The judge was not legally permitted to consider her lack of intent to kill and the numerous tragic circumstances of her young life (150).

It shows the pain this young boy, imprisoned at the age of thirteen, experienced. It also shows his intellectual capacity. The poem is one of many he wrote.

Debbie Baigre, the woman he shot, came to know him after he apologized to her. They kept in touch and she encouraged him. She also tried to get his sentence reduced (153).

When he lived in the midst of gang activity in South Central Los Angeles, he got into trouble, but when he was able to leave that environment, such as when he stayed with relatives in Las Vegas, he did well (154-185).

In the past, such a young person would only find themselves in an adult prison with an adult sentence if the crime were high-profile or if the victim were white and the suspect black and the crime took place in the South (157).

In the late 80s and early 90s, criminologists warned that horrific crimes would increasingly be committed by children, whom they called "super predators". This led to laws designed to allow increased "exposure of children to adult prosecution" (159).