Oh he absolutely deserved that. Probably had several other similar run-ins that never made it to light. Unfortunately what his dad should have done is gotten him some form of help and he did not do that.
When I was that age I received no help because my parents just thought I was different. They were right, but they left it at that. I can remember incidents on a few occasions of being bullied. Not many, but a few. I remember harboring resentment towards those people for YEARS. Now I look back and realize that it wasn’t the world being against me, I just didn’t fit in like most folks did and now I am cool with that since I understand what is going on. The difference here is I did not go on a crusade of sorts like this monster and decide to leave a trail of pain and misery everywhere I go. I decided to pour my energy and ability to have a really sharp focus into doing good for others each day. Nothing big or anything I would ever want or ask attention for though. Just doing good for others is reward enough. Elmo went the other direction and will keep doing harm until someone stops him. That full stop isn’t coming anytime soon.