Anderson High senior murdered by two Murchison eighth graders

[Deej 76946]

If you want a true shithole, visit Burnet Middle School. I lived down the road from there for some time, and the kids had a police escort every day after school as they walked down Ohlen. When they weren't trying to beat the shit out of each other, they'd spread out and see what houses they could break into.  

[ztejas 43546]

9 minutes ago, Hank Scorpio said:

The problem with kids and vaping is that it's cool as hell. You can tell them it isn't, but they'll know you're lying. 

 

The GOAT vine. 

I have turned into a juuler. Doing it because it's cool is some teenager shit. I do it for the nicotine and feel judged for doing it in public. 

It's more "I don't give a fuck, judge me" than "hey look at me I'm vaping"

I don't understand what's "cool" about it. Smoking cigarettes is cool. Vaping makes you look like a [slur redacted].

[ztejas 43546]

3 minutes ago, Deej said:

they'd spread out and see what houses they could break into.  

Well at least they were learning team-building skills. 

[justhookit 4191]

3 hours ago, South Austin said:

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

Well the straight from the horses mouth guy is dead, so......

[Blotto 23584]

1 hour ago, Anastasis said:

Their women appear to have potential.

One of them is probably their special  ed teacher, pictured before the fucking goes down.

[austingirl 2192]

We roll up to Murchison/Anderson. In fact, tonight is the parent info session for incoming 6th graders and I'll be there. Soooo it'll be interesting to see how they address or don't address this. 

[clapclapclap 9000]

4 hours ago, Doc Reeves said:

Knew a kid in HS who was 16 in 8th grade. True story. Guy drove to the last semester of 8th grade and was my ride off campus my frosh HS yr. 

the middle school teachers felt so bad for him they let him park in the little teachers lot.

I had a neighbor who made his son repeat 8th grade twice.  His son just so happened to develop into a large offensive lineman during his 3 year tour of the 8th, and the dad just so happened to be the Athletic Director for the school district.  Sort of the BYU Technique without the mission trip.

[huge 3795]

Tell me more about school districts that have athletic directors...

[HornOnTheBayou 8950]

A high school kid was brutally murdered and y'all keep talking about students getting held back. I feel like maybe we're not focusing on the important part of this story.

Plus lots of people go to college for seven years.

[South Austin 52629]

Just now, HornOnTheBayou said:

Plus lots of people go to college for seven years.

Yeah, they’re called lawyers.

[HouTex 1894]

Tell me more about school districts that have athletic directors...

Is it uncommon? My district had an AD in the 70’s and it wasn’t a huge district in a major city. But he was also the head football coach—not surprisingly.

[huge 3795]

That sounds to me like a high school.

[chitwood 155]

I know Austin ISD and Houston ISD have athletic directors.  Haven't looked beyond that.

 

[Texas Jeff 1945]

4 hours ago, ztejas said:

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

Casis/O'Henry/Austin High is fine today, but I can understand why people choose another path.  A lot of parents feel they have to "make a move" in 5th grade so they go private or try a magnet, but the regular track was fine for our kids.  O'Henry is shrinking a bit in population but is becoming "wealthier" because they are mostly losing low-income kids.    The band program is great at O'Henry and Austin High.

O'Henry does needs some major repairs or a complete redo, like many AISD schools.  The AISD master plan has it slated for a "full modernization" in a future bond package, planned for the next 6-12 years.  Austin ISD voters are putting up big bucks to improve schools district wide and improvement is really needed.

[Biff Tannen 45750]

24 minutes ago, South Austin said:

Yeah, they’re called lawyers doctors.

Are you talking?

[Armybrat 40920]

Good to hear Lamar has for the most part turned things around.

My grandson finished 9th grade Montessori then entered Austin High last fall. We were apprehensive about the culture shock, but he says he likes it and is doing pretty well academically. Color me surprised.

[Bozo_Casanova 26579]

Man, I'm really sorry to hear that.  I've been fortunate that my daughter and her circle of friends have not had that experience.  One of our closest couple friends have a son who is very . . . let's say "challenging" . . . and they had a hell of a time finding schools in AISD to accommodate him.  They had luck for his fifth grade year at Highland Park, but have been back to the drawing board for middle school.

Thanks- I should be clear that it wasn’t my kid who was troubled or challenging. They were extremely disappointed to see her leave. She had a great opportunity to do something else, and we took it.

