MICHIGAN BOY LIVED AMID GUNS AND DRUGS

MOUNT MORRIS TOWNSHIP, Mich., March 1 - The 6-year-old boy who shot and
killed a first-grade classmate in an elementary school here Tuesday was
living in a rundown crack house just blocks from the school - without even
a bed to sleep on - and leading a "life in chaos," authorities said today.

Two men living in the house were arrested last summer on charges of
breaking into and burglarizing a house down the street in this gritty,
unincorporated neighborhood just north of Flint in central Michigan,
neighbors said.

Another man, who police said kept a .32-caliber revolver under a blanket in
his bedroom - the weapon that authorities say the boy stole and used in
shooting 6-year-old Kayla Rolland once in the chest - was a fugitive being
sought on drug charges and for possible indictment for involuntary
negligent homicide before he surrendered to police late this afternoon. The
19-year-old man, who has not been identified by police, was held on
outstanding warrants.

When police raided the house Tuesday night and seized drugs and a stolen
12-gauge shotgun, they arrested a third man, identified as the boy's uncle,
on an outstanding felony warrant for concealing stolen property. The uncle,
identified as Sirmarcus B. Winfrey, was also held in connection with the
seized drug cache and the shotgun. He is the brother of the boy's mother.

Genesee County Prosecutor Arthur A. Busch said the boy, whose name has been
withheld because of his age, "comes from a very troubled home. ... It is
obvious to me he is the victim of the drug culture and a home that is in
chaos."

Nonetheless, the boy's mother, Tamara Owens, who police say has a criminal
record, and his father, Dedric Owens, who is in jail on a parole violation,
appeared briefly in Genesee County Probate Court today asking for custody
of the boy and his 8-year-old brother. The father, appearing in court in
handcuffs, said he was sorry for what happened but added, "I miss him and I
can't wait to see him." He said he was seeking custody for when he is
eventually released from jail.

Speaking briefly in court, Owens said, "I'm very sorry for what happened to
the child and the family. I wish it would never had happened. There's
nothing I can do about it."

Probate referee Peggy Odette denied the custody requests, saying that there
was evidence the mother had a background of drug use. But she said Owens,
who sat quietly in court and wept occasionally during the brief
proceedings, would be allowed supervised visits with the boy while he is in
state custody. The boy and his brother are living with an aunt.

The parents' custody requests were made after state children's services
officials filed a petition for state custody on the basis of alleged
parental neglect. Busch said the petition would go to Family Court for a
hearing.

Busch said the boy, who along with his brother apparently had been passed
from house to house after their father was sent to prison on a home
invasion conviction, was incapable of forming an intent to shoot his
classmate and should not be prosecuted for that reason.

"Especially after the detectives say that he has not appreciated what has
happened, that he takes this as, well, this is something that happens like
on television," Busch said at a news briefing at County Court in Flint.

After police questioned him, the boy "just sat there drawing pictures,"
said Township Police Chief Eric King.

The prosecutor said there is ample case law, supported by a recent U.S.
Supreme Court decision, that youths under 7 years old cannot be prosecuted
on felony charges. "He is a victim in many ways and we need to put our arms
around him and love him," Busch said.

Genesee County Sheriff Robert J. Picknell said today that he interviewed
the boy's 29-year-old father last night at the County Jail. The father was
paroled on Dec. 20 from a home invasion sentence but two months later was
back in custody for the parole violation.

Picknell, in a telephone interview, said the father told him that, after
being evicted from her house, the boy's mother dropped off the youngster at
the crack house about 10 days ago to live with his uncle. The move followed
a series of behavior problems at the Theo J. Buell Elementary School, where
Kayla was shot as three first-graders and a teacher watched in horror
Tuesday morning.

Busch said the shooting followed a quarrel "and maybe a scuffle" between
the boy and Kayla at the school the previous day, but he insisted that he
had no information indicating the boy went to the school with the intention
of shooting the girl.

Picknell noted that Owens, whose name had been withheld to protect the boy
until today's Probate Court appearance, said his son told him he had been
suspended three times this school year, once for stabbing another pupil
with a pencil and twice for fighting.

When asked about the suspensions, Ira Rutherford, superintendent of the
Beecher School District, declined to comment, saying information about the
boy's behavior is confidential. Rutherford said that "seriously disturbed"
youths were referred to mental health programs for help, but he declined to
comment when asked if the boy had been referred to such a program.

Rutherford also said he thinks the boy may be too young to come under a
1984 Michigan law requiring the expulsion of students who violate gun
prohibitions, even though the law appears to cover pupils of any age. He
said he would not speculate where the boy may attend school if he is not
charged, even as a juvenile.

Picknell said the father was aware of the known drug house at 1102 Juliah
St., around the corner from the school, and that when he heard about the
shooting on a radio newscast, he immediately had a "sickening feeling" that
his son may have been involved. Picknell said Owens told him that shortly
after he was paroled in December, he saw his son and asked him why he
committed the offenses leading to the suspensions.

"He said that the kid told him he did it because 'I hate them,'" Picknell
said.

Picknell said Owens's suspicion that the boy was involved in the school
shooting was heightened because of his knowledge that guns were always kept
in the house for protection and for trading for drugs.

Picknell said he was troubled by the fact that the suspensions did not
prompt educators to seek special help for the boy, or at least lead to a
referral to child protection services for an investigation into his home life.

"If he [the father] could figure it out so quickly, why can't we, the
police, the educators and the psychologists?" Picknell said. "All the
warning signs were there, but we are not very good about recognizing them,"
the sheriff said.

Today there was nobody at the Juliah Street house, a one-story bungalow
with an old car on cinder blocks on the muddy front lawn. But a neighbor,
who said she was too afraid of reprisals to give her name, said there was a
lot of traffic in and out of the house late at night and that the occupants
"never went to sleep." She said that even before two occupants were
arrested in connection with the burglary nearby last summer, residents had
complained to the police about drug dealing in the house, but that no
action was taken.

Another neighbor, Tammy Fortin, who said she coincidentally is related by
marriage to Kayla, said, "It's a drug house. There are so many in this area
that I'm scared for my kids, and the cops won't do anything about it."

Fortin, who said her husband's brother is Kayla's stepfather, said the dead
girl was a "very well-behaved little girl, loved by everybody. It's just an
awful tragedy."