N.C. boy dies after being tied to tree; parents charged with murder

Originally posted by Quazga

I think the difference is that the Parents were not filmed laughing while their boy died. Obviously this result was *not* there intention.

As angry as we are at the parents of this boy, none of us think for a moment that they meant to kill him mercilessly.

Are they stupid? Yes. Should they be punished in a very meaningful way, I think the consensus on this thread is yes. Did they *intend* to kill him and were they Joyful about it, as the marine was? No


Just to keep from utter despair about humanity, I hope you are right. But they tied him up TWICE. OK, maybe he was unusually agressive and defiant. Still, they should have seen that he wasn't in good condition after the first night. Or maybe he actually survived one night reasonably intact and they thought he didn't suffer enough (?????) They HAD to know they were hurting him. Depending on how they tied him, just the pain of the ropes could have been excruciating. The D.A. or whoever brought the charges must have thought there was malice aforethought, or else the charge would have been manslaughter, not murder.

Here is a more in depth article and how he DIED that I had read yesterday. The article in the OP is very vague...so check out this one

www.wral.com...

The teen, who was identified as Tyler Gene McMillan, was in cardiac arrest and was taken to Heritage Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, Jefferson said.

Investigators found bruises on the boy's wrists and ankles, Knight said, declining to comment on whether other marks were found on his body.

A 7-year-old and a 9-year-old who live in the McMillan home have been placed in the custody of the Department of Social Services, authorities said.

Tyler McMillan's mother, Michelle "Mickey" Sasser McMillan, died of cancer several years ago.

Carolyn Pollard, who lives across the road from the McMillans, said the family moved to the area about three months ago from Florida. The children were homeschooled, and the family kept to themselves, she said.

With that said....I do NOT think these parents should get a luxurious life (prison standards - TV, visitors, mail, food, etc) in prison. NO WAY. That is not FAIR punishment.


[edit on 16-6-2008 by greeneyedleo]

[edit on 16-6-2008 by greeneyedleo]

What is going on???? Can anyone answer that for me?What the hell is going on? This is yet another story of abuse and the horrid death of a child. I just can't wrap my head around these disgusting events. I mean GOOD GOD in the same day its the piece of s*#* that stomps a baby to death in the middle of the road and now this! It seems like it is getting worse every day;;What the hell is happening to our society....and it is not just here in the U.S. it is everywhere.

Originally posted by Sestias
I hope they get life.

They've had their life. I hope they get death.

reply to post by InSpiteOf


Not picking on me at all.. thanks for pointing that out..

Look.. I just became a parent 15 months ago.. I don't know jack crap in the world of parenting except what is good for my baby boy and what isn't and what's right and wrong.. and so far that's gotten me this far and my boy is very well behaved.. NOW I will say this..
My mother married an absolute Donkey of a man.. treated us like crap.. my brother became very introverted and kept to himself.. I was younger and more outspoken and fought it all the way.. When I got into my mid teens I got a visit from the Police one night after a long night of fighting and shouting and name calling.. The police spoke to me for about an hour and let me go back inside my mum's house.. And I realised one thing.. My mothers husband was still a donkey.. I was smarter than him and that their choices we're mine.. And I think I LEARNED more from that one visit than anyone else did..

It's a shame this boy didn't get the same visit.. It's a shame his parents didn't think that maybe the police could help him, either by scaring the hell outta him in handcuffs.. or opening his eyes to the fact that he will move on in life like they did with me..

reply to post by greeneyedleo


Thanks for the new information. I have a second source (usatoday), but it's not as detailed as your excerpt.

reply to post by xSMOKING_GUNx

I cant see how the parents could possibly think that this kind of punishment could have a positive outcome.

For the same reason that cops scare, intimidate, threaten, and beat up kids who they think aren't being shown enough discipline at home, and are "trouble makers."

I had a cop tell my mother that they had to show me some "tough love" one night when I was fourteen. Three of them beat me up in the station because I wouldn't snitch on the guy who bought me a 40 of beer. Roughed me up pretty good to. Knocked me off a chair while I was cuffed, knocked my head off the floor. No broken bones, but enough to send the message loud and clear that I was not a kid anymore.

The guy who bought the beer had been scared to do it, but I talked him into it. He was pretty young himself, a black guy, and borderline retarted. (Not meant to be funny.) Anyway, at the end when they were finally about to release me, one of the cops tells me, "don't even bother getting your license next year, because I'll still be here, and I'll remember you. Then we'll really find out who the tough guy is." I can't imagine how they must have worked over the other guy. I never saw him again.

The two girls that were there got roughed up a little too, along with being threatened that they would be put in juvie and the whole bit, if they didn't snitch.

Anyway, just one of many little anecdotes I can share about how the whole "tough love" routine is bull#.

reply to post by Ox

Why? How... how do people do this to their children?

Fear. Fear that the child will wind up as miserable as they are. Fear that if the child acts up, the parents will be held responsible and sent to prison. Many fears.

And because it was done to them. Not even necessarily by their own parents, but by a system that doesn't give two #s about its own people.

It's a cruel world out there kids, better get used to it.

reply to post by Sestias


People don't think. They only see a problem, and feel that they have to react to it.

I almost died one night, while I was being held in custody by the police. The cop left me in the cruiser, cuffed, with a heavy coat on, and the heat on full tilt for over an hour while the car was running. I was unconcious when they finally opened the door and released me, without so much as asking if I needed an ambulance. They literally left me laying on the pavement, though I had regained conciousness to some degree.

