The suicide of a loved one is a horrible thing. I can't imagine the pain of something like that. And from what I've read, there are a million unanswered questions and you look for a reason and someone to blame. This family who lost their 17 year old son to suicide found both the reasons and someone to blame. Now the system gets to figure out if that is valid.
Kenneth Suttner age 17 was bullied. That isn't up for debate. Frome a variety of sources, friends and their parents reported that Kenneth was bullied not only at school but at the Dairy Queen he worked at by his manager, Harley Branham, a 21 year old girl who threw food at him and made him do things like scrub the floor lying on his stomach. Kenneth's parents had called the school to address the situation but according to the story, it was kind of swept under the rug. I don't know what the Dairy Queen thing is. Why someone didn't call their DM is beyond me. They heard about it later and responded that the family had their support and sympathy and they had fired Branham.
She had another one coming though: when someone dies, the coroner can call for an inquest to determine if a crime has been committed. It's like a grand jury, 6 people and they go through the whole thing with witnesses but unlike a grand jury, a coroners inquest is public. And the jury concluded that Harley Branham was the primary reason that Kenneth killed himself and filed a charge of second degree involuntary manslaughter against her.
There's been a couple of cases like this in the past year or so. It seems like if you "drive" someone to suicide you can get charged with their death under the law but it's rare. I don't know how I feel about that. It sounds extreme but when you look at the facts, and I've been looking at them all morning, this kid just snapped under the weight of all the crap this chick heaped on him. The system may have gotten this one right. Watch this space.
This comes from Inside Edition. Haley Branham made her first court appearance Tuesday in connection with the death of an employee at the Dairy Queen where she was a manager in Glasgow,MI.
She was released on $25K bail and did not enter a plea. Her lawer said she feels badly about the death of Kenny Suttner, who shot himself outside his family's home as a result of extreme bullying both at school and work at the Dairy Queen where Branham was his boss.
I bet she does. She denied bullying the boy in earlier statements so I don't know how sorry she really is. I have the feeling she's sorry she got charged but that's about it. My prediction? They'll plea bargan her.
Branham has been charged with second degree involuntary manslaughtary manslaughter and a preliminary hearing has been set for May.
