Sarasota murder: Shawn Tyson found guilty of murdering British tourists

[FarCenter]

University friends James Cooper, 25, and James Kouzaris, 25, had been enjoying a care-free vacation in the popular holiday resort of Sarasota when a drunken mistake brought them into the path of 16-year-old Shawn Tyson.


Spotting them stumbling through the notorious estate known as The Courts, Tyson attempted to rob the pair, then shot them each through the heart when they claimed to have no money.


A jury at Sarasota County Court took just over two hours to find him guilty of first degree murder following an eight-day trial.

...
Tyson, who turned 17 on the first day of his trial, and now faces life in prison without parole, was caught after boasting to friends about the murders. When the men had told him they had no cash on them, he told them: “If you ain’t got no money — I got something for you ass,” before firing.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/9172615/Sarasota-murder-Shawn-Tyson-found-guilty-of-murdering-British-tourists.html

Also NEW: Shawn Tyson sentenced to life in prison for murders of 2 British tourists in Sarasota

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20120328/BREAKING/303289997/-1/sports?Title=NEW-Jury-begins-deliberating-in-Shawn-Tyson-trial-

[pennylane100]

1. How does a sixteen year old become such a cold blooded murderer so young.

We need to start spending some the billions of dollars of our bloated defense budget on ways to stop the cycle of violence that has become the norm in so many of our country's inner cities.

I have read articles that compare the environment which young people like Shawn Tyson grow up in is similar to living in a war zone. They become dehumanized by the chaos that surrounds them all their lives. We will spend billions of dollars warehousing the thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of Shawn Tysons. If we had invested half the amount that these programs cost us, we would still come out ahead.

It is too late for Shawn Tyson, he will spend his life in jail but we can help other young people by ensuring they grow up in safe communities, they have access to good schools and are shown how they have choices to make their lives better.

Of course, I doubt that we will have the foresight to do any of this.