All this because I happened to be in the vicinity of a gas station robbery that I had nothing to do with. Lucky for me they finally figured that out before I died.

EDIT to add: And by the way, no one bothered to help me or even say anything to the cops inside the station. I never felt more helpless than screaming for help, and knocking my head on the glass seeing customers coming and going, and looking at me as some crazed criminal.



[edit on 6/16/0808 by jackinthebox]

reply to post by Ox

It's a shame his parents didn't think that maybe the police could help him, either by scaring the hell outta him in handcuffs..

If you have to resort to that as a parent, there is already something very wrong. Either with your parenting skills, or with something clinical that must be treated by professionals, other than the police. "Scaring" the kid will only make him worse. I've seen it happen. Probably because, what people never seem to realize, is that these kids who are acting up are already living in desperate fear of something. Wether it be the loss of another parent perhaps, or even the cruel world at large.



[edit on 6/16/0808 by jackinthebox]

All I want to say is this story and all the other stories I read like this saddens me. I cannot understand it. I just can’t.

I feel sorry for every abused child out there. I hope and pray for their survival and well being. It’s not easy being abused and living a normal life. I know that to be fact.

I’m am very sad to have read this.

Don't just ask "why did this happen?" Listen for the answers. It is possible that these parents may have just been downright evil, but it is more than likely that society has failed them as well as the child. After all, these parents were once children themselves. How do we break the cycle of hatred, fear, abuse, and ignorance? Tough love is not the answer.

Originally posted by jackinthebox
How do we break the cycle of hatred, fear, abuse, and ignorance? Tough love is not the answer.

I broke my cycle with my Lord. I and my brother and sister were abused. So much happen to me in my life that I never thought I would make it past the age of 9, 10, 11, etc… everyday I woke up and the first thing I did was pray and thanked God for another day. Even though I knew it was *ell at home.

Jesus got me through every day. Today at the age of 40 and 3 teens I have never, ever abused them. Not once. Jesus was my only real true Father. My earthly dad was not.

I was told my dad was abused by his dad and so he had to do it to us. Whatever, I tell my mother today, I was abused and you don’t see me doing it.

If you truly love your kids your not going to abuse them. God taught me how to Love and Show love that much I do know. Without Him in my life I would have already been dead.

So I guess that is how the cycle got broken with me. My Father my Lord and Savior helped me.

reply to post by Shar


I am sorry that you had to endure what you did, and very glad to see that you are doing well, and doing doing the right thing.

I don't just mean a cycle of inherited abuse either though, but the convergence of circumstances in which abuse can flourish. After all, it starts somewhere, and as you can testify to, it also ends somewhere. I want to do whatever I can to change the circumstances in which the abuse starts and flourishes. What does drive people to abuse their children? I don't believe in most cases that it is malicious or done out of hatred. My father never thought it was wrong when he beat me, though he regrets it now today.

I say, tie them to a tree in the amazon, and let the fire ants have a buffet.
Nature has more perfect ways of revenge than man.

What is it about North Carolina?? I live in S.C. and I get a lot of local NC news as I am not far from the NC boarder and I swear here in just the last few weeks I have been hearing more and more absolutely insane stories of abuse. Just in the last week alone there is this story, then another of a man who beat his child to death on the side of the road while other people watched and he was finally stopped when a police officer shot him dead, then there was the story of the teenager who went after and molested a young girl after recently being released from a juvenile facility where he was housed after being arrested for raping a dog. It just seems that in this area there are more and more stories like this coming to light. I have to wonder why. Is it really a sign of the times or is there more to it than meets the eye?

W T F??? I cant stand this kind of stuff I hope the court ties them to the tree.
They met to hurt the boy, I mean days outside no blankets or food.
WHERE WERE THE NEIGHBORS?????
If I was a little kid and my parent tied me up to a tree I would be crying all day and night NO ONE HEARD HIM???? come on this is FFFFFF*#&$ sickening.

reply to post by jackinthebox


I have to disagree with you.. When my mother remarried and her new husband tried to control us.. and I don't mean.. send us to our room or something.. I mean.. control us.. tell us who we could have as friends etc..
I acted out.. alot.. and like I said.. when the police came after they were called.. they sat with me privately and spoke to me.. Now this is in Australia not the USA where I currently live, Australian police back then were a little more relaxed.. The officer spoke to me as an adult (I was in my teens at the time) and made me realise that what I was doing wasn't helping and opened my eyes to the fact that.. in a few years I was going to grow up and move out of the house and wouldn't have to deal with it any longer...
And my mother didn't fail as a parent, just in her decisions as a family member, She didn't think about what was for the good of her family she thought about herself, which .. I can't blame her for now.. But back then we were all pretty angry with her.

[edit on 17-6-2008 by Ox]

I don't suppose anyone here has seen the movie "An American Crime" starring that actress who played Juno? This mentality of torture as punishment is nothing new. The worse part about it is, that children are virtually at the whims of adults no matter how benevolent or malignant their intentions might be. Humans as a whole are stricken with a cruel streak whether its torturing a child or even being unpleasant with another person because of their appearance, etc. Pray for the transgressors for they know not the torment they will endure when this life ends and the next begins.

Originally posted by Alora
This makes me so angry. Decent, intelligent, loving people all over the world can't have children, but these two nut jobs with the IQ of salad can breed?

Not to mention they want to ban gay people from adopting. Even though the gay people would love and care for them. Sometimes I wish I could wake up from this hell hole dream we call reality.

I say throw the book at them.