Baby killed by gunshot in Oklahoma
This is most certainly not going to be one of my favorite articles that I have written on Political Realities. I deplore the fact that I even have to write something like this, but the news of this death has struck a chord with me. Because I have been out of the loop a lot in the past few days, I was unaware of a robbery that took place just a couple of miles north of my home town of Roland, OK. It was a robbery that ended with tragedy for someone who had no voice in the matter.
On February 27, two men, 19-year-old Michael Clemente of Fort Smith, AR and a 17-year-old male went to the small community of Liberty, OK and robbed 21-year-old Devin Jeremiah of firearms and possibly narcotics, giving him a beating in the process of the robbery. After the robbery, they got in their car and were leaving when Jeremiah opened fire with a .22 caliber rifle they had missed in the robbery. What Jeremiah had no way of knowing is that a mother and her one-year-old baby girl, Elaine Keene, were in the car with the two men. One of his shots shattered the back window of the car and hit the baby girl in the back of the head. She was air lifted to Children’s Hospital in Little Rock, AR, but died Monday morning.
At the writing of this article, both men involved in the robbery have been arrested by the Sequoyah County Sheriff. No arrest warrants have been issued for Devin Jeremiah or the mother of the baby girl, but the authorities are looking into the possibility of charges being filed against both individuals. He opened fire on the car as they were leaving and it was clear his life was not in immediate danger. Oklahoma law does provide it’s citizens with the right of self-defense, but it appears this shooting was not such a case, but rather retaliation for the robbery and beating. He should have let the two men go, but of course, if narcotics were involved, he probably had no intention of going to the police, as that would only get lead to his own arrest.
The shooting was in no way justified, but at the same time, it doesn’t appear that he knew the little girl was in the car. That’s where the mother comes in and I would be lying if I said I hope she doesn’t get the book thrown at her. I feel like throwing my hands in the air and asking her what she was thinking when she took her child into a situation like this. Some of the details are still not known, but it is known that those involved in the incident were acquainted with each other before it took place. To say she is guilty of bad judgment is a vast understatement. If she was going to be involved in criminal activity, she should at least had the decency to keep her daughter out of harm’s way.
My first reaction to this was very gut-wrenching, so if it sounds like I have gone off the reservation by writing this, please forgive me. To those of you who do not know me personally, let me explain something. I am a kid person. I love kids and I love interacting with them. I found our two daughters to be very special gifts from God and I can not imagine their lives being snuffed out in such a fashion. I know babies and children die every day and I do not know any of the people involved, but I consider it to be a tragedy of the highest magnitude. It just feels like something that should not have happened.
Oh my gosh! My heart is breaking. This just reminds me that sometimes the consequences to our decisions do not only affect us. They often have dire consequences on those around us.
Do you usually see this kind of thing (robbery) in Roland? I had envisioned Roland as a quiet,peaceful kind of place.
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For the most part, Roland is a quite little town, although one of our local bank branches was robbed by a woman claiming to have a bomb on Friday morning. Sequoyah County itself is well known in the drug trafficking arena. It is well used for that. A lot of meth labs and a lot of marijuana growing. Our Sheriff’s department is also well known, mainly for taking bribes and that sort of thing. I think it is better than it used to be, as we have a different Sheriff now.
It’s hard to make sense of something like this. A blind rage consumed Devin Jeremiah. Not an abstract group of words (“blind rage”)….it was a chemical reaction in his brain that took over his faculties. His mind became detached from rational thinking and the reptilian part of his brain’s limbic system took over. It is referred to by psychiatrists as a “dis-associative episode”. It is real. It is so unfortunate for all those involved.
Devin will go to jail with the other two, perhaps the child’s mom as well. They are all guilty of crimes that led to an innocent death.
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Well said, David. Devin’s only salvation is the fact that he didn’t know the little girl was in the car, but that will not bring her back.
No, he will live with that long after he gets out of prison.
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Is it possible the mother did not know and could not control the decisions made by the men?
Truly a tragedy.
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Two guys ride in a car with a mom & her child, go to rob a man of drugs & weapons must have had guns of their own. Could the mom have missed that or any other signals the two young robbers gave off on their way to perpetrate their crime? I could be wrong but i doubt it. She probably thought they were simply going to “score” some drugs. My question is……Was she the driver? In my mind, she shares in the guilt of her dead child.
The details I have learned do not specify if the mother knew what was about to happen. Hopefully, more information will be available sometime this week.
Everybody involved in this situation displayed remarkably poor judgement.
The robbers…’nough said. Jeremiah allowed his emotions and adrenaline to carry him to an unnecessary decision that turned him from surviving victim to perpetrator. The mother who put her child in an ultimately fatal position? Like Jeremiah, she’ll have to live with her decision for the rest of her life. And all should face appropriate legal charges.
Let’s hope that the mother has no other children, or if she does, that those children are immediately removed from her care. Unless she was forced at gunpoint to get into the car with her child, she either knew the character and intentions of the other people in the car or she was oblivious of both. In this instance, though, hers were the only actions that could have kept her baby well out of harm’s way. What a mess.
The mother is 7 months pregnant…
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Enough said! As long as he was defending his property and life, leave him be! Fry the mother of the child! She took that child into a bad situation. As far as not knowing what she was taking the baby into……….. come on! She knew even if it was a drug deal that it was a bad situation! PERIOD! He had a right especially if they stole his guns, how was he to knwo that they were not going to shoot him? It was an accident that happens in life. I am sorry for the baby but not the mother or the other two guys!
Thanks for commenting on Political Realities, another mom. As I said in the article, Oklahoma citizens have the right to defend themselves. However, this was not a case of self-defense, but rather a retaliation against a robbery and a beating. The two men were already in the car and were driving away, so his life was not in immediate danger. I am not making excuses for them, but Jeremiah should not have opened fire.
As for the mother, it is still not clear if she was forced to go along or chose to do so of her own free will. That information needs to be known before we can really judge her actions.
Okay for one devin shouldn’t be charged with anything because the two men was not driving away they were runing to the vehicle with guns he didn’t know if they were gonna take off or Go back in to finish him off if anything the two men and mother should be chared with murder of the baby for taking an infinite to a robbery and be charged with attempted murder,and robbery I know devin personaly and I’ve never seen him do a drug from the time I’ve known him so devin keep your head up and be strong because I back you up 110% see ya.
Terry,
I don’t know where you received your information, but I believe you are incorrect. Every report I have seen says Devin opened fire on the two men as they drove away in the car.
Well, I’m not sure what the laws are in that area but here. The robbers would be charged with murder. Any death occuring during the act of the felony would result in the criminals being charged with murder. One of the only laws in California that actually make sense. However; the victim of the robbery would also be charged with murder because he fired a weapon in the city limits, he was in no danger at the time and his life was not threatened. In Texas however he’d get a freakin medal I LOVE TEXAS!
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Thanks for commenting on Political Realities, Robert. If you will look for my second article concerning this shooting, you will find that the two men who robbed Jeremiah have been charged with first-degree murder, as well as robbery. Jeremiah has been charged with second-degree murder, mainly for opening fire on the two men when his life was not in eminent danger. They were already driving away when he got his hands on the rifle.