374 replies to this topic

[folsombound]

I could not believe that I was actually reading a factual event in this day and age!! This is extremely disturbing!!! Taking someone's life is so wrong and robbing someone of their future, especially a young life, makes me wonder what is happening to us!! The news of being murdered and hung from a tree with legs tied up is purely the act of evil...and if it turns out to be racial on top of it...it is the act of insecure self-righteous unintelligent scum!! My thoughts go out to the family, friends, neighbors and our community. We need to show unity as this is tragic. If it was racially motivated, we need to show this is unacceptable and to show that we do not believe these actions are right and just!! God help us.......if the boy was murdered, it was done by cowards that think they are justified to judge and take actions against another! This totally sickens me!!!!!!!! When will we all believe that we all bleed and breathe??.....we are all human!! Appreciate and show respect in our differences - enjoy and celebrate them!!! God Bless the young man and parents........and OUR HUMAN RACE!!

If you had simply read the most recent post you would know what happened.

[bordercolliefan]

I disagree with those who are implying that citizens raised too many questions and doubts about Andre's death... that we should have just accepted what little information the police were willing to dribble out to us, on the police department's schedule...

When someone is killed in a bizarre way in a public place, it automatically becomes a legitimate matter of community interest. People have a right to know what happened, why it happened, who is to blame, and if it is likely to happen again. This country's history is full of examples of situations where important facts came out only because citizens kept pushing for the truth. In my opinion, democracy and community involvement worked just as they should have in this case. Citizens pushed for answers... and eventually we got them.

Of course, I feel sorry for Andre's family if they feel any embarassment or regret over the way he died. To their credit, however, it seems they are being forthright about the circumstances and using the tragedy to educate other young people in the community.
As with so many things, sometimes we have to acknowledge something -- even if it seems embarassing or "private" -- before we can begin to do something about it.

[LexHillsmom]

I disagree with those who are implying that citizens raised too many questions and doubts about Andre's death... that we should have just accepted what little information the police were willing to dribble out to us, on the police department's schedule...

When someone is killed in a bizarre way in a public place, it automatically becomes a legitimate matter of community interest. People have a right to know what happened, why it happened, who is to blame, and if it is likely to happen again. This country's history is full of examples of situations where important facts came out only because citizens kept pushing for the truth. In my opinion, democracy and community involvement worked just as they should have in this case. Citizens pushed for answers... and eventually we got them.

Of course, I feel sorry for Andre's family if they feel any embarassment or regret over the way he died. To their credit, however, it seems they are being forthright about the circumstances and using the tragedy to educate other young people in the community.
As with so many things, sometimes we have to acknowledge something -- even if it seems embarassing or "private" -- before we can begin to do something about it.

I think from early on it was fairly easy to read between the lines and understand the police were simply trying to respect the family's privacy and spare them the added horror (as if a child's sudden death isn't enough to deal with) of public scrutiny and embarrassment. That was my take on it anyway. To be fair, there were some concerned "citizens" but also plenty of salivating rubberneckers. IMHO, the people's "feelings and concerns" that mattered the most were Andre and his family. I guess had it been me and my family I would have wanted this to stay private.

[MKR]

I think from early on it was fairly easy to read between the lines and understand the police were simply trying to respect the family's privacy and spare them the added horror (as if a child's sudden death isn't enough to deal with) of public scrutiny and embarrassment. That was my take on it anyway. To be fair, there were some concerned "citizens" but also plenty of salivating rubberneckers. IMHO, the people's "feelings and concerns" that mattered the most were Andre and his family. I guess had it been me and my family I would have wanted this to stay private.

I totally agree. It's natural for the community to be concerned, and the residents deserve answers if there had been a crime involved, because everyone would need to be alert and look out for one another, be aware of any suspicious activity. But...once the police said no foul play was involved, and then wouldn't say anything else...and Andre's parents at least at first said they believed the police that it was an accident...that really should have been the end of it. People kept pushing for gory details, and doubting the police, and trying to make it into a race issue, trying to insist that others had to have been there, had to have been involved, all the speculation and rumors. And there was a lot of information in the media, and even on forums like this about the "choking game" and AEA, but very few people took the time to read the info and consider that it was a possibility -- and consider why, if that was the cause, that maybe it would be better if every single little detail wasn't dragged out for public scrutiny. It's very very sad, because it seems all along that the police were trying to reassure the public that there wasn't a murderer on the loose who would strike again, it wasn't a public safety issue, while at the same time trying to be considerate of the family's loss and spare the Andersons further pain and stress.

