Young boys caused child’s death A funeral was held Tuesday for six-year-old Adam Keeper. Police say the boy’s friends stripped him and pushed him into Fishing Lake in northern Manitoba, where he drowned. The boys, who are seven, eight and nine years old, won’t be charged because they are under the age of 12. (CBC News)
August 12, 2007 By The Canadian Press
PAUINGASSI FIRST NATION, Man. — A Manitoba community is in shock after learning three young children are responsible for the drowning of a six-year-old boy.
"The investigation revealed that the child was in the company of three youths, aged seven, eight and nine," says a recording on the Manitoba RCMP’s media line.
"It was determined that the victim had been bullied into removing his clothes and was then pushed into the lake by one of the youths. The child was unable to swim and consequently drowned."
The boys are too young to be charged with criminal offences, say police, adding the matter will be referred to the Southeast Tribal Child and Family Services.
Adam Keeper’s body was found Wednesday morning near the shore of a lake on the Pauingassi First Nation, a fly-in reserve in northeast Manitoba.
His father informed community members the boy had not returned home from playing.
Pauingassi Chief Harold Crow says the community is trying to deal with the awful circumstances of Adam’s death.
"He was a very, very nice little boy," Crow said, speaking for Adam’s father, Harvey Owen, who was too emotional to speak.
"He usually got along with the other kids . . . He was always playing and enjoying himself. I never felt any uneasiness when he was with the other children."
Adam, who would have started Grade 1 in September, lived with his mother and father but was closest with his grandmother, said Crow.
"The poor woman is in the worst shape of all," said the chief, who went to the community nursing station with the family when it was time for volunteers to bring in the boy’s body.
Crow said medical personnel tried to revive him without success.
"The medical people said he probably was in the water a long time because he was already stiffening up," he said.
"He was a nice looking boy, but when I saw him in that state, I touched his face and massaged his hand and he was cold. He looked very innocent and asleep."
It’s the second tragic death on the remote reserve since spring, when a woman was found beaten to death near the schoolyard, according to Crow.
The chief said many residents have turned to alcohol to deal with their pain, but band officials are bringing in support workers and planning a crisis intervention.
Adam’s family is planning religious and spiritual ceremonies in the boy’s memory.
Original Free Press title:
'I will never forgive them'
Banish bullies from reserve: grieving mom
200 attend funeral in Pauingassi school as 6-year-old's killers flown to counselling
http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:RXjCka_9WSQJ:www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/story/4022246p-4634823c.html+%22adam+keeper%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3&gl=ca
Halifax titleAugust 15, 2007
Mother of drowned native boy wants perpetrators banished
Original - PAUINGASSI -- Rosalie Keeper says the three boys who stripped her six-year-old son naked and drowned him in a lake last week should be banished forever from this remote Manitoba community.
Halifax version - PAUINGASSI, Man. — The mother of a young boy who police say drowned after he was bullied, stripped and forced into a lake on a remote Manitoba reserve wants the boys responsible to be banished from the community.
Original -"I'll never forgive them," Keeper told the Free Press in an exclusive interview Tuesday afternoon, a few hours after she watched her son's tiny wooden casket lowered into the ground.
Original - Adam Keeper's killers -- aged seven, eight and nine -- are too young to face criminal charges for what police say is one of the most shocking cases of bullying they've seen.Halifax version -"I’ll never forgive them," Rosalie Keeper told the Winnipeg Free Press on Tuesday, just hours after her six-year-old son, Adam, was laid to rest.
Adam died a week ago on the Pauingassi First Nation reserve about 300 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg.
They were flown to Winnipeg early Tuesday morning, along with several family members, for counselling through Southeast Child and Family Services.
Halifax version -The three boys involved in his death, aged between seven, eight and nine, cannot be held criminally responsible because they’re under 12. The three were flown to Winnipeg with family members early Tuesday for counselling.
Original - "They should be in care somewhere else (other than Pauingassi)," said Keeper.
Halifax version - Pauingassi Chief Harold Crow has said the three boys will be welcomed back to the community, but Keeper said their actions are unforgivable.Original - She said this wasn't the first time the oldest boy had picked on her son, who was set to begin Grade 1 in a couple of weeks. "Sometimes he would make him cry, would hit him," said Keeper.
"They should be in care somewhere else (other than Pauingassi)," Keeper said.
