17 Year Old Throws Child Off Rooftop

Repost for update:  report that subject has entered a plea of guilty. 

This is a horrific story in which a 17 year old is accused of throwing a 9 year old boy off the roof of a building. 

From the NY Daily News:

The twisted teen accused of throwing his 9-year-old neighbor off 

the roof of their Bronx building has

 been indicted for his attempted murder, prosecutors said.

Casmine Aska, 17, was also indicted on two counts of assault for 

the sickening Feb. 1 attack on Freddy

 Martin.

Freddy plunged five stories to the ground, and is in a medically 

induced coma on life support. He

 identified Aska as his attacker to the paramedics who rushed him 

to the hospital.

“Cas dragged me to the roof and threw me off — I don’t know 

why,” he said, according to court

 papers.

Note the direct language:  "Cas...threw me off"

Prosecutors said Aska dragged the boy by his legs up a flight of 

stairs before throwing him off the

 Morris Heights building.

Aska’s lawyer, Katherine Dyer, called the fall a “tragic accident.”

Is it?  The words will guide us. 

Her client’s been ordered held without bail pending his March 6 

arraignment.

Here is the quote from the 17 year old for analysis.  The victim's statement is plain.  The lack of human empathy is shocking.  

 "On the roof I grabbed Freddy around the legs. His feet were off the ground. I turned around. 

I slipped and Freddy fell. 

I did not call 911. I did not tell my mother. I did not check to see if Freddy was ok. I did not hear the thud until I went into the apartment" 

1.  "On the roof" is extra language which tells us that the subject may have grabbed the victim somewhere other than just the roof.  

2.  "I grabbed Freddy around the legs" is very straight forward and likely reliable. 

3.  "His feet were off the ground" is passive language.  His feet cannot go off the ground on its own.  The passivity shows attempt to conceal responsibility.  

4.  "Freddy fell" is also passive language.  He does not tell us how Freddy fell.  This is another attempt to remove himself from the responsibility. 

5.  Note all that he reports in the negative as very important:

a.  He did not call 911

b.  He did not tell his mother

c.  He did not check to see if Freddy was ok

d.  He did not "hear the thud" "until" he went into the apartment.  The deception here is obvious.

There is enough evidence in his statement to conclude that he deliberately threw the 9 year old off the roof in order to cause harm or death, and his report of what he did not do indicate not only that he wanted his victim to suffer/die (not receive help) but that he did not want his activities to be discovered.