Anderson High senior murdered by two Murchison eighth graders

[South Austin 52519]

Quote

Two teens, ages 13 and 15, have been charged with murder in connection with the stabbing death of 18-year-old Carson McCullough Smith, Austin police said in a news conference Monday.

On Friday evening, Austin-Travis County EMS responded to the 8100 block of Sonnet Avenue where they found Smith with stab wounds. Police say several adult witnesses at the scene performed life-saving measures on Smith while they waited for EMS to arrive. He was taken to a hospital and immediately rushed into surgery. 

Austin Independent School District officials helped police identify two suspects. The 15-year-old suspect was taken into custody on Saturday and the younger suspect was taken into custody on Sunday morning. Both are being held at Gardner Betts Juvenile Center in Austin. It is not known if they will be charged as adults.

On Saturday, Smith was pronounced medically deceased but his body is being kept on a ventilator until his organs can be donated. Once that happens, the State Medical Examiner's Office will release a cause and manner of death. 

KXAN.com link

We're in the Lamar/McCallum district, but used to live in Northwest Hills and are close with many folks in the Murchison/Anderson community.  Reports among parents are that this may be drug related.  I know those of us in this part of Austin don't live in a bubble and we shouldn't think we're immune to this kind of senseless tragedy, but it's still rocking our world, not only because a high school senior in our village was murdered, but that EIGHTH GRADERS committed the act.  As the father of a seventh grader at Lamar, it seems beyond comprehension that a child slightly older than my daughter is capable of such evil. 

All of this reinforces the fact that you need to constantly communicate with your kids and better understand the world around them.  It's not the same world many of us grew up in.

[XYZ 2154]

Username does not check out.

[HOOKEM4 5037]

I grew up over there. Parents sent me to private school to avoid Murchison. That school was out of control back then and it sounds like nothing has changed.

When I saw the headline the other day, I freaked out. My nephew is a senior at Anderson.  Terrible tragedy. 

Edited January 29, 2019 by HOOKEM4

[The People’s Elbow 707]

It wasn’t called Murchitraz for nothing. 

[South Austin 52519]

3 minutes ago, HOOKEM4 said:

I grew up over there. Parents sent me to private school to avoid Murchison. That school was out of control back then and it sounds like nothing has changed.

 

1 minute ago, The People’s Elbow said:

It wasn’t called Murchitraz for nothing. 

When we moved to Northwest Hills in 2006, we were in the Highland Park/Lamar/McCallum district, but a block away from Doss/Murchison/Anderson, and at that time very few parents in our district were sending their kids to Lamar, opting either for private/magnet schools or hoping to transfer into Murchison.  We assumed we would go that route.  But Lamar has slowly but surely improved, due in part to the Fine Arts Academy, a kick-ass principal, and greater parental support, and last year for the first time Lamar actually froze transfers into the school, while Murchison is busting at the seams.  I'm not saying Lamar is much better than Murchison, but the perception of the two schools has drastically changed over the past decade.

[Biff Tannen 45691]

Damn.  I was Doss/Murchitraz/Anderson.  Graduated 2000.  Murchison had it's share of fights, but it never felt unsafe by any means.  Crazy to see this.  

[CooterBrown 18014]

My wife went to Anderson so this hits close to home for her.  In hindsight, she wishes she would've went to McCallum since she grew up in Crestview but she did the IB program.  We specifically bought in Gullett>Lamar>McCallum and avoided Doss>Murchison>Anderson. She has always said that none of the parents at Anderson dealt with issues. The prevalent opinion was since they were well off and white, there were no problems at all. 

Edited January 29, 2019 by CooterBrown

[TwiceHorn 31495]

So, for someone who hasn't lived in Austin for 25 years, help me out.  Back then, Anderson was, other than Austin High, the most affluent and, including Austin High, probably the "safest" high school in AISD. I wasn't "up" on middle schools back then, but had heard of Murchison without attachment of "Murchitraz" or the like.

And, as far as I can tell, NW Austin remains mostly upper-middle to upper class.

Has something changed of which I am unaware?

Of course, upper-middles seem to be about as likely to do crimes as anyone else, but I am getting a different vibe here.

Edited January 29, 2019 by TwiceHorn

[HOOKEM4 5037]

TIL I went to elementary school with Biff.

[BrazilHorn 6612]

A 15 year old 8th grader sounds like someone the school system should have had at a different school. 

Jeez. What a mess. 