Halifax version - She added this wasn’t the first time her son, who was set to begin Grade 1 in a couple of weeks, was picked on by the oldest of the three boys.Original - "He was such a good boy. Funny, outgoing, energetic. I don't understand how this happened. It's hard to understand."
"Sometimes he would make him cry, would hit him," Keeper said.
Original - Keeper and about 200 members of her community briefly put aside their anger to pack the Omishosh Memorial School for an emotional, open-casket ceremony that came exactly a week after the tragic attack.Halifax version - "He was such a good boy — funny, outgoing, energetic. I don’t understand how this happened. It’s hard to understand."
Halifax version - Keeper and about 200 members of the community packed the Omishosh Memorial School for an emotional, open-casket ceremony.Original - Keeper was the first to approach her son, who lay in a wooden casket covered with flowers and a framed school picture taken during kindergarten last year.
Halifax version - Keeper was the first to approach her son, who lay in a wooden casket covered with flowers and a framed school picture taken during kindergarten last year.
Original - She bent over, whispered in his ear and planted a final kiss on his tiny forehead before being helped back to her seat.
Original - Her husband, Harvey Owen, stood solemnly at her side, a pained look on his face. He was the one who found his son's body washed up on shore near their home following a frantic community search.Halifax version - She bent over, whispered in his ear and planted a final kiss on his tiny forehead before being helped back to her seat.
Her husband, Harvey Owen, stood solemnly by her side. Owen found his son’s body washed up on shore near their home after a frantic community search.Original - "He was a good boy," Owen said outside the funeral, choking back tears.
Halifax version - "He was a good boy," Owen said outside the funeral, choking back tears.Original - Adam’s grandmother, Maggie Owen, had to be pried away from the casket. She had been helping to raise Adam, who is also survived by a two-year-old brother, Denzel.
Original continues - Chief Harold Crow said he hopes his community can focus on healing, rather than hatred. But he admitted there is much work to be done.Halifax version - Adam’s grandmother, Maggie Owen, had to be pried away from the casket. - Halifax version ENDS HERE
"This is hopefully about closure, about understanding what kind of impact this little boy had on a community. We're trying to capture some of that anger by bringing in resources," said Crow.
A team of CFS counsellors arrived Tuesday afternoon, with another crew expected on Friday.
Crow hopes the federal government will give serious consideration to a request they made more than a year ago to Health Canada for full-time, professional counsellors in the community to deal with their many challenges.
"We see so many Band-Aid solutions in a crisis like this, but we need long-term solutions," he said.
Isolation, poverty, drug and alcohol abuse and crime are among the many issues facing Pauingassi, which is about 300 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg but only accessible by air until the winter roads come in.
In 2005, a CFS worker on the reserve turned heads when he estimated one in five people in the community of nearly 500 is addicted to solvents.
There was also controversy that year when the two full-time nurses in the community left their posts for several months, saying they no longer felt safe on the job.
Crow doesn't believe the three young killers fully appreciated their actions
"Nobody expected this was going to happen," he said.
Tuesday's service was witnessed by nearly 100 children, many who seemed oblivious to the tragedy that had unfolded.
Several kids sat on and played in the dirt that had been piled up from digging Adam's grave, then joined family members in throwing handfuls of earth on the coffin once it had been lowered.
"The problem is kids see so much death around here," said a long-time respected resident, who didn't want her name used because of her position within the community.
"They'll just put (Adam) in the ground today and that will be it."
She also predicted the community would eventually forgive the young killers.
"They'll forgive, but they'll never forget," she said.
Aboriginal community will help kids blamed in drowning
By The Canadian Press
WINNIPEG — A Manitoba chief says his community is preparing to accept back the children responsible for the drowning of a six-year-old playmate once they have received counselling.
Harold Crow of the Pauingassi First Nation says band members want to do what they can do to ensure the three boys who pushed Adam Keeper into almost three metres of lake water off steep rocks don’t become the reserve’s next victims.
Chief Harold Crow said he hopes his community can focus on healing, rather than hatred. But he admitted there is much work to be done.
"This is hopefully about closure, about understanding what kind of impact this little boy had on a community. We're trying to capture some of that anger by bringing in resources," said Crow.
A team of CFS counsellors arrived Tuesday afternoon, with another crew expected on Friday.
