Lionel Tate

Tate's Lawyer Says Mother OKs Plea Deal

For those of you who don't know the background on this case, Lionel Tate was a twelve-year-old who beat a six-year-old to death and then his lawyers attempted to use the "He was just imitating professional wrestling" defense. They tried to get various wrestlers such as the Rock and Hulk Hogan under subpoena to testify, but I don't remember if they were successful or not. That's not really the point. He was convicted of murder and sentenced to life without parole.

I do think that the sentence was too severe for a then pre-pubescent, and he should not have been tried as an adult, because he was not an adult. This case should have never become the small press scandal that it was. The truth is he was twelve, old enough to know that rough-housing has limits, especially when it comes to smaller children. Also, where has the "You don't hit a girl," bit of child-logic gone?

The bottom line in my mind is that there was an egregious lack of supervising going on here. I don't know the background of the family, but if little Lionel was known to be violent, or even if he wasn't he shouldn't be left alone with a six-year-old. Perhaps there was a good reason, perhaps not, but the end result is that the little girl is dead, and Lionel's lawyers attempted to sway public opinion to get him off. They tried to make the WWF the bad guys in the case and they lost. Parents have got to be responsible enough to at least teach their kids not to beat littler children to death. I think we can all agree on that one.

Maybe this will finally let this case rest and I can hear no more of Lionel Tate.