[South Austin 52519]

Just now, TwiceHorn said:

So, for someone who hasn't lived in Austin for 25 years, help me out.  Back then, Anderson was, other than Austin High, the most affluent and, including Austin High, probably the "safest" high school in AISD. I wasn't "up" on middle schools back then, but had heard of Murchison without attachment of "Murchitraz" or the like.

And, as far as I can tell, NW Austin remains mostly upper-middle to upper class.

Has something changed of which I am unaware?

Anderson is still pretty much Westlake-lite.  Those with kids in Murchison can speak to this better than I, but there's been a huge influx of international students at the middle school, many of whom live in the surrounding apartment complexes.  And as the greater Northwest Hills has gotten younger over the past 20 years, there have been naturally more children entering Doss and Murchison.  That explains the population issue, but I can't speak to the "Murchitraz" label.  And since those eight-graders charged with the murder have not been identified in the press, I don't know anything about them, their parents, where they live, etc., to the extent that you can draw any conclusions from that kind of information.

[Kringelbert Fishtybuns 943]

5 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

So, for someone who hasn't lived in Austin for 25 years, help me out.  Back then, Anderson was, other than Austin High, the most affluent and, including Austin High, probably the "safest" high school in AISD. I wasn't "up" on middle schools back then, but had heard of Murchison without attachment of "Murchitraz" or the like.

And, as far as I can tell, NW Austin remains mostly upper-middle to upper class.

Has something changed of which I am unaware?

No.  Internet overreaction to a shocking event.

[South Austin 52519]

1 minute ago, Kringelbert Fishtybuns said:

No.  Internet overreaction to a shocking event.

This is completely fair.  It could be just the kind of random senseless crime that can strike anywhere, and I tell my wife it could just as easily happen at St. Stephens, Hyde Park, etc. when one of her immediate questions is whether we move our daughter to private school (which she even admits is a reactionary mamma bear response). 

But it can also be a good reason to better examine our kids' environment, and not make any assumptions or take anything for granted.

[CooterBrown 18014]

3 minutes ago, South Austin said:

It could be just the kind of random senseless crime that can strike anywhere

This is exactly it. This shit happens and has to happen somewhere.

Hell, at my small town junior high in the 80s, an 8th grader raped and murdered a 7th grader's mom. 

[Big D 249]

Murchison was not as bad as Martin Jr. High back when they had the bright idea of busing.  Martin was a bit rough in the 80’s.  Traveled over 45 minutes on a bus to get to that hell hole of a school.  Then was able to go to Anderson for high school.  

[utee94 15832]

18 minutes ago, Big D said:

Murchison was not as bad as Martin Jr. High back when they had the bright idea of busing.  Martin was a bit rough in the 80’s.  Traveled over 45 minutes on a bus to get to that hell hole of a school.  Then was able to go to Anderson for high school.  

Hey homey, we might know each other.

Martin Jr. High is precisely the reason I learned to hold my bladder for over 9 hours. 

 

[futureman 22484]

52 minutes ago, BrazilHorn said:

A 15 year old 8th grader sounds like someone the school system should have had at a different school. 

Jeez. What a mess. 

not really.  lots of kids are 19 at graduation.  not a big deal at all. 

[Deej 76830]

20 minutes ago, utee94 said:

Hey homey, we might know each other.

Martin Jr. High is precisely the reason I learned to hold my bladder for over 9 hours. 

 

Holding it for 9 hours can't be good for you. Impressive, though. 

Edited January 29, 2019 by Deej

[Jerry Callo 8704]

41 minutes ago, Big D said:

Murchison was not as bad as Martin Jr. High back when they had the bright idea of busing.  Martin was a bit rough in the 80’s.  Traveled over 45 minutes on a bus to get to that hell hole of a school.  Then was able to go to Anderson for high school.  

My wife was bused to Martin and graduated from Anderson, so this hits close to home - her home, or the home she lived in 30 years ago.

[DaysOff 7951]

15 minutes ago, futureman said:

not really.  lots of kids are 19 at graduation.  not a big deal at all. 

if you redshirt twice.

[futureman 22484]

Just now, DaysOff said:

if you redshirt twice.

no, just once. 

[pacman 7359]

Anderson HS is in trouble, big time. They are having major issues with student mental health.

 

It's very strange but at least school officials are finally coming around to acknowledging it, even if the parents are covering their ears and eyes.

[Texas Jeff 1945]

5 minutes ago, pacman said:

Anderson HS is in trouble, big time. They are having major issues with student mental health.

What makes Anderson different than any other area HS?  Test results, demographics, other measurements look similar.

