*Ana*

Source: HERE.

One of the killers (a 18-year-old guy, Diego Nascimento da Silva) was arrested, actually. His father turned him in. And he turned another guy in, a 16-year-old guy whose name wasn't revealed, since he's a minor.

sunnykerr

What a horror story...

And can you imagine that father? Turning his child in, finding out that his child has caused the horrific death of a small boy... Man.

migamoo

The father definitely did the right thing, even though I cannot know how hard it was for him to do so. And reading this is quite strange because I had a dream last night that my car was being carjacked while I was in it.

mild toxicity

I would turn in my kid in a heartbeat. Anyone who could even fathom doing something as monstrous as that would certainly be no child of mine.

I'd be ashamed of myself for raising such a sorry excuse for a human being, but I definitely wouldn't be sad for my child. There is no excuse for behavior like that.

Now, if it was an accident I would be singing a different tune, but this was premeditated in every sense of the word.

S.A.S.H.A.

^Same here.

Sasha

*Ana*

According to the kid's mother, this is how it happened (it's just a translation of a a bit of THIS article):

Besides the mother, Joao's 14-year-old sister Aline was in the car too but she managed to get out before the thieves went off. She wrote a very emotional letter talking about what happened - she even thanked, and I quote "from all her heart" to Diego's father, who turned his own son in.

The father, Nilson Nonato, said this about the case: "I feel like the father of the kid who died." When someone questioned him if he was sorry for what his son did he answered "I don't have a son."

-Kelly-

That's awful

Poor kid and his family

elisheva

That's so horrible..poor little boy

sunnykerr

Alright, at the risk of getting several virtual rotten tomatos and eggs lobbed my ways, I gotta say that I find it really harsh that the father of the boy who committed this crime is now saying he has no son.

I'm really glad he turned his son in. I think he 100% did the right thing there. I think the son committed a horrible crime and should pay for it with the maximum punishment. And I seriously don't doubt the validity of any of it. A small child lost his life in the most gruesome and most needlessly cruel way. The son should absolutely be punished.

But I do also believe that children become what they become in part because of their parents. I'm not really one to say how much of a part, but I have to wonder if this isn't the father's way of trying to avoid—for his own self—his own culpability in these events. Not that he's directly responsible for his son's actions. Not in the least. But he did raise the child that grew up to do that.

Besides, aren't parents supposed to love their children unconditionally? I'm not saying this isn't what it is. But there's a difference between holding one's child responsible for their action and denying the very existence of that child.

Alright, send in the tomatos.

S.A.S.H.A.

It's different strokes for different folks.

I know my parents would be absolutely destroyed if my brother had done that. There is absolutely no reason or excuse whatsoever for him to act in such a way, so my parents wouldn't feel any guilt or ponder what if they had raised him differently. There are just some things one should never do. I can't imagine my brother ever being a murderer, rapist, etc., but since we were teens he has been well aware of what he can expect from me if he were to one day commit such an atrocious act as I quoted Michael Corleone: Fredo, you're nothing to me now. You're not a brother, you're not a friend. I don't want to know you or what you do. And we all know what happens to Fredo.

Sasha

sunnykerr

I actually don't know what happens to Fredo, but I'm assuming it isn't good.

And I'm not even debating whether the father did the right thing or not. He clearly did. His son committed a tremendously, callously, heinous act. There is no doubt in my mind that the father should have turned his son in.

But there's a difference between movie mafia and regular folks, no? Even with turning someone in for doing something so reprehensible (even that word doesn't seem to be powerful enough)... I don't know.

I know my mother (my father probably, too, but we're seriously not as close, so bear with me) wouldn't hesitate to turn me in either. Or my brothers. But to go from that to say "I have no daughter (or son)..." That's the part that I have a bit of trouble with.

At the end of the day, it doesn't matter. I think he made the right decision, even if I don't agree with the whole thing. And, besides, it's their life.

Indian Summer

I have to agree with Sunny. I believe parents have the chance to influence who kids become by teaching them the right lessons and morals, not letting them hang out with bad influences, and so on. Obviously, sometimes they fail at that and it's not always a situation where they didn't do enough. But regardless, it's a parent's job to raise a child into a decent human being. This father failed at that, but that boy is still his son. That boy obviously has issues and while he committed a heinous crime that he deserves to be punished for, I think everyone deserves the love and support of their parents. It's one thing to turn your kid in; it's another to disown them and turn your back on them. Your children are an extension of yourself, and that father is by no means exempt of what happened here. If he was so willing to disown his son, it's no wonder the guy turned out like he did.

S.A.S.H.A.

You assume correctly. Michael arranges Fredo's departure from the world of the living.

I've seen many great parents raise wonderful children in loving homes, yet sometimes there's one that just doesn't seem to turn out like the rest, that's why I'm not one to assume that this murderer's father was a failure as a parent and should feel guilty about his son's actions. If anything, I can see him as loving his son and family so much that he can't possibly accept a murderous monster as his son, and would rather think of the son he knew as dead rather than this beast. But that's just me.

Sasha

Indian Summer

But his son isn't dead, and he didn't just privately disown him- he did it to the media. Obviously, the son has some deep-rooted emotional/psychological issues if he was able to commit such a heinous crime. I'm not saying the father caused them, but I think parents are always partly responsible for letting a kid get to that point. Parents are allowed to screw up, but disowning your son when obviously he's going through something major just doesn't sit well with me.

sunnykerr

Yeah, that's where I'm finding myself, too. His son didn't die. And it would have been one thing to, in his private life, tell the son that he's done with him, but this man chose to do so in the media.

To me, that speaks of trying to absolve himself from whatever guilt by association he may be feeling. Not everything that children become can be traced back to their parents, but they are still their parents' children.