There is a horrific story coming out of Tennessee. Two women were killed by the teen foster boys living in the house.

Mary Clark and her mother-in-law Gail Clark, were found shot to death in Mary’s home in Tennessee. They were shot execution style while they slept.

Mary’s two foster sons, ages 15 and 17, have been arrested in the murders. They were initially questioned as witnesses but have now been arrested.

Apparently the district attorney is looking to try the teens as adults. They are scheduled to appear in court on Friday.

Ron Johnson with the Tennessee Department of Children Services says:

Records do not indicate anything in the teenagers’ history that could have triggered the alleged shooting.

I think triggered is the key word there. Were there other warning signs that these were dangerous boys? Somehow, I bet there is. I bet if you look in the files you’ll find lots of warning signs. Maybe they didn’t make overt threats to kill anyone or hadn’t threatened the foster mother, but I bet there were other warning signs.

Did either one or both of these boys have a history of hurting or killing animals? Any fire setting issues in their pasts? Property damage, weapons use, assault or a variety of other crimes would be indicators. These boys did not wind up in treatment foster care because they were well behaved kids. What are their mental health issues?

Heck, if you read Sammy’s file you will see that he has threatened to kill me. He has taken a knife to my car, caused thousands of dollars of property damage, reports hearing voices, and so on. I don’t believe that Sammy would kill someone, but if he ever did there would plenty of “evidence” to his mental state. I’d be willing to bet that these boys have similar notations in their files.

As sad as this story is, the massacre could have been much worse. Mary Clark’s husband and daughter were out of town at the time of murders. There could have been four people killed rather than two.

Keep an eye on this story to see what happens with these young men and what comes out down the road. I have a feeling it will be quite eye opening.

The Tennessean article

Fox News article

MSNBC article

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