Edited January 29, 2019 by Texas Jeff

[DaggerHorns 3085]

9 minutes ago, Texas Jeff said:

What makes Anderson different than any other area HS?  Test results, demographics, other measurements look similar.

I live in the area. I have no kids and I’m a god damn lunatic.

Property taxes or lottery tickets, I do my part.

[Braff Zacklin 13618]

Lotsa Martin JH/Anderson HS parolees up in here.

In hindsight, Holly Street wasn't that bad. There were some very real dangers (e.g., eighth-grader and East Side Brotha Martin Sepeda beating up the principle!), but most of it was exaggerated.

If you close your eyes and concentrate, you can still hear Mr. Hamilton yelling at students to "stop actin' a fool!" in shop class or Coach Ponzoha screaming "Slapshot!" whenever a plastic puck went flying.

 

[Al_4_ISU 12464]

I know nothing of the local demographics, but when I see a senior being murdered by 8th graders, my immediate reaction is a bully got taken out by a couple victims.

Not justifying anything either, it just seems like the likely dynamic in my mind.

[pacman 7359]

11 minutes ago, Texas Jeff said:

What makes Anderson different than any other area HS?  Test results, demographics, other measurements look similar.

May not be different, though haven't heard of similar issues at WW or McCallum. Other AISD schools certainly have issues, but most tend to be on the lower economic side of things. Bowie is another one, like Anderson, firmly in the middle class but with a lot of mental health issues (depression, suicide, anger mgmt) in the school.

 

 

[South Austin 52519]

6 minutes ago, Al_4_ISU said:

I know nothing of the local demographics, but when I see a senior being murdered by 8th graders, my immediate reaction is a bully got taken out by a couple victims.

Not justifying anything either, it just seems like the likely dynamic in my mind.

From what I'm hearing the victim was not the bullying type.  But I'm hearing shit second and third-hand.

[Macanudo 12989]

49 minutes ago, futureman said:

not really.  lots of kids are 19 at graduation.  not a big deal at all. 

My birthday is in August.  started my senior year as an 18 year old.   I was pretty much the oldest in a class of 700.   unless things have drastically changed, I call bullshit.

[chitwood 155]

37 minutes ago, pacman said:

Anderson HS is in trouble, big time. They are having major issues with student mental health.

 

It's very strange but at least school officials are finally coming around to acknowledging it, even if the parents are covering their ears and eyes.

Completely false.

[DoobieWah 1446]

4 minutes ago, Macanudo said:

My birthday is in August.  started my senior year as an 18 year old.   I was pretty much the oldest in a class of 700.   unless things have drastically changed, I call bullshit.

But if you had been held back a year, you would have started your senior year at 19! 

[Native Horn 3504]

I went to junior high (yes mf'ers, that's what we called it) at Lamar in the late 70s/early 80s.  I recall Murchison being nicknamed "Murchitraz" simply because of its prison-like appearance on the exterior, not because of its student population.  Well, except for a student murdering a teacher there in 1978.  http://www.michaelcorcoran.net/archives/1469 

Edited January 29, 2019 by Native Horn
fuckin apostrophes

[chitwood 155]

I have two juniors and a freshmen at Anderson.  They all went to Doss for elementary and did private for middle school.  Neither Anderson nor Murchison are rough at all.  Murchison is overcrowded, but other than that it is fine.  Middle school sucks in general.

My junior daughter had classes with the victim the last two years and was distraught when she found out who it was Sunday night.  She wasn't that close, but knew him and said he was a nice kid.  It was more the fact that this kind of thing happened in the neighborhood.  I don't have many details, but from what I know, it really was a crime that could have happened anywhere.

As far as mental health issues, Anderson is certainly not in trouble, big time.  It faces the same issues that all schools do.

[elnimo 55]

Murchitraz? LOL. Try Bedicheck in the early 90s. I still remember running into a sixth grade classmate at the mall who bragged about getting stabbed in the chest and showed me the wound. Glad I got into the magnet program.

[Brisketexan 105154]

My daughter is a senior at LASA, but the victim was her peer -- she knew him from middle school, and has a few friends in common.  Per her accounts, he was one of those "absolute nice guys who didn't have an enemy" types.  Was into rowing, and one of her best friends knew him that way.  She was a bit upset -- more, I think, due to the violent and seemingly random nature of his death than because he was a good friend or anything like that.

The boy is a sophomore at Anderson.  I don't think there are any particular "mental health" issues there, as opposed to any other similar schools -- we have a LASA experience and peers at Westlake, and there are similar student life issues at all three places.  That doesn't meant that they aren't a problem and should be ignored -- it just means that I don't think we have a basis to say that Anderson is an outlier.