BUT- there’s no way we would have considered an alternative to Lamar if not for a bizarre situation that the school seemed unable to get under control.

[ztejas 43546]

35 minutes ago, Armybrat said:

Good to hear Lamar has for the most part turned things around.

My grandson finished 9th grade Montessori then entered Austin High last fall. We were apprehensive about the culture shock, but he says he likes it and is doing pretty well academically. Color me surprised.

Culture shock? Maybe. Austin High is full of kids that went to or should still be at a Montessori. 

That said, definitely a change going from a smaller environment to a 2,000+ public high school. But anyone should be able to find friends at Austin High. It's on a short list of most diverse high schools in Austin. 

Oh, and I went to O. Henry and only turned out kind of fucked up. But I don't blame O. Henry for that. 

Edited January 29, 2019 by ztejas

[Brisketexan 105438]

Oh, and on the middle school thing, I'm friends with an attorney who also sent his kids to Murchison.  One night, mom was wringing her hands about their kids upcoming middle school experience -- should we send them to private school for middle school?

Husband does a pretty good semblance of this:

imgur

"Honey, middle school is SUPPOSED to suck. I'm not gonna pay for it to suck."

I thought there was a fair piece of wisdom in those thoughts.

[jimmyjazz 46225]

Our neighborhood feeds Murchison/Anderson but both of our kids are Lamar/McCallum, where they're still enrolled.  The younger one plays soccer with a ton of Murchison & Anderson kids.  I asked a few on Sunday about the murder, and they were completely shocked.  There was no hint of some undercurrent of mental illness or violence at either school.  Sure, it's a snapshot, but I'm calling bullshit on the idea that Murchison/Anderson are some huge AISD outliers.  I don't have the stats handy, though, so maybe so.

I suspect the odds and culture just conspired to catch up in a near-central "safe" neighborhood..

[Armybrat 40920]

When one of my nephews was attending Murchison in the late 70s, a disturbed kid walked into school late one morning with a .22 rifle and shot a teacher to death in the classroom next to his. Yeah, that really was an outlier.

[Dennis Taylor 18876]

2 hours ago, Armybrat said:

When one of my nephews was attending Murchison in the late 70s, a disturbed kid walked into school late one morning with a .22 rifle and shot a teacher to death in the classroom next to his. Yeah, that really was an outlier.

The 1870s, right?

[crash_davis 23115]

i heard the same story from my LASA kid and her friends.  LASA kids have friends and connections with kids from all over austin since it's a magnet school. 

supposedly the high school kid was selling juuls to the 8th graders, except he found out they were in 8th grade and didn't want to sell it to them.  ergo the stabbing.  selling the juul/vape seems to be a constant in the stories.  the reason for the stabbing is unclear.  

[gsoda3 3283]

10 hours ago, Your Mom said:

I am a father ...

does not live up to your username. 

reading this thread triggers my anxiety about middle school for my kids.  not looking forward to it.

 

[GottaB 595]

I survived the Dobie-Reagan route but not all my peers did. No way murchison Anderson is worse. What’s worse now is kids without coping skills IMO.

[Catdaddyhorn 3447]

There are a lot of parents in this age who hold back kids with summer and late spring birthdays, however that doesn't explain why kid would be 15 in January of his 8th grade year. The kid was obviously held back with a fall or winter birthday (so he would've already been an older kid in his class even without being held back). 

[Stunns38 3559]

The 1870s, right?

Murchison, The Alamo....Brat gets them mixed up.

[Armybrat 40920]

10 hours ago, GottaB said:

I survived the Dobie-Reagan route but not all my peers did. No way murchison Anderson is worse. What’s worse now is kids without coping skills IMO.

My three kids did too.

[Armybrat 40920]

10 hours ago, gsoda3 said:

does not live up to your username. 

reading this thread triggers my anxiety about middle school for my kids.  not looking forward to it.

 

As long as you have a handle on your kids and  keep involved, they will be fine.

[ShaggyBevo RIP 3868]

22 hours 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.

A lot of kindergarten red shirting has been going in the last 20 years.  My June birthday kid was the youngest kid in her graduating class.

 

Late 70s Pearce and I'll beat all you Bedicheck, Martin, O'Henry, Dobie, etc. fucks. First year of busing and the beginning of the destruction of both Windor and University Hills.

