Teen pleads guilty to killing abusive custodial father (Louisville, Kentucky)

The public can debate all it wants over whether this young man is mentally ill or not. It can be endlessly discussed how much real "choice" he had in the fatal stabbing of his father, JERMAINE BRYANT, who was violent and sexually abusive.

What is not being discussed or even acknowledged at all here: Why did this teenage boy spend the last three years in the custody of his father, who has a history of substance abuse and domestic violence--and against the boy's own mother? Who gave this father custody? How was it arranged, and who were the other players? Will these people be held accountable for what they did to this young boy? Don't hold your breath.

What we see here, is still MORE evidence as to how successful abusers have become in attaining and retaining custody. And how those in the shadows stay in the shadows.

http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20101006/NEWS01/310060126/1008/Louisville+teen+pleads+guilty+to+killing+father++over+his+lawyer+s+objection

Louisville teen pleads guilty to killing his father over lawyer's objection
By Deborah Yetter • dyetter@courier-journal.com • October 6, 2010

A Louisville teenager insisted on pleading guilty Wednesday to murdering his father — despite his lawyer’s objection that the teen was too mentally ill to enter a plea.

Dewayne Bryant, 16, who is being prosecuted as an adult, announced his decision after a hearing Wednesday morning in Jefferson Circuit Court to determine whether he is competent to be prosecuted on murder and related charges.

Last year, at age 14, he fatally stabbed his father, 36-year-old Jermaine Bryant, then tried to set the body on fire and hide it in their Old Louisville apartment, according to the charges.

His court-appointed lawyer, Carlos Wood, argued that Bryant was not competent to make the plea decision, saying Bryant was severely mentally ill and attempted suicide in July.

But Circuit Judge Geoff Morris disagreed, ruling that Bryant is competent. And Bryant said he wanted to accept a prosecutor’s offer of a 30-year prison term in exchange for pleading guilty.

“I just want to take the deal,’’ he said.

Wood said Bryant, who also is charged with tampering with evidence and abuse of a corpse, had endured beatings and other violence at the hands of his father, as well as suspected sexual abuse.

He had spent most of the three years before the March 2009 murder living with his father, who had a lengthy history of alcohol abuse and domestic violence against women, including his son’s mother.

On the day of the murder, the elder Bryant had threatened to kill his son — a threat the boy took seriously, Wood said.

Yet he said his client rejected his circumstances as part of a possible defense.

“Mr. Bryant has rejected every piece of advice I gave him,’’ a frustrated Wood told the judge.

Wood said Bryant had offered little explanation for his desire to plead guilty other than that he wanted to get out of the Louisville Metro Youth Center, where he has been held since his arrest, and to avoid prolonged news coverage of a trial.

But Morris allowed Bryant to plead guilty, and the youth answered a series of questions about the crime with a firm “yes sir.”