Jamar Pinkney, Sr. of Detroit is accused of shooting his 15-year-old son in the head, execution-style. The shooting occurred after his son, Jamar Jr., confessed that he'd done something inappropriate to his 3-year-old sister. Jamar Sr. came home, stripped his son naked, took him outside the house and shot him in the head.
Lazette Cherry, Jamar Jr.'s mother, said she wanted to get help for her son when he confessed to what he'd done with his sister. She claims, however, that there was no rape. She says that her son admitted that he knew that lying down on top of the little girl was wrong.
"He got on his knees and begged, 'No, Daddy! No!' and he pulled the trigger," she said. "There wasn't nothing that my son wouldn't do for his father. He loved his father so much."
Pinkney Sr. is being charged with first-degree murder, punishable with up to life in prison. He is also being charged with three counts of felonious assault for pointing the gun at Cherry and two others before shooting their son.
"I hope he rots in jail," Cherry told the Detroit Free Press. "There's no justification for what he did. You know, downright shoot your child. He didn't rape her or anything. So why did you have to come and take matters into your hands? We said we were going to get him help."
A father's desire to protect his daughter is strong, to the point that most fathers would consider killing or injuring any man who poses a threat to his little girl -- even if that man is related to him. The father of Heather Ellis, the woman who now faces 15 years in prison after being accused of cutting a line at Wal-Mart, has stated that he now understands why men are willing to kill to protect their children (not sure if I agree with this statement, but I understand his pain). When the rage gets out of control, horrible outcomes can occur.
In this case, there are a lot of questions that come to mind: Was the father on drugs or drinking at the time? Has he exhibited this kind of behavior before? If so, was the mother proactive in dealing with the abuse? In this case, there were two children who were abused, and one might wonder if the mother could have done anything differently to protect her kids. But at the end of the day, she is a victim, too. And if the father did indeed commit this heinous crime, there is almost no justification for his behavior.
Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Professor at Syracuse University. To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here. 
Comments: (64)
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By: Kim on 11/19/2009 6:21PM
But Mr. Boyce, the boy was his son. Shouldn't that pull as parent work both ways? Yes, the boy needed serious help if he did what his mother said he confessed to, but did he deserve his father blowing his brains out like that? Something is wrong with this whole situation. Someone is not telling the truth here and I'm not surprised by it. My God, we as black folk have lost our d@mn minds and we are well on the road to loosing our very souls
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By: Lisa on 11/21/2009 8:55AM
Oh this is just terrible. This poor, poor boy. Parents either do nothing to take it way over the top these days. Rest in peace Jamar. You did not deserve death. You too were only a child.
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By: Jacquie on 11/22/2009 12:02PM
We as black folks are brutally tired. Our consciences constantly wrestle with our history, our past, our present and an optimistic . . . if not pessimistic future. We have to constantly keep our guard up and fight injustices on a regular, if not daily basis. We are old souls before our time. We Are Tired.
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By: Anita on 11/24/2009 7:44PM
Kim, "we" as black folks are loosing our minds and are on the road to loosing our souls? What a ridiculous comment! I agree the whole truth has not been told. But, you equate that along with crime in general to "us" loosing our minds and our souls? Quite a stretch, Kim. Why does it always have to be that way? We are talking about a man who killed his son not all blacks.
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By: retiredsister on 11/19/2009 4:53PM
Sad Story - while I can understand the fathers outrage - he had no right to kill him. As a parent he should have sought help for his son and put him out of his house into foster care where he could only have very limited or no contact with his sister. THis must have been traumatic for the baby girl. Just because there was no actual penetration - does not mean she wasnt raped.
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By: Beentheredonethat on 11/26/2009 11:14AM
Unfortunately if they tried to get help for the son, it would have been reported to protective services, who would have ripped this family apart anyway. So sad that there is so little repsect for family anymore. We dont really know the whole story here, so its probably best not to judge.
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By: Toronto Guy on 12/01/2009 9:16PM
Dear Sister:
You commented that this poor child should have been put into foster care. Why do we always look to the government to take care of our children. Forget about history or rage, the father was a very unstable S.O.B. he killed his son in cold blood while the boy begged for his life. This man is a poster child for the death penalty and thats exactly what he should get. I will pray for the child tonight. God Bless you Sister.
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By: Pure Truth on 11/19/2009 10:17PM
If you have never been molested, raped, or simply touched the wrong way by an individual, you are going to feel differenty about this situation. However, I understand what Pinkney Sr was feeling at that moment. I would kill anyone or thing to protect my child because as a victim I know how it feels and how damaging it is to go through something of that calibre. It controls you for the rest of your life. Who knows? Pinkney Jr. may have raped his sister and just was not able to tell the whole story to his mom out of fear of what would happen to him. He got what he deserve. If more people were punished in a similar way for there hanus crimes, maybe there would be less of it.
Everyone is on Pinkney Jr's side, but what about his sister's side.
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By: ANAMERICANCITIZEN on 11/20/2009 11:32AM
MY HEART GOES OUT TO THE ENTIRE FAMILY, THAT CHILD WAS POSSIBLY MOLESTED, BECAUSE MOST MOLESTED VICTIMS IN TURN MOLEST. THE FAMILY NEEDED HELP, HOW COULD THAT FATHER KILL HIS CHILD? WHY WERE THE KIDS NOT SUPERVISED? I HAVE A 2 YEAR OLD GRAND DAUGHTER AND SHE IS WATCHED LIKE A HAWK, WE DON;T KNOW WHO'S A POTENTIAL MOLESTER AND THEREFORE WE DON;T TAKE ANY CHANCE WITH HER. LET KEEP THAT FAMILY AND OTHERS IN PRAYER. THAT CHILD SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN EXCUTED BY HIS FATHER. HE NEEDED HELP!!! I TOO WAS A VICTIM OF DATE RAPE, BUT I DON;T HOLD EVERY MAN RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ACTION OF ONE.
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By: Luvblkvoices on 11/21/2009 12:34AM
You can't be serious! NO CHILD deserves to die. He was a 15yr. old child who more than likely was molested or raped as well and he acted out what happend to him. No child just does this for the heck of it because molestation is not normal behavior...it is learned. I live in MI where this happened and I saw the father on t.v. 24hrs. after he did it while in court. The expression on the fathers face in court looked as if he could care less. He stood there like he was proud of what he did. I have Never seen anything like that before in my life. I kept hoping to seem him break down a little after he calmed down and realized what just happened...but he looked like "yeah, i did it and will do it again" This is so sad all the way around. No One deserves to be beat, brought outside naked and made to lay down in a field and shot in the back of the head! Especially not a child!
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