Edited January 30, 2019 by ShaggyBevo RIP

[Born to Run 6569]

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.

Murchison is a mess, that we have considered transferring my 6 grader well before this mess. The principal is a joke- I can’t even get an audience to express my concerns let alone action. He never returns emails or calls, even when I’m trying to warn him about planned fights I hear about. 6 months and I can’t get a response or email. Everything that dude sold parents on last year is a lie. Fuck you Bradley do your damn job or gtfo.

[South Austin 52629]

7 minutes ago, Born to Run said:

Murchison is a mess, that we have considered transferring my 6 grader well before this mess.

 

 

 

User name checks out.

[Dahobbs 17694]

14 hours ago, Dennis Taylor said:

The 1870s, right?

Did he stutter? He said the 70's. As in 70 CE Or it may have been BCE, who knows. 

[Liquor and Poker 3659]

1 hour ago, ShaggyBevo RIP said:

A lot of kindergarten red shirting has been going in the last 20 years.  My June birthday kid was the youngest kid in her graduating class.

 

Yes.  My son was one of three boys in our neighborhood (out of 30-40) who were not redshirted by first grade.  Most of them for athletic reasons, actually. The local football, soccer and basketball (the ones he played) leagues were based on grade rather than age. 

Kind of an aside but related - I don't know if this is a Lake Highlands thing, but a shocking number of the parents around us at the time really thought that they had realistic shots at scholarship money if little Justyn spent his formative years outrunning and out-physicaling younger kids, and when all the other parents did the same thing that underscored the need for keeping their kid a level down as long as possible.  Some of it seemed pretty mercenary - get the kid off the payroll no matter what.  One even told me "better Eastern Oklahoma for free than Harvard on my nickel."  

The various "private" leagues need to fix that age-grade loophole, IMHO.

[Judge Roybeanbag 11821]

1 hour ago, Dahobbs said:

Did he stutter? He said the 70's. As in 70 CE Or it may have been BCE, who knows. 

It had to be 1870s - he said "rifle".  1770s or previous he would have said "musket" or "blunderbuss".

Related to the thread though, my old man was in ICU at Dell Seton from Thursday until he passed Monday, so I was up there pretty much non-stop that whole time.  There were a ton of students visiting him Friday and Saturday - I hadn't seen this story so I didn't know what it was about at the time.  Sad deal all around.

[Brisketexan 105438]

4 minutes ago, Judge Roybeanbag said:

It had to be 1870s - he said "rifle".  1770s or previous he would have said "musket" or "blunderbuss".

Related to the thread though, my old man was in ICU at Dell Seton from Thursday until he passed Monday, so I was up there pretty much non-stop that whole time.  There were a ton of students visiting him Friday and Saturday - I hadn't seen this story so I didn't know what it was about at the time.  Sad deal all around.

Side note -- sorry to hear about your old man.  I hope that it was peaceful.  I know that y'all have been through a lot, and you carried a lot of the weight for him these past few years.  That was good work, and I know it was appreciated.

[Bozo_Casanova 26579]

12 minutes ago, Judge Roybeanbag said:

It had to be 1870s - he said "rifle".  1770s or previous he would have said "musket" or "blunderbuss".

Related to the thread though, my old man was in ICU at Dell Seton from Thursday until he passed Monday, so I was up there pretty much non-stop that whole time.  There were a ton of students visiting him Friday and Saturday - I hadn't seen this story so I didn't know what it was about at the time.  Sad deal all around.

My condolences for the loss of your dad. You were a good son to him through hard times, and that matters a lot. 

Edited January 30, 2019 by Bozo_Casanova

[TwiceHorn 31554]

13 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

Side note -- sorry to hear about your old man.  I hope that it was peaceful.  I know that y'all have been through a lot, and you carried a lot of the weight for him these past few years.  That was good work, and I know it was appreciated.

Cosigned.  Also what Bozo said.

Edited January 30, 2019 by TwiceHorn

[Judge Roybeanbag 11821]

Thanks - I got a chance to tell him that even though he hated having to depend on someone to help him, I wouldn't have traded a minute of it, so that was good.  Most people aren't fortunate to have time to say goodbyes.  He was a middle school teacher for 30+ years so this thread seemed appropriate.

