Mexican Teen family awarded 1 million after he died drinking meth.

[Xargoth6634]

No sympathy here, he deserved what he got.

[Robyn]

Yeah, this was one of my takes upthread. Obviously I differ from others on the moral and legal qualities of the "victim", but I don't at all understand how the agents involved aren't criminally liable. OK, I think the kid's a shitbag - you still can't engage in rank negligence and bait him into killing himself. I know for sure what the appropriate charge is, but it looks a lot like manslaughter.

THIS. But we all know why the agents aren't being held accountable for their murder of this adolescent, right?

[Xarkan]

Yeah, this was one of my takes upthread. Obviously I differ from others on the moral and legal qualities of the "victim", but I don't at all understand how the agents involved aren't criminally liable. OK, I think the kid's a shitbag - you still can't engage in rank negligence and bait him into killing himself. I know for sure what the appropriate charge is, but it looks a lot like manslaughter.

I think my sympathy for the victim [well since he was dead the victims family] ended with it being a matter of money to be honest.

[Matchles]

Should've known better than to wander into this thread. Jesus Christ people, it was a kid. There are very few people here who can honestly claim they didn't do something incredibly stupid at 16 that could've gotten themselves killed.

[Racthoh]

like asking to prove a gun isn't loaded by putting it to your head and pulling the trigger

[Dextroden]

/shrug

I think this idea that good parents give up on and forsake their children at the first sign of trouble conflicts with everything I've ever seen. I know it's hard to believe for some, but people can make some pretty serious mistakes and still have them be a one off thing or turn their lives around later. The entire notion of good or bad people is a bit ridiculous to begin with, but it really doesn't seem that unreasonable that some people may choose to be optimistic to the same degree you're clearly pessimistic about an individual's decisions.

It doesn't help when that kind of dialogue is brought out for everything, including grand theft auto and murder. Or calling serious shit "mistakes".

Running a red light is a mistake. Walking out a store with something you actually forgot to pay for is a mistake. Missing a trash can is a mistake. Not only is it really stupid to call drug smuggling a mistake, but it consists of multiple decisions that pull it out of mistake territory into willful choice land.

But fuck it. Everything is a mistake now. Like what Dylan Roof. I bet he was a good kid that just made a mistake.

[Coffeexbean]

Pretty sure at 16 I knew drinking meth would kill me.

youd be surprised how many 16 year olds dont have this kind of common sense and thats something to take into account. Most 16 year olds think in the moment and rarely consider consequences as that part of the brain is still developing. How many young kids get addicted to hard ass drugs nowadays like heroin without fundamental knowledge on it and pay the consequences the rest of their life in regret

[Sunaka]

I'm confused... The quote says that court records say the customs officers told him to drink it...there's a statement in there that says they told him to prove it was apple juice. Any link to clear that up? That the kid did drink it isn't in question. If they told/intimidated him to drink it, that's another thing.

[Huehuecoyotl]

Pretty sure at 16 I knew drinking meth would kill me.

If you as a 16 year old knew that meth would kill you, presumably you believe that both the border patrol guards, who were older and presumably trained about drugs, also knew that drinking meth would kill you?

If that's the case, you have two grown men, trained and employed by the government, who encouraged a 16 year old to ingest something that they KNEW would kill him. Then stood by and watched and did nothing while he actually did.

That is manslaughter, at the very least. And it should have resulted in WAY more than a financial payout and zero punishment for the two guards.

[Deleted]

I want to go on the record and say, If I am carrying meth, I tell the cop it's apple juice and he says drink it to prove it is and I do it and die. That's my fault, don't award my family any money.

The kid obviously didn't know what would happen. He thought he could "take it".

[Charge me Doctor]

Cops are not instructed to act like that afaik

[Surfd]

Unfortunate thing is that it is likely he drank it so save a life of someone else. Cartels run a huge number of places in northern Mexico and it is likely they are behind this as well (Not the border control but the guy with the meth). Taking a kid off the street, threatening him and his family to do these runs. Going to cops being useless since they're impotent at best or in on it at worst.

Well, if that is the case, you can almost guarantee that the lawyers just killed his family. If this kid was running bottles of liquid meth for a Cartel, exactly how many seconds do you think that his parents are going to have that 1 million dollars for before a few Cartel strongmen show up, and break every bone in their body until they get a bank account number? If his parent's don't literally just disappear within a few months, I would be incredibly surprised. Hell, there is probably a Cartel goonsquad camped out in their livingroom waiting for the funds to clear.....

