 04/11/2006 9:22:06 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
ONTARIO - Police investigating the suicide of a middle-schooler say the boy's stepfather could face criminal charges for allegedly not securing the rifle the boy used to kill himself.
Anthony Soltero, 14, shot himself March 30. According to the family's attorney, the De Anza Middle School student was distraught after a vice principal threatened him with jail time and school discipline for protesting immigration-reform bill HR 4437.
Police withheld the name of Soltero's stepfather, since he has not been arrested or charged. Ontario police Lt. John Evans said the man kept the rifle in the family's garage. The weapon was not in a gun safe and had no locking device, Evans said.
"The parent left out a weapon, which is open access and is against the law," Evans said.
Police said they plan to submit their case against Soltero's stepfather to the San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office for review. Ontario Police Cpl. Jeff Higbee said prosecutors will consider filing a charge of criminal storage of a firearm, resulting in death. The charge is a felony.
School district officials had no comment Monday about the allegations made by the boy's family, but said classmates and staff were traumatized by his death.
"Anthony is on everyone's mind today," said Leticia Zaragoza, who officially started as the school's new principal Monday. "Basically, it's been an impact for our students and staff. It hit them hard."
Funeral services for the boy were held Monday in Long Beach.
Soltero and several other students walked out of DeAnza Middle School on March 28 to protest the immigration bill, which includes harsh penalties for illegal immigrants.
On March 30, the boy was called into a school administrator's office, where he was told he could go to jail for three years for his involvement in the protests, said Samuel R. Paz, the family's attorney. The administrator also said the boy could be barred from graduation activities and his mother could be fined, Paz said.
Soltero reportedly called his mother, Louise Corales, and told her what the administrator said. By the time she got home from work, he had shot himself with what police said was a small-caliber rifle. Corales called police just after 3 p.m.
Paramedics took him to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton, where he was pronounced dead April 1.
District officials said they're obligated to talk to children about the consequences of truancy because students could face harm while wandering around off campus.
"We're responsible for the children during the day, and we want them to be safe," said Ontario-Montclair School District Deputy Superintendent James Kidwell. "If they're walking the streets in large groups, very often they get to goofing around and acting inappropriately, and they could be injured."
Kidwell said in one instance a student participating in the protests came within a foot of being struck by a car.
Police have issued truancy citations to some students already, Kidwell said. Other students also have been warned they could face citations if they walk off campus. He would not confirm what school officials said to Soltero. "Pending some threatened litigation against the district, I can't comment on it," he said.
Zaragoza said school officials contacted students closest to the boy over spring break last week to offer them counseling at the school. They also sent notes home to parents to notify them of the incident. Administrators brought in several district and volunteer counselors to talk to students last week. Counselors probably will remain at the school the rest of the week, Zaragoza said.
Paz said he planned to discuss the incident with district officials and has also talked to several students who were in the same meeting with Soltero and the school administrator.
He said police are in possession of a suicide note written by Soltero. The contents of the note, which could potentially shed light on the boy's motivation for killing himself, were not disclosed.
CA: Inland youth mourned as 'martyr' (14YO, committed suicide, feared being jailed for 'walk-out') ^
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1612789/posts
regardless of how one feels about the immigration bill, threatening a kid with three years of jail for participating in a protest is very heavy-handed.
Today you march, tomorrow you vote?
While you demand I learn Spanish
Or you’ll yell racist and lunge for my throat
You demand rights and citizenship from me
While waving the large flag
Of the country your risked your life to flee
You say want what is your right
While I pay for your children’s schooling and births
And we watch as MS-13 and our police fight
You shout that you came and that you should stay
While my money pays for your food stamps
And you and your friends take my friends’ jobs away
My taxes rise to pay for your children born here
Their schooling, their births, every trip to the emergency room
And left to run wild gangs add to our fear
I say I can’t pay for everything you demand and you say I had “the race”
While the poor kid from Oklahoma can’t afford college
When the kid from Mexico gets into college and funding in his place
Break our laws with your hand out for more
For welfare, for anchor babies, and demanding of jobs
When ever more jobs leave our own shore
How can we be equal when we import poverty and destroy law and order?
How can we afford the burden that they and their children bring?
And ask those who are raped and murdered because we have an open border.
For the black guy who loses his job and the Canadian who waited his turn
And the Chinese told to learn Spanish and the Indians who earned their visas
If we give Mexican illegals amnesty, what is the lesson THEY learn?
Hopefully the penalty won't be severe, like killing one of his kids.
ping
ping
Careful. Someday you might want to exercise your right of dissent.
I think threatening a high school kid with 3 years jail time for participating in a march is very inappropriate. Just suspend him or bar him from the prom if you must.
Libertarian ping! To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here.
Travis is no longer with us.
suspended or banned?
Can you tell us if Travis McGee been suspended or banned?
Banned.
Why?
Thank you.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1612338/posts?q=1&&page=401
ok thanks ill go check it out in a few minutes
You're welcome.
Some reports say "jail," some reports say "detention." This child was already in trouble with the school, which is why truancy would have been treated more severely by administrators. If the boy had thought clearly, he should have known that some people exaggerate the potential punishments, but even if he really believed the threat of 3 years of jail, he probably had other problems that caused him to kill himself.
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