Jonathan Hoffman came to live with his maternal grandparents in Detroit after his parents divorced and moved to Arizona, in order that he could finishat the same high school. Before he could finish his school year, he found himself dead at the hands of his grandmother, shot to death.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4752428...yers_fl/t/police-woman-shoots-kills-grandson/
74 year old Sandra Layne is being charged with open murder after shooting her grandson, Jonathan Hoffman, to death. As I stated above, Hoffman went to live with his maternal grandparents during his senior year after his divorced parents relocated, so he could finish his senior year at a familar school.
Hoffman had extensive run-ins with the law. Police had been called to the condominium he shared with his grandparents due to a heated argument between Layne and Hoffman, but never turned physical. Hoffman had apparently been in the street screaming, out of control emotionally. Court documents show that Hoffman had been arrested twice for drugs, once for possession of marijuana, and once for using mushrooms. Hoffman was in a treatment program, however, and told that if he stayed off drugs, his record would be expunged. A search of the house following the shooting found extensive drug paraphanelia in his room.
Police were summoned to the home after Hoffman himself had called the police. He told the 911 operator he had been shot in the chest and was dying. As police and medical personnel arrived on the scene, they noted more shots could be heard ringing out. When police arrived at the door, Layne simply handed police the gun, and said she shot her grandson. Hoffman was transported to the hospital, where he died shortly after. Hoffman had been, in all, shot 8 times. Hoffman's aunt, Judy Metzger, said the following about the shooting:
What would prompt Layne to buy the gun? To me, a couple of possibilities come to mind. Being that there had been past incidents at the house, Hoffman could have made threats toward Layne, prompting her to buy the gun for protection. Or, this could be the case of a woman who had a burning hatred toward her troubled grandson, and planned this in advance. Said Layne's lawyer, Jerome Sabbata:
I don't understand this logic. Perhaps Hoffman was threatening his grandmother, and this was the result. But to say she had no choice? The boy was unarmed, and she shot him EIGHT times. To me, that speaks to either a woman who had been pushed too far, or had alot of venom stored up against her grandson. Either way, I fail to understand how shooting him EIGHT times was in anyway her only choice. This is even moreso true due to the fact that she continued shooting as Hoffman called 911. Said Hoffman's father Michael:
To me, this speaks to the mental faculties, or lack thereof, of the woman. The interesting thing here is the charge by the prosecution, should she be determined fit to stand trial. Layne is being charged with Open Murder, which means the jury can decide whether it's second or first degree murder. If found fit to stand trial, and convicted, Layne would, as a 74 year old woman, face life in prison. It's hardly the end she imagined, after a 30 year career as a teacher, with no previous run-ins with the law.
But I doubt it's the end Jonathan Hoffman, regardless of his troubles, imagined either.
Thoughts on this? It's hard for me to imagine anything other then this woman lost her mental faculties. They may have eroded over a year of verbal and emotional abuse, and her grandson's run-in's with the law. But this is a woman who took in a family member, then shot him 8 times, even as he was pleading for his life. What could possibly prompt something like that to happen? Violence in the family is a commonplace thing, but I tend to imagine bruisings and beatings, not gunshot wounds. I also wonder if her age played a factor in this as well. In any case, this story shines a light on the toll (possible) verbal abuse can have on someone, and the saddening fallout. But off to you for thoughts on anything involving this case.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4752428...yers_fl/t/police-woman-shoots-kills-grandson/
74 year old Sandra Layne is being charged with open murder after shooting her grandson, Jonathan Hoffman, to death. As I stated above, Hoffman went to live with his maternal grandparents during his senior year after his divorced parents relocated, so he could finish his senior year at a familar school.
Hoffman had extensive run-ins with the law. Police had been called to the condominium he shared with his grandparents due to a heated argument between Layne and Hoffman, but never turned physical. Hoffman had apparently been in the street screaming, out of control emotionally. Court documents show that Hoffman had been arrested twice for drugs, once for possession of marijuana, and once for using mushrooms. Hoffman was in a treatment program, however, and told that if he stayed off drugs, his record would be expunged. A search of the house following the shooting found extensive drug paraphanelia in his room.
Police were summoned to the home after Hoffman himself had called the police. He told the 911 operator he had been shot in the chest and was dying. As police and medical personnel arrived on the scene, they noted more shots could be heard ringing out. When police arrived at the door, Layne simply handed police the gun, and said she shot her grandson. Hoffman was transported to the hospital, where he died shortly after. Hoffman had been, in all, shot 8 times. Hoffman's aunt, Judy Metzger, said the following about the shooting:
What would prompt Layne to buy the gun? To me, a couple of possibilities come to mind. Being that there had been past incidents at the house, Hoffman could have made threats toward Layne, prompting her to buy the gun for protection. Or, this could be the case of a woman who had a burning hatred toward her troubled grandson, and planned this in advance. Said Layne's lawyer, Jerome Sabbata:
I don't understand this logic. Perhaps Hoffman was threatening his grandmother, and this was the result. But to say she had no choice? The boy was unarmed, and she shot him EIGHT times. To me, that speaks to either a woman who had been pushed too far, or had alot of venom stored up against her grandson. Either way, I fail to understand how shooting him EIGHT times was in anyway her only choice. This is even moreso true due to the fact that she continued shooting as Hoffman called 911. Said Hoffman's father Michael:
To me, this speaks to the mental faculties, or lack thereof, of the woman. The interesting thing here is the charge by the prosecution, should she be determined fit to stand trial. Layne is being charged with Open Murder, which means the jury can decide whether it's second or first degree murder. If found fit to stand trial, and convicted, Layne would, as a 74 year old woman, face life in prison. It's hardly the end she imagined, after a 30 year career as a teacher, with no previous run-ins with the law.
But I doubt it's the end Jonathan Hoffman, regardless of his troubles, imagined either.
Thoughts on this? It's hard for me to imagine anything other then this woman lost her mental faculties. They may have eroded over a year of verbal and emotional abuse, and her grandson's run-in's with the law. But this is a woman who took in a family member, then shot him 8 times, even as he was pleading for his life. What could possibly prompt something like that to happen? Violence in the family is a commonplace thing, but I tend to imagine bruisings and beatings, not gunshot wounds. I also wonder if her age played a factor in this as well. In any case, this story shines a light on the toll (possible) verbal abuse can have on someone, and the saddening fallout. But off to you for thoughts on anything involving this case.