[Flarelaine]

I'm trying imagine myself at 16. Had I been approached by someone to carry something across customs, would I have said "sure, no sweat"?

Nah, can't see it.

[Deleted]

Pretty certain you don't.

Pretty certain you don't know what is in the bottles, nor how it reacts with the body at what dose. Much like I doubt this kid knew much about anything.

I'm also pretty certain if you're posting on the MMO-Champion forums you weren't a Pharmacist, Doctor, Anaesthetist or anything resembling a profession legal or illegal with the remotest understanding of dangerous chemicals and their interactions with the body when you were 16. Nor were you present when the chemical was formulated to judge the strength or purity of the substance.

I'm also certain you were never in a situation where you didn't fully appreciate the ramifications of your actions and were so fearful of the consequences while being pressured by adults who should know better, that you would drink a substance of which you had no knowledge of, when you were 16.

I'm also certain that you still don't know, that drinking Meth will not necessarily kill you. It is ingested for a high by people who want a longer effect, which is to say, few, because most people who take meth are addicts.

Anyway, it's besides the point.

Border Control will know meth, they will know it isn't apple juice. I haven't taken meth, but I've seen it as a solid and liquid and smelt it, it is odourless as a solid (that is pure) but as a liquid it smells - nothing like apple juice. The fact that it is a clear liquid that smells nothing like apple juice means those border patrol knew that it wasn't apple juice. They knew the kid was hiding something. It has quite a distinctive smell that if you had encountered it before, you would know it.

Fully grown adults will do a lot to keep their freedom, adults that are involved with drugs often have a shaky history of mental illness with a complicated background and upbringing. That is likely true of kids trying to smuggle drugs across the border.

Frankly, daring some 16 year old kid to drink a toxic substance and then watching them do it is poisoning, it is murder.

I care not for any compensation, but that these people were not even disciplined beggars belief.


Not saying for a second that what the kid did was not stupid but what these adults did was reckless, cruel and knowing. They should be punished. They had every opportunity to prevent that kid from dying, they chose to watch him risk his life knowing how dangerous it was.


I hope nobody here gets brought news of their children dying in a stupid situation with the additional knowledge that they were pressured into it by authorities. That would be a sad day indeed.

Thank you for that post, it puts pretty much all of my thoughts on the incident together.

Some of the answers here just sicken me. Leave you mothers caves, get out in the world and learn basic social skills.

[Ryme]

I find myself more intrigued in the biology, what does drinking meth actually do to you?

[Deleted]

I find myself more intrigued in the biology, what does drinking meth actually do to you?

I kinda imagined that scene from Indiana Jones, where the guy melts away.

In any case, it can't have been very pleasant. ugh

[zenkai]

If you as a 16 year old knew that meth would kill you, presumably you believe that both the border patrol guards, who were older and presumably trained about drugs, also knew that drinking meth would kill you?

If that's the case, you have two grown men, trained and employed by the government, who encouraged a 16 year old to ingest something that they KNEW would kill him. Then stood by and watched and did nothing while he actually did.

That is manslaughter, at the very least. And it should have resulted in WAY more than a financial payout and zero punishment for the two guards.

No it's not, thus why no one got charged with it.

I am sure they thought the kid would be forced to admit it was apple juice, they didn't know he would be an idiot and actually do it.

[dextersmith]

The guards suck at their job. They knew it was suspicious, but decided to bullshit, instead of testing it from jump. I mean, if he never got into any trouble before this incident, is it not fair to say he was a good kid?

If if he never got into any trouble before, he would not be doing something so serious and have so much meth. He just never got caught. To the family, have another kid and hope it won't be shitty and dumb this time.

[prwraith]

Would you obey an authority figure at 16?

Well tbh I'd have not been

A) Dumbass enough to smuggle meth into the US
B) Dumbass enough to lie to a border patrol office
C) Dumbass enough to drink meth instead of just admitting it
D) Too stupid to realize realize admitting it at 16 would get me some time, but comparably nothing that an adult would get
E) Too stupid to realize that not all authority figures were created equal and ultimately they can't force me to do anything accept go to jail.

[Taneras]

Are you 16 years old?

Was he a 16 year old special needs child with an IQ of 40?