Tyler Edmonds, now 16, was convicted of murder in 2004 in the shooting death of his half-sister's husband. He was 14 at the time of the slaying. He is serving a life sentence. ...Yes, he thought that he could get his child support order lifted because the boy is in prison. Nope. The court says that he has to pay.
Still, many [fathers] try to get out of paying child support.
Danny Edmonds just tried another track and failed.
It is bad enough that single mothers are raising criminals. Maybe if this mother had let the father in on the boy's life, he wouldn't have turned out to be a murderer. Now the mother has a lot of nerve to continue to collect child support while the boy is in prison. It should be called mother support, not child support.
3 comments:
As a father of two kids, I found some of your comments intriguing.
You wrote:
"It is bad enough that single mothers are raising criminals. Maybe if this mother had let the father in on the boy's life, he wouldn't have turned out to be a murderer. Now the mother has a lot of nerve to continue to collect child support while the boy is in prison. It should be called mother support, not child support."
Let's take a look at what you're really saying here. It's the fault of single mothers that their kids grow up to be criminals, because they don't allow fathers to be involved.
It's interesting that you don't entertain or mention the possibility that the father wanted no part of his son's life, and that it was his absentee fatherhood that led, in part, to his son's later criminal behavior.
Is it really your contention that it's solely mothers who are keeping fathers out of kids' lives after a divorce? I hope not, as you could only provide anecdotal evidence to support such a claim.
Second, we don't learn anything about the background of the father from this article. He may be an upstanding guy who is being mistreated by the courts and his ex-wife. He might also be a deadbeat who just wants to get out of paying child support. He might be somewhere in between. We just don't know from the article.
Finally, as the article states the law is vague about whether an ex-spouse should continue to be allowed to collect child support after the child is imprisoned. The guy has a case, and it's being considered. Until the case is decided, the mother is entitled under the current interpretation of the law to continue to collect child support. You and I don't have to like it or agree with it, but it's the law as it stands today. She's legally entitled to that support, until the law finds otherwise.
Just some thoughts that came to my mind after reading your blog a bit.
Good luck to you.
Thanks for your comment. I am responding on the main page of the blog.
I know Tyler Edmonds and communicate with him by phone and letter several times a week from prison. His conviction is being appealed and is currently being reviewed by the Mississippi Supreme Court. I can say to you, without reservation, that the boy is innocent. The only evidence against him was a factually incorrect video taped confession that he gave after being denied access to his mother, but rather given access to his half sister (Kristy . . Danny Edwards daughter). Kristy coerced Tyler (at the age of only 13) to falsely confess to the crime in order to shift blame from her (she is currently facing a death penalty trial).
Why did Tyler confess?? . . Indirectly is was because he loved his father so much that he went against his mother's wishes and continued to visit his father. Kristy (Danny's adult daughter, and Tyler's half sister) facilitated these visits and so Tyler loved her because she provided access to his Dad. Tyler DID NOT commit this crime and is imprisoned unjustly with a life sentence. He is an incredibly good kid and was utterly screwed by a justice system that allowed him to be tried as an adult and by a judge (James Kitchens) who basically acted as a second seat prosecutor.
After his conviction, Tyler's life was turned upside down. Lost in a dangerous prison system, his struggle for survival has been valiant. Through all of his pain and his father's abandonment of him during the pain of the trial and imprisonment, Tyler STILL continued to try and have a relationship with his dad. What was "dad's" response . . ignored phone calls from prison and the completely ridiculous child support payment battle (he was only paying $200.00 a month). Tyler's mom needed that money so Tyler could get essentials the prison doesn't provide (like toothpaste, soap, shampoo and the occasional snack or new pair of sneakers).
If you want to expose bad justice with respect to over burdened dads being crushed by child support and lack of custody and visitation, there are PLENTY of examples. However Danny Edmonds isn't one of them. He walked away from a boy who loved him deeply and abandoned that boy while he was being unjustly prosecuted (at 13 years old) as an adult. He abandoned that boy during the terrifying years he has been in prison. He has not visited Tyler ONCE since Tyler entered the prison system and has not offered one ounce of support as Tyler tries to escape from the nightmare of a conviction that NEVER should have happened.
This is NOT an example of the good father being crushed by the system, but rather a great kid being ignored by his dad and destroyed by the Mississippi system of "juvenile injustice."
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