How does Autism make murder any more or less tragic?
I didn’t say it did, it’s a tragedy either way.
As CBW states, it's a tragedy either way, and none the less tragic which ever case. However, as someone who lives and works with children on the autism spectrum it makes them very much more vulnerable. In simplistic terms, (and I don't mean this in any derogatory way about anyone), a 'normal' child is capable of knowing when something/someone can be dangerous. Someone on the autism spectrum has a reduced awareness of danger or potential danger because they cannot always read body language. Most people can recognise, subconsciously, danger signals. An autistic person can't so they are in greater danger of being hurt/harmed and a lot of perpatrators take advantage of this to hurt their victims. If the victim had not been autistic he may have recognised the danger signs and avoided the situation, thereby saving his life.
I agree with securespark in that they should all have been charged with murder. The two boys knew what they intended to do and the girl. by association, would/should have known that their intentions were to cause him extreme harm and refused to cooperate with them. If she was shocked by what they did she should have handed herself into the police and reported who did it. Not an easy thing to do but it's what I taught my children to do if they did anything wrong. Thankfully they have never been in a situation like this but I believe they would know what the correct thing to do was, even with it's consequences.
