Not Prepared: Criminal Justice and Individuals with Developmental Disabilities

The March 14th Associated Press reports that 18-year-old Henry Cozad is being charged with murder in the death of a 59-year-old woman who lived with his father. Cozad is said to have "severe autism." After an "attack" on special education teacher Tim Waits last year, Waits wrote in a victim's impact statement that "'In my personal opinion this student, had he grabbed anyone else, he most likely would have killed them.'" District Attorney R. Paul Frasier said that the "severity of Cozad's disability would play a role" regarding the charges brought against Cozad:

"There's a problem with prosecuting people with extreme mental issues because under the law you have to be competent to proceed. ... That basically means you need to be aware of the charges against you, and you have to be able to assist in your defense," Frasier said.

Waits said that he "felt guilty he hadn't done more" and that he was "'afraid that something like this would happen.'"

That's the question that sends a thud in my stomach, and all the more after the recent death of Kent State University professor Trudy Steuernagel, whose son Sky Walker is charged with killing her. The criminal justice system is, it's acknowledged by all, not prepared or able to handle cases involving individuals with developmental delays. So we need to do what we can before things happen.

According to the Associated Press, Waits had requested that Cozad be placed in a group home; Cozad was "kept away from othet students" at school, as the director of the South Coast Education Service District life skills program, Tenneal Wetherell, notes. Much as it's difficult and painful to consider the topic of violence, we need to talk about them, before tragedies happen. And by tragedy I don't only mean the deaths of Steuernagel and of Linda Foley, but whatever awaits Cozad and Walker. Both are not yet 20 years old: What awaits them in life now?