[Deb aka Resume Lady]

I totally agree. It's natural for the community to be concerned, and the residents deserve answers if there had been a crime involved, because everyone would need to be alert and look out for one another, be aware of any suspicious activity. But...once the police said no foul play was involved, and then wouldn't say anything else...and Andre's parents at least at first said they believed the police that it was an accident...that really should have been the end of it. People kept pushing for gory details, and doubting the police, and trying to make it into a race issue, trying to insist that others had to have been there, had to have been involved, all the speculation and rumors. And there was a lot of information in the media, and even on forums like this about the "choking game" and AEA, but very few people took the time to read the info and consider that it was a possibility -- and consider why, if that was the cause, that maybe it would be better if every single little detail wasn't dragged out for public scrutiny. It's very very sad, because it seems all along that the police were trying to reassure the public that there wasn't a murderer on the loose who would strike again, it wasn't a public safety issue, while at the same time trying to be considerate of the family's loss and spare the Andersons further pain and stress.

+1

[folsom500]

I totally agree. It's natural for the community to be concerned, and the residents deserve answers if there had been a crime involved, because everyone would need to be alert and look out for one another, be aware of any suspicious activity. But...once the police said no foul play was involved, and then wouldn't say anything else...and Andre's parents at least at first said they believed the police that it was an accident...that really should have been the end of it. People kept pushing for gory details, and doubting the police, and trying to make it into a race issue, trying to insist that others had to have been there, had to have been involved, all the speculation and rumors. And there was a lot of information in the media, and even on forums like this about the "choking game" and AEA, but very few people took the time to read the info and consider that it was a possibility -- and consider why, if that was the cause, that maybe it would be better if every single little detail wasn't dragged out for public scrutiny. It's very very sad, because it seems all along that the police were trying to reassure the public that there wasn't a murderer on the loose who would strike again, it wasn't a public safety issue, while at the same time trying to be considerate of the family's loss and spare the Andersons further pain and stress.

Part of the reason that so much has been said on this topic and so much has been questioning the initial cursory input from the police was in fact - the one that found Andre as well as his parents that chose to feel (and for the record still do ) that there was something amiss with the initial assessment and the initial investigation in this matter- while the Anderson's stated in initial interviews on TV - that they accepted that this was a horrible accident- they in their heart did NOT accept that ... Like it or not those are the facts and publicly said so ...

There are STILL questions=- yet unanswered that the Anderson's and others would like to get resolved-

This is not the end of this tragic situation ...

Cheers
F500

[folsom500]

I disagree with those who are implying that citizens raised too many questions and doubts about Andre's death... that we should have just accepted what little information the police were willing to dribble out to us, on the police department's schedule...

When someone is killed in a bizarre way in a public place, it automatically becomes a legitimate matter of community interest. People have a right to know what happened, why it happened, who is to blame, and if it is likely to happen again. This country's history is full of examples of situations where important facts came out only because citizens kept pushing for the truth. In my opinion, democracy and community involvement worked just as they should have in this case. Citizens pushed for answers... and eventually we got them.

Of course, I feel sorry for Andre's family if they feel any embarassment or regret over the way he died. To their credit, however, it seems they are being forthright about the circumstances and using the tragedy to educate other young people in the community.
As with so many things, sometimes we have to acknowledge something -- even if it seems embarassing or "private" -- before we can begin to do something about it.

Border- a very good post- I could not have said it better-

Cheers
F500

[MKR]

Part of the reason that so much has been said on this topic and so much has been questioning the initial cursory input from the police was in fact - the one that found Andre as well as his parents that chose to feel (and for the record still do) that there was something amiss with the initial assessment and the initial investigation in this matter- while the Anderson's stated in initial interviews on TV - that they accepted that this was a horrible accident- they in their heart did NOT accept that ... Like it or not those are the facts and publicly said so ...

There are STILL questions=- yet unanswered that the Anderson's and others would like to get resolved-

This is not the end of this tragic situation ...

Why do they -- or you, or anyone -- feel something was amiss with the initial assessment and investigation in this matter?

My understanding from the very first time I read about this was that the police saw the scene, made almost an immediate determination what happened, and that it was not foul play. They did not discuss why they ruled out foul play immediately, but the decision was made quickly based on their examination of the evidence at the scene. It's not clear what exactly was discussed with Andre's parents, but I saw the news clip where his parents, obviously very sad and in shock, said they were pretty certain that the police were correct, and that they had accepted Andre died through a tragic accident. The police still didn't make a public statement about exactly what was the cause of Andre's death, but waited for the results of the autopsy. The coroner determined it was death due to AEA, and this concurred with the evidence the police found at the scene, and their examination of the home computer hard drive that indicated that topic had been recently researched on the Anderson family's computer.

