When 14-year-old Noel Estevez was arrested for the stabbing that killed another 14-year-old, Timothy Crump, our eyebrows were raised by the initial decision to try him as an adult for murder.
That struck us as excessive, given what we know about the abuse that led Estevez to lash back at his tormenter with a knife. So we’re encouraged a Bronx grand jury has instead indicted him on the lesser charge of manslaughter. His case now heads to Family Court, where he’ll be tried as a juvenile.
The grand jury’s decision doesn’t speak to Estevez’s guilt or innocence. It does recognize the special circumstances that led to last month’s tragedy and guarantees he won’t face a life sentence.
That the charges were reduced so dramatically suggests Estevez made quite an impression on the grand jurors about his state of mind immediately prior to the fatal altercation.
What we know so far is that the fight that left Crump dead was part of a long series of confrontations that left Estevez in fear of his life. Such was the abuse that the boy attempted suicide, and his father begged — to no avail — to have him transferred to another school.
And Estevez appears to have stabbed Crump with his knife only after Crump had first attacked him.
There are many failures in this story, starting with the school system that didn’t give Estevez the protection he needed and failed to give Crump the discipline he needed. As a result, one boy has had his life cut short and the other his life in ruins.
Alas, there appear to be no consequences for the adults who failed them both.