Crow hopes the federal government will give serious consideration to a request they made more than a year ago to Health Canada for full-time, professional counsellors in the community to deal with their many challenges.
"We see so many Band-Aid solutions in a crisis like this, but we need long-term solutions," he said.
Isolation, poverty, drug and alcohol abuse and crime are among the many issues facing Pauingassi, which is about 300 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg but only accessible by air until the winter roads come in.
In 2005, a CFS worker on the reserve turned heads when he estimated one in five people in the community of nearly 500 is addicted to solvents.
There was also controversy that year when the two full-time nurses in the community left their posts for several months, saying they no longer felt safe on the job.
Crow doesn't believe the three young killers fully appreciated their actions.
"Nobody expected this was going to happen," he said.
Tuesday's service was witnessed by nearly 100 children, many who seemed oblivious to the tragedy that had unfolded.
Several kids sat on and played in the dirt that had been piled up from digging Adam's grave, then joined family members in throwing handfuls of earth on the coffin once it had been lowered.
"The problem is kids see so much death around here," said a long-time respected resident, who didn't want her name used because of her position within the community.
"They'll just put (Adam) in the ground today and that will be it."
She also predicted the community would eventually forgive the young killers.
"They'll forgive, but they'll never forget," she said.
"They’ll be welcomed back," Crow said Monday. "There were no warning signs. These kids were just friends. There was no behaviour leading to this.
"We’ll have to help them. There’s no need for them to live through these traumatic events again. We’ll help them."
Crow said their parents and extended families will also receive help.
The remote northern Manitoba community can only be reach by float plane, boat or snowmobile.
"That’s why we need all the help we can get here."
Adam’s funeral was being held Tuesday — a week after his friends stripped him and pushed him into Fishing Lake, according to RCMP. Community members searched and found the child’s body, but he couldn’t be revived.
An autopsy in Winnipeg confirmed he drowned.
The boys — who are nine, eight and seven years old — won’t be charged because they are under the age of 12.
The chief said it still isn’t clear whether the children meant to hurt Adam or whether it was a prank gone horribly wrong.
"It is still under investigation," he said. "We don’t know exactly what happened . . . they were just playing according to the father of one. They were very good friends."
He said the entire community is in shock.
"They couldn’t believe what happened. Everyone is expressing their grief and frustrations. It’s like a post-traumatic event."
Johanna Abbott of the chief medical examiner’s office said no inquest has been called at this time, but the case will be reviewed once all the facts are known.
Bullies seem unconcerned by the pain they caused
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/story/4022260p-4634881c.html
Wednesday, 15 August 2007
Bullies seem unconcerned by the pain they caused
By Mike McIntyre
As a grieving community prepared to bury one of its own, the three bullies responsible for little Adam Keeper's death were quietly whisked out of Pauingassi Tuesday morning.
The Free Press crossed paths with the young killers and their families at the St. Andrews airport as they touched down following an hour-long flight with smiles on their faces.
The boys -- aged seven, eight and nine -- were joined by two fathers, a mother and a grandmother. None showed any visible signs of the hurt and pain they'd caused.
The oldest boy seemed fascinated with the float plane he'd just exited and began trying to climb the back of it. He brought laughs from his two younger friends when he made a mock attempt to push it.
The eight-year-old boy said "Hi" to a few bystanders, questioned whether a lawnmower sitting on the grass was working and began climbing the railing leading into the airline office. The youngest boy had to be helped down the stairs and stayed close with his family.
The adults gathered outside the plane to smoke while waiting for a shuttle to take them to the Southeast Tribal Child and Family Services office in downtown Winnipeg.
The kids will not face any criminal sanctions because they are under the age of 12. RCMP have turned the case over to CFS, who had the families flown in for counselling.
The parents and guardians were expected to return to Pauingassi as early as today while the children were to stay behind for an indefinite period of time.
Rosalie Keeper, the mother of the young victim, told the Free Press media reports stating that her family had met with the child killers were false.
This is the third homicide case out of Pauingassi in the past year where young killers were involved.
Two girls, aged 13 and 15, were charged in May with the beating death of a 22-year-old woman. The site of her killing is only a few metres from the cemetery where Adam Keeper was buried Tuesday.
Keeper's grave site is directly beside that of Jeremy Crow, who died last August after being hit in the head with an ax. A 15-year-old youth and two adults have been charged with the slaying.
http://www.mikeoncrime.com/
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