Metal pipe. Knife. Racial slurs. A hate crime is a crime. Even for juvenile offenders
The scar on the left side of her face is healing, but Neveah Thomas, 11, of Kansas City, Kansas, is taking her recovery from an alleged assault one day at a time.
“I’m doing OK today,” Neveah said Wednesday during an interview with The Star Editorial Board.
I wanted to take the high road after speaking to Neveah and her mother, Brandi Stewart, but I can’t. As a parent of a daughter who celebrated her tenth birthday last week, allegations that a white 12-year-old Kansas boy used a metal pipe to strike Neveah hard enough to render her unconscious hit way too close to home.
The viciousness of the crime leaves me angry. And we all have the right to be upset. Neveah sure in hell does, even if she doesn’t always show it. Same goes for her family. The community at large should be outraged.
Words that allegedly set off the juvenile suspect are a reminder racism is a disease that must be eradicated.
“My Black is beautiful,” family members said Neveah told the boy after he bullied and taunted her with racial slurs.
Shortly thereafter, the suspect allegedly threatened Neveah with a knife and struck her with the pipe, according to Terry Bradshaw, a pastor speaking on the family’s behalf.
If witness testimony is proven true, we should call the assault what it is: a hate crime
Stewart, Neveah’s mother, said the boy should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. After the violent encounter last month at a Shawnee apartment complex, he was released to his parents’ custody and placed under house arrest for suspicion of felony battery.
If the suspect were Black, Stewart said, he would still be in juvenile detention.
Legally, juveniles in Kansas can’t be certified to stand trial as an adult until they are 14. No hate crime statute exists in the juvenile justice system, Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe said.
“Even if there is no hate crime law for children, we’re going to make sure we get the best justice there is,” Stewart said.
Only the federal government can file charges for hate crimes. But juvenile offenders are usually prosecuted in state court, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney for the District of Kansas said.
Should such a law for children exist, though? Legal experts argue juveniles should not be held to the same standards as adults in the court of law. There is truth to that. But this alleged incident is much more serious than an act of vandalism or stealing a candy bar.
Behavioral change rarely happens within the criminal justice system, proponents for rehabilitation say. People don’t have to take responsibility or learn the consequences of their actions while they’re incarcerated.
Restorative justice could be an option. The process would involve the suspect, his family and, if they are agreeable at some point, Neveah and her family.
“Even if the victim doesn’t want to participate, we do cases with the offender and their family and community members who say how they were harmed because of the incident,” said Annette Lantz-Simmons, executive director of the Center for Conflict Resolution in Kansas City. “Then the offender and community members decide together what needs to happen.”
Photos of Neveah’s injuries are horrific. Some teeth had to be replaced and she received eight stitches. Her battered and bruised face was reminiscent of Emmett Till’s wounds after his well-documented death that eventually became integral to the civil rights movement, said her mother.
Meanwhile, Neveah tries to pick up the pieces of her young life.
“Black, to me, means being yourself and following your culture,” she said, before her voice trailed off during our video conversation.
Like any parent, I would seek justice at all costs if someone knocked out my daughter. It doesn’t matter if the perpetrator was a man, woman or child. A crime is a crime. Even if a juvenile is involved.
This story was originally published September 18, 2020 at 12:05 PM.