That said....Murchison has some shit going on.  It's been sketchy and difficult to manage for some time.  Any time you have a broad mix of demographics, coupled with a high student-faculty ratio, you end up with issues.  And, yeah....a 15 yr old 8th grader rings all KINDS of alarm bells.

We haven't heard anything that would tell us what this was "about."  The stories filtering through the kids say attempted robbery, but no details.  I presume the names of the suspects will get out, because all the Murchison kids are going to know EXACTLY who it was, and that network of kids talks a lot.

[pacman 7359]

19 minutes ago, chitwood said:

I have two juniors and a freshmen at Anderson.  They all went to Doss for elementary and did private for middle school.  Neither Anderson nor Murchison are rough at all.  Murchison is overcrowded, but other than that it is fine.  Middle school sucks in general.

My junior daughter had classes with the victim the last two years and was distraught when she found out who it was Sunday night.  She wasn't that close, but knew him and said he was a nice kid.  It was more the fact that this kind of thing happened in the neighborhood.  I don't have many details, but from what I know, it really was a crime that could have happened anywhere.

As far as mental health issues, Anderson is certainly not in trouble, big time.  It faces the same issues that all schools do.

3 kids out of 2300? You, probably two parent, college educated home might not have insight into the whole school.

You have insight into the administration? You must to speak so confidently.

If you do, then you know they had to reclassify a counselor to deal with nothing but students mental health issues due to the alarming number of suicide threats in the past 3 years? This is not done at peer schools at all, counselors are academic advisors unfortunately. This counselor is swamped at your school. McCallum doesn't have that problem. WW doesn't have that problem. Lanier does but they benefit from...

AISD now runs a pilot program focused on the lower income schools to put mental health counselors in schools. It is a one of a kind program. They are mostly run in East Austin schools and deep South Austin schools.

As I said, parents see nothing, hear nothing...

Edited January 29, 2019 by pacman

[Ollie Slatt 289]

Interesting thread.  I am actually in the process of looking at houses zoned to Doss because I have young kids and am under the impression the Doss - Murchison - Anderson track is about the best option in AISD.  I have no interest in moving further out of central Austin or dealing with the privilege/entitlement issues in Eanes.   Is there really a cause for concern with Anderson, or are people on this thread being dramatic? 

The one issue I have with Northwest Hills is that housing falls into two categories: single-family homes in the $750k-1.5M range; and run down apartments.  It seems like the divide between have and have not could be pretty obvious in that setting and create some interesting social dynamics among kids.       

[pacman 7359]

1 minute ago, Ollie Slatt said:

Interesting thread.  I am actually in the process of looking at houses zoned to Doss because I have young kids and am under the impression the Doss - Murchison - Anderson track is about the best option in AISD.  I have no interest in moving further out of central Austin or dealing with the privilege/entitlement issues in Eanes.   Is there really a cause for concern with Anderson, or are people on this thread being dramatic? 

The one issue I have with Northwest Hills is that housing falls into two categories: single-family homes in the $750k-1.5M range; and run down apartments.  It seems like the divide between have and have not could be pretty obvious in that setting and create some interesting social dynamics among kids.       

Go to Westwood. It is one of the best public school options in Texas, elementary through hs are good schools.

[Brisketexan 105154]

Just now, Ollie Slatt said:

The one issue I have with Northwest Hills is that housing falls into two categories: single-family homes in the $750k-1.5M range; and run down apartments.  It seems like the divide between have and have not could be pretty obvious in that setting and create some interesting social dynamics among kids.  

There is something to that.  Although, even those "run down" multifamily properties ain't cheap.  A fair number of the kids living there are children of divorce, live with mom and that's what she can afford, etc.  But, it does create an interesting mix at times.  I think Murchison's problems are mostly tied to the fact that it's overcrowded.  Doss and Hill are great elementary schools, and Anderson is a fine high school (it's actually probably a better fit for my son than LASA, where his sister goes).  Murchison is overcrowded, and that does need to be addressed.  Interestingly, 20+ years ago, we lived in Allandale, and one of the issues with the neighborhood is that you did NOT want to go to Lamar.  Fast forward, and Lamar is a really strong middle school these days.  These things change over time.

[TwiceHorn 31495]

24 minutes ago, Native Horn said:

I went to junior high (yes mf'ers, that's what we called it) at Lamar in the late 70s/early 80s.  I recall Murchison being nicknamed "Murchitraz" simply because of its prison-like appearance on the exterior, not because of its student population.  Well, except for a student murdering a teacher there in 1978.  http://www.michaelcorcoran.net/archives/1469 

Brat was teaching there at the time, IIRC.

