19-year-old linked to Michigan school shooting charged with manslaughter

March 3, 2000
Web posted at: 8:29 a.m. EST (1329 GMT)

From staff and wire reports

MOUNT MORRIS TOWNSHIP, Michigan -- Michigan prosecutors brought an involuntary manslaughter charge against a 19-year-old man who police believe stole the handgun a 6-year-old boy used to kill a classmate earlier this week.

Jamelle James, 19, was arraigned Thursday on the manslaughter charge, which carries a possible 15-year prison sentence. He simply replied "yes" when the judge asked whether he understood the charge and possible sentence.

VIDEO CNN's Jeff Flock looks at the conditions under which the 6-year-old suspect in the fatal Michigan school shooting lived. (March 2) Windows Media 28K 80K     RESOURCES Are Our Schools Safe? - Recent shootings     CNN IN-Depth Special: Are U.S. Schools Safe?     MESSAGE BOARD Keeping schools safe

Judge Richard L. Hughes set James' bond at $100,000. James made an obscene gesture toward news photographers as he was led out of the courtroom.

His lawyer, Jeffrey Skinner, said after the arraignment he thought the bond "is a little high," but he had no other comment.

Genesee County Prosecutor Arthur Busch said prosecutors would also allege James contributed to the delinquency of a minor.

"We're alleging that this defendant was negligent in letting this little boy get this pistol and use it to commit homicide," Busch told reporters. "We also hope to send a message to America that those guns that you think make you safer make our communities more dangerous."

Officials have said the house James shared with the boy and his 8-year-old brother was frequented by strangers, and the boy's father said Wednesday that people at the house traded crack for guns.

Thursday, Busch said James was identified as the person who bought the stolen .32-caliber semiautomatic handgun and left it under some blankets in a bedroom -- with three bullets in it -- where the 6-year-old boy found it.

"The fact that a weapon stolen from a residence is used for such a thing is abhorrent to all of us," Busch said.

Police said earlier the boy, who had been suspended from school previously for fighting and stabbing a classmate with a pencil, fired one shot at 6-year-old Kayla Rolland on Tuesday, a day after a playground scuffle with her. She died a short time later at Hurley Medical Center in Flint.

James was jailed Wednesday on outstanding warrants, officials said.

Detroit Bureau Chief Ed Garsten and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Michigan State Police
CDC: Facts About Violence Among Youth and Violence in Schools
National Center for Education Statistics
  • Statistical analysis report: Violence and Discipline Problems in U.S. Public Schools, 1996-97
National Alliance for Safe Schools
Gun-free Schools Act of 1994

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