Death by AEA is not unheard of, and trained law enforcement personnel would have some idea of what to look for at the scene of death, the telltale signs of that particular cause of death. One of the reasons it isn't heard of more often, is that when parents find their child's body, in a state of shock and horror they sometimes "clean up" the scene, removing magazines, partially clothing their child's body, etc, which removes very important clues for the police as to the exact nature and cause of death. In this case, Andre's body was found in a public place by strangers, and presumably the scene of his death was undisturbed until the police arrived, so whatever evidence was there, the police saw it -- and made their determination very quickly that it was not a murder scene.

What questions are yet unanswered? Have the Andersons now said they don't believe the coroner's report, or the police investigation? Do you disbelieve the coroner's findings, and the evidence the police found on the home computer? The only question I still have, that I have not seen the answer to, is: were the shoelaces and the dog leash from Andre's own home? If those articles did not belong to Andre or his family, I would still wonder where they came from, although it's certainly possible Andre obtained them elsewhere. But if they came from the Anderson's home, then it's very clear than Andre brought those items with him to the park. I don't understand why you say, "This is not the end of this tragic situation". What would end it?

[D's TK]

There are STILL questions=- yet unanswered that the Anderson's and others would like to get resolved-

This is not the end of this tragic situation ...

I am with MKR....what questions still need to be resolved? Does the family really believe that there was more to this than what law enforcement and the coroner have concluded? If so, why are they not being more vocal about it? Why would they tell a newspaper reporter that they believe what the coroner says if they don't? I am just trying to understand. As a parent myself, I would not make statements to the media that I accepted the analysis of what happened unless I truly believed what happened. Again, I am just trying to understand why this would not be the end?

[Chad Vander Veen]

Again, I am just trying to understand why this would not be the end?

Because too many people here want this to be a sinister conspiracy when it isn't.

[dontBfooled]

The bottom line is this:

• There will always be questions out there about why this happened.
• The PD at the time gave an assessment of their investigation.
• The family and friends understandably had so many questions and such displaced emotion they contacted the NAACP
• Unfortunately, the first line of fire from the NAACP is race
• Obviously, Andre was a well like boy who was loved and had lots of friends...so why does race even come into play here?
• The corners report (who has no reason to be biased in the situation) confirms the PDs original assessment

This is a tragic and senseless situation that will always have existing "why" questions or understandable denial. Unfortunately, the only person who can answer those questions isn't with us any more.

Let's respect Andre during this time and stop discussing this in the media. If the family still needs to investigate this further, that is understandable, but it’s time for Andre rest outside of a media frenzy.

Let's remember him for everything else he did right in his life, rather than his last lapse in judgment.

[Steve Heard]

[*]Unfortunately, the first line of fire from the NAACP is race
[*]Obviously, Andre was a well like boy who was loved and had lots of friends...so why does race even come into play here?

I've seen read the NAACP interview and saw clips on TV, please show me where they said it was a racial issue.

Having said that, when you ask why race would even come into play, it's because nearly 4700 people, mostly young black males, have been lynched in this country. Naturally, that's the first thing many people thought of.

[Chad Vander Veen]

I've seen read the NAACP interview and saw clips on TV, please show me where they said it was a racial issue.

Having said that, when you ask why race would even come into play, it's because nearly 4700 people, mostly young black males*, have been lynched in this country. Naturally, that's the first thing many people thought of.

* from 1882 to 1951
http://www.geocities...ers-detail.html

Approximately 250 deaths per year in the United States are attributed to the dangerous sexual paraphilia of autoerotic asphyxia.
http://www.ncbi.nlm....p;dopt=Abstract

[Duke]

Did the NAACP contribute anything worthwhile to this matter?

[bordercolliefan]

StevetheDad is right. When the incident first occurred, the fact that Andre was African-American made some of us wonder, with a sickening feeling of dread, whether we might have people capable of racial violence in Folsom.

Later, the reports about the tying of the laces made us wonder whether others were involved (even if only accidentally).

I for one am glad that my neighbors and other Folsom residents didn't just say "Oh, okay" to the first police report and go on with business as usual. We are lucky we live in a country where people feel free to question "official reports" and make sure the full story comes out.

I think something else was at work, too. Some people may not understand how upsetting it was to learn of a young boy killed in a favorite neighborhood park. It was a shock to the consciousness of all of us Natoma Station neighbors -- and that much worse for those who knew him or remembered seeing him happily skateboarding around. It took some of us days or more to come to terms with the knowledge that a kid had died at our park -- I'm not sure I'll ever think of that park quite the same way again. I remember on the night of the candlelight vigil, running into my neighbor who was out viewing the candles with her 3 boys. She literally had a dazed look in her eyes as she milled around the neighborhood. --Keeping the story alive, asking questions and sharing thoughts may have been the neighborhood's collective way of grieving.