Over the weekend I received an e-mail from Jennifer Deremus. If the name sounds familiar it's because she is the stepmother of Dakota Deremus. Readers of this sight should know that Dakota
died at the hands of Dustin Howard. To make matters worse not only was his death
recorded on a cell phone by some of Howard's stupid friends but 16-year-old Howard was
charged as a juvenile. By now you should know my stance on that. (For newcomers I'm always in favor of trying juveniles as adults for murder.)
Conversely take the recorded beating of
Victoria Lindsay from Florida. Luckily she survived her beating that was also recorded. Her teenage assailants were
charged as adults.
In the case of Victoria Lindsay there was national outrage of Biblical proportions. In the case of Dakota Deremus not so much. Mrs. Deremus asked me why that is? Unfortunately it's too simple. It all comes down to saturation.
Do a
YouTube search for Victoria Lindsay and 800 videos come up. Do
one for Dakota Deremus and only 3 come up and none of them show what happened to him.
Why were Victoria Lindsay's tormentors charged as adults and Dustin Howard wasn't? Dustin Howard
killed Dakota Deremus, Victoria Lindsay is alive and recovering. Victoria's attackers could be jailed for life. Dustin Howard will more than likely be released at the age of 19 and have his record erased.
The saddest part is that we shouldn't need a video to be outraged by Dakota's death.