Edited January 30, 2019 by Judge Roybeanbag

[clapclapclap 9000]

Condolences, Beanbag.

[crash_davis 23115]

2 hours ago, Born to Run said:

 

 

Murchison is a mess, that we have considered transferring my 6 grader well before this mess. The principal is a joke- I can’t even get an audience to express my concerns let alone action. He never returns emails or calls, even when I’m trying to warn him about planned fights I hear about. 6 months and I can’t get a response or email. Everything that dude sold parents on last year is a lie. Fuck you Bradley do your damn job or gtfo.

 

 

Had two kids go through Kealing Magnet.  The administration there isn't much better or any more unresponsive.  I thought Kealing and Kealing Magnet were exceptions.  Sounds like most middle schools suck, regardless of location save the rich walled bubble areas.

My kids saw many fights at Kealing.  Tons of drama from drugs, to bullying, to shitty burned out teachers and administration, to general teenage jackassedness.  They knew of kids who at school hid joints in their afros.  When hearing that I was mighty impressed with those kids' creativity and audacity.  Those kids are going places.

[Bozo_Casanova 26579]

How recent was your experience at Kealing? I think the newish principal, Ms Coburn, is doing a good job and making positive changes.

[crash_davis 23115]

3 years removed.  some of the teachers were so fucking burned out.  they mailed it in.  the admin seemed understaffed and overworked.  forget about trying to call and talk to an asst principal.  they'd never call back.  the front desk office staff (not KM, but kealing) were rude as shit.  you can tell the staff supporting the regular students did not generally like the magnet kids or their parents.  class and by default racial warfare.

[pacman 7371]

6 minutes ago, crash_davis said:

the front desk office staff (not KM, but kealing) were rude as shit.  you can tell the staff supporting the regular students did not generally like the magnet kids or their parents.  class and by default racial warfare.

ha, you haven't lived this until you experienced FW Dunbar Magnet in the early 90s

[crash_davis 23115]

9 minutes ago, pacman said:

ha, you haven't lived this until you experienced FW Dunbar Magnet in the early 90s

if is's anything like kealing magnet or LASA, i can understand the regular students and their parents' disdain.  the whole "separate but equal" thing always comes to mind.  it used to be at kealing, all the magnet kids were upstairs and all the regular kids were downstairs.  they finally changed it but i was always amused and amazed that no one thought of the symbolism: white and asian kids upstairs, minority kids downstairs.  LASA is still mostly like that.  during football games, all the LASA students and parents sit one section, all of the minority kids and parents sit in another section.  nary do they ever interact.  LASA has a graduation with the other LBJ kids, but then have their own LASA ceremony.  interesting dynamic.

Edited January 30, 2019 by crash_davis

[Anastasis 23491]

20 minutes ago, pacman said:

ha, you haven't lived this until you experienced FW Dunbar Magnet in the early 90s

I bet Kealing in the early 90s would have given them a run for their money.

[Bozo_Casanova 26579]

Yeah as a Kealing/LASA parent I can’t disagree with any of that. My kid is benefiting from it, but it’s opportunity hoarding and she knows it.

[Hank Scorpio 17731]

I don't know who the high school kid was, but he fell for one of the two classic blunders. The most famous of which is never get involved in a land war in Asia, but only slightly less well known is this: never go against an 8th grader when Juuls are on the line. 

[safe sex 11793]

I'm thrilled that his family opted for organ donation. At least some good came out of this. 

I strongly encourage all of you to opt-in for organ donation (a ridiculous system, but it's the one we have) and to stress with your loved ones that donation is what you want. Organ procurement organizations will not take organs if the family declines, even if the patient was registered as a donor. 

[Larry T. Spider 1747]

I’m an elementary administrator in aisd. I can’t say I’ve ever left an email or phone call unreturned for more than 24 hours unless it was a weekend. That’s pretty much the standard for all of my elementary colleagues. Middle school is a different ballgame. Its tricky to be as responsive as possible and at the same time prepare parents for what middle school is like. Not an excuse to not be responsive but they are dealing with real stuff like drug use on campus, sending kids to alternative school, murderers???, etc. Not suggesting this about anybody on this thread but a lot of parents require significant hand holding over every minor issue. I give them that but middle school is like ripping the bandaid off for those parents. The transition is not gradual at all.