[Ollie Slatt 289]

7 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

I think Murchison's problems are mostly tied to the fact that it's overcrowded.  

Isn't there a plan to expand/rebuild Murchison soon to address this issue?  I know they are in the process of rebuilding Doss. 

[South Austin 52519]

5 minutes ago, Ollie Slatt said:

Is there really a cause for concern with Anderson, or are people on this thread being dramatic?     

 

1 minute ago, Brisketexan said:

I think Murchison's problems are mostly tied to the fact that it's overcrowded. 

. . .

Interestingly, 20+ years ago, we lived in Allandale, and one of the issues with the neighborhood is that you did NOT want to go to Lamar.  Fast forward, and Lamar is a really strong middle school these days.  These things change over time.

I echo what Brisketexan said on both points.  Murchison is getting unacceptably overcrowded.  And while I don't think there's any cause of concern about Anderson (still a great and relatively safe school), I wonder if the Murchison population boom will spill over to Anderson in the coming years. 

And we're big fans of Lamar.  When our daughter was in kindergarten at Highland Park in 2011, there was a ridiculously low number of fifth graders who went on to Lamar.  By the time she was a fifth grader, the number of her classmates attending Lamar had skyrocketed.  As far as public schools in AISD, it's about as good as you can get for throwing your kid into the middle school wild.  But yeah, we understand that this tragedy could also happen at Lamar and McCallum.  It still shakes you up. 

[chitwood 155]

Murchison is going to be remodeled after they finish with Doss.  Don't know the exact details.

[futureman 22484]

38 minutes ago, Macanudo said:

My birthday is in August.  started my senior year as an 18 year old.   I was pretty much the oldest in a class of 700.   unless things have drastically changed, I call bullshit.

most people that were held back a grade were 19 when they graduated.  being held back isn’t that uncommon. 

[shakahorn 1645]

2 minutes ago, futureman said:

most people that were held back a grade were 19 when they graduated.  being held back isn’t that uncommon. 

It's OK bro, your kid's not that bright.  Maybe he'll grow out of it.

My birthday is in September and I turned 18 my first semester at UT.  Didn't skip a grade or anything like that.

[ztejas 43475]

1 hour ago, pacman said:

Anderson HS is in trouble, big time. They are having major issues with student mental health.

So they're a high school in Austin. Got it. 

And in case you didn't read, the kids that did the murdering were Murchison students. Not Anderson. 

26 minutes ago, Ollie Slatt said:

Interesting thread.  I am actually in the process of looking at houses zoned to Doss because I have young kids and am under the impression the Doss - Murchison - Anderson track is about the best option in AISD.  I have no interest in moving further out of central Austin or dealing with the privilege/entitlement issues in Eanes.   Is there really a cause for concern with Anderson, or are people on this thread being dramatic? 

The one issue I have with Northwest Hills is that housing falls into two categories: single-family homes in the $750k-1.5M range; and run down apartments.  It seems like the divide between have and have not could be pretty obvious in that setting and create some interesting social dynamics among kids.       

Doss and Anderson are great. Pretty much every middle school in AISD sucks except Kealing magnet (which still sucks, but less so. And isn't any safer than Murchison or O'Henry).

Common route for Austin parents/kids is to go public/private/public. A lot of my high school buddies went Casis/Private/Austin High.

[DanRydell 799]

50 minutes ago, Macanudo said:

My birthday is in August.  started my senior year as an 18 year old.   I was pretty much the oldest in a class of 700.   unless things have drastically changed, I call bullshit.

There was a single kid in my class of 600 who would have been 15 in 8th grade at this point in the year. So yeah, it's not impossible, but it's definitely uncommon.

[Anastasis 23475]

1 minute ago, ztejas said:

Doss and Anderson are great. Pretty much every middle school in AISD sucks except Kealing magnet (which still sucks, but less so. And isn't any safer than Murchison or O'Henry).

Race riots and walk outs were all the rage when I did my stint at Kealing. 

 

Edited January 29, 2019 by Anastasis

[Doc Reeves 6434]

Gansta!

[Orange&White 5528]

Take this with a grain of salt, kids will hear shit and play a great big game of "telephone", but my GF's kids go to Murch and Anderson, and they said it started out because the victim was selling some sort of vape fills and when the suspects showed up, the victim changed the price and it all went downhill.