Greek Tragedy Atlanta Style

[Marxist]

2-year-old killed in shooting

By MIKE MORRIS
Atlanta Journal-Constitution Staff Writer

An alleged domestic kidnapping set off a chain of events that ended with the shooting death of a toddler early today on a northwest Atlanta street.

The incident began about 1 a.m. when Detrick Deshon Corbett, armed with a rifle, went to his estranged wife's Oak Street N.W. home, struck the woman with a rifle and took their 2-year-old son, Detrick, Jr., without his wife's permission, Atlanta police said.

The mother, Tekemah Russell, 22, decided to attempt to locate the suspect and she and another man left the Oak Street address.

At about 1:45 a.m., Russell located Corbett and the child on Bankhead Highway near Azlee Place, just inside I-285.

Corbett began ramming their car with his car, causing them to crash into a utility pole, police said. The suspect then got out of his car and began to assault Russell again.

At that point, police said, two Fulton County sheriff's deputies working with the department's undercover fugitive squad drove up on the wreck site.

As they attempted to investigate the incident, Corbett, who was holding the toddler, reached for a deputy's weapon.

A struggle ensued, and during the scuffle, the deputy's gun discharged, striking the child in the shoulder. The boy died at the scene.

Corbett, 22, was taken into custody for questioning, and Russell and the other man, whose name was not released, were treated at Grady Memorial Hospital for injuries sustained in the wreck. Russell was in stable condition in the hospital's intensive care unit.

Russell was visited at the hospital this morning by her grandfather and other relatives. A family member said Russell was up and walking around her hospital room.

Corbett was in the Atlanta City Jail, charged with felony obstruction of a law enforcement officer, interfering with custody, three counts of aggravated assault and two counts of aggravated battery, said jail spokeswoman L. Kelly-Aguebor.

Corbett's first court appearance is scheduled for 8 a.m. Thursday in Atlanta Municipal Court, Kelly-Aguebor said.

Fulton Sheriff's Capt. David Chadd said the deputy, who has been with the department for 18 years, was placed on routine administrative leave while the investigation continues.

I keep thinking what if the mom had just let the police handle the matter and not tried to chase or intervene. The dad's guilt is obvious. The kid being used as a football is no more. This is so fucking sad.

 

[Ginny]

<tears>

 

[InnocentAngel81]

i feel so bad i remember stuff like this happened between my mom and dad but he never had a gun

 

[SleepingWarrior]

Stuff like that is rediculous. The mother should have stayed home and let the police handle it. Now she is gonna have to live with the constant thoughts of what if she didn't chase after him like that, would my child still be alive. Its just so sad.

 

[KillerMuffin]

I'm not sure I wouldn't have done the same.

If a deranged man with a rifle broke into my home and clobbered me then took my son, I'd be terrified enough to hunt the man down. Particularly if the man was my ex. Of course, the Stud can hit a target easily at 500 meters. I probably wouldn't even know what hit me.*

No, I see myself reacting like that. Mothers are not particularly rational when their children are in danger and there is no question that the father presented a danger to her child.

* I am not in any danger.

 

[Marxist]

I'm not sure I wouldn't have done the same.

If a deranged man with a rifle broke into my home and clobbered me then took my son, I'd be terrified enough to hunt the man down. Particularly if the man was my ex. Of course, the Stud can hit a target easily at 500 meters. I probably wouldn't even know what hit me.*

No, I see myself reacting like that. Mothers are not particularly rational when their children are in danger and there is no question that the father presented a danger to her child.

* I am not in any danger.

I bet if she had the opportunity to do it again, she'd let the police handle it and her kid would be alive.

 

[Calamity Jane]

I'd probably try and hunt the bastard down.

Yes, it sounds good to say 'let the police handle it'. But often, if there's no custody order saying that one parent has sole physical custody of a child, the police can't do a whole lot about one parent taking the child from the other's home. There's also no way of knowing that if the mother hadn't been there, and the police had tracked the man down, that something similar might have happened.

It IS a tragedy, and I don't mean to downplay it, but hindsight isn't going to help anyone.

 

[KillerMuffin]

I bet if she had the opportunity to do it again, she'd let the police handle it and her kid would be alive.

I bet she'd do the same. You never know what you're going to do in a given situation until you get there.

It's all fine and well to sit back and say she was wrong from the perch of the future. In that moment I don't think there was anything else she could have done. If anyone was stealing my child, I'd chase him, not sit and wait.

I'll do my best to protect my child, even if it's the wrong choice. I imagine she was doing the same. She was doing her best to protect her child. It was the wrong choice and the only way she could find out it was the wrong choice was by making the decision.

When your child is abducted you don't sit on your ass. If she had done that, her son very likely would be on a milk carton for years.

In this case, I don't think there's a correct choice because both ends are heartbreaking.

 

[Ishmael]

While she and her friend did chase him down, it was his scuffle with the police that caused the problem. He was unarmed at the time. There were multiple officers at the scene. There was no excuse for the officer not to disarm himself before trying to seperate the father and the son.

There is generally no bond stronger than a mother and her child. I don't blame her a bit, why should you?

A felony was commited. Placing blame on anyone but the felon is not rational.

The blame rest solely with the father, with the culpability of the police.

And before you flame, I agree that this is a horrible tragedy and that the mother will blame herself regardless. I wish it weren't so.

Ishmael

 

[Marxist]

While she and her friend did chase him down, it was his scuffle with the police that caused the problem. He was unarmed at the time. There were multiple officers at the scene. There was no excuse for the officer not to disarm himself before trying to seperate the father and the son.

There is generally no bond stronger than a mother and her child. I don't blame her a bit, why should you?

A felony was commited. Placing blame on anyone but the felon is not rational.

The blame rest solely with the father, with the culpability of the police.

And before you flame, I agree that this is a horrible tragedy and that the mother will blame herself regardless. I wish it weren't so.

Ishmael

The officers were working undercover and thought they'd come upon an accident. Not an assault or kidnapping in progress. That's why the female officer, an 18 year veteran, wasn't prepared for the assault.