Teen Driver-Wanted to Kill herself-Killed a Mother, put a child in hospitol r.o

[Hawkeye]

Now, I will tell you the story, and I will tell you point blank I am unsure of what to think. I will put my commentary below:

The 16-year-old's name is Louise Egan Brunstad. We also learned that the prosecutors believe she was trying to commit suicide. The story is that Louise Brunstad had made some romantic advances to another girl at her school. The other girl decided she wasn't into the LUG lifestyle and said No. Brunstad then told other students she was going to kill herself. Just before she hit the gas Brunstad sent a text message to the girl she had a crush on: "Nine, eight, seven, six ... I'm going to do it" The she hit the gas in a car that is like a tank, crossed into the other lane, took dead aim at Nancy Salado-Mayo's car which is like a tin can, and never let off the gas.
Right now the word is that Louise Brunstad will be prosecuted as an adult. The charges will be felony murder and assault with a motor vehicle. A guilty verdict means an automatic life sentence.
Nancy Salado-Mayo was a mother and had her daughter in the car with her. The Mother is dead, the child is hurt and of course the 16 year old isn't even harmed (maybe a sprained ankle? If that?)
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/met...teenfatal.html

Now for my commentary...
The girl is obviously disturbed but she is obviously very selfish. Look if your going to kill yourself do not bring other people into it. The mother did NOTHING to deserve death but because some selfish teenager decided that the end of the world was coming because she was embarressed or heartbroken or whatever she decided to not only hurt herself but take someone with her.
SO this teenager has essentially ruined not only HER life, but also her parents life who they did nothing wrong-the parents, the parents are going to have to pay for all this! The Womans life-the mother is dead! So what about the three kids this woman had with her husband? Those 3 kids will never have their mommy again. And that husband-he'll never see his wife again, he is now a single parent trying to raise 3 kids. The little girl who was in the car when her mommy died- mentally and physically she will NEVER be the same. Because of this ONE little SELFISH teenager.

Luckily in this case it's an automatic life sentance, and she'll be tried as an adult. That's fine by me.

BUT we now have a high priced defense lawyer-look here comes more money out of her parents pocket-and we're getting the usual stuff about how sorry she is and how she prays for the family of the woman she MURDERED.

I'm sorry people, but sorry does NOT bring this woman back. No amount of Tears are going to bring this mother back.

Now I know a lot of you think I'm being to hard on the girl-yes I am but I am unapologetic on my opinions on this. I just have no compassion for someone that is so selfish that they would be willing to ruin this many lives and end one life. It would be a lot different had she killed herself and no one was involved, I'll admit I would be like oh man thats horrible why couldn't she have gotton help but to drag other people into it, I can't.

I do think personally that 16 (Sorry specktraettes who are near this age!) is TOO young to get a drivers license. I remember when I was 16-I didnt make the best decisions I got my license at 16. not a good move. I think 16 year olds are too immature, too cocky (thinking they are invinsable), too young, and most of all lack judgement.

Again, I was 16 once, I remember what it was like but most teenagers do not have the ability (and this was proven, I'm going to go find the stats) to think of the consequences. 17 is even too early, I would say 18 would be a nice place.

But see 16 year olds they want to drive for 3 main reasons but none of them are that compelling! 1) So they can be popular. 2) So they can get to their afternoon job (but if you look at insurance, gas, car maintanence etc then guess what? Yes the money they make doesnt earn them enough to cover these expenses) 3) Because mom and dad are tired of taking them everywhere.

We got to look at (and I *HATE* saying this phrase) The greater good. This stuff happens all the time people and its scary. We must put an end to it so these teenagers don't do crap like this chik above did to that mother and little girl.

 

[Beauty Mark]

I'm not sure if revoking driving privileges is what's helpful for this situation (had she been hellbent enough, she could've done the same thing without a license), but I will agree that many 16 year olds have no business driving.

 

[Shawna]

When I read about this yesterday, it reminded me of somebody I know that drives rigs for a living. He has had three "suicides" drive right into the front of his truck. He was physically fine in all accidents, but he will never be the same mentally

I cannot grasp the concept that somebody wanting to kill themselves would kill others at the same time. She must have known that she wouldn't kill herself by hitting a small car when she was in a big vehicle. This sounds more like an attention getting scheme than a suicide attempt to me.

 

[Hawkeye]

I think thats exactly what it is. I mean its just amazing to me. Not in a good way wither.

 

[Bre]

Yeh I agree 16 is too young and I mean this as no insult.
Driving is a massive responsibility.

Just last night we had 3 16yr olds and a 17year old killed on a coastal road. The 17yr old driver has escaped with mino injuries but he is going to have to live with what happened for the rest of his life as well as losing 4 mates. It's just heartbreaking.

I remember when I was that age and the amount of times I got into cars with reckless drivers or just cars that weren't maintained that well cause a 16yr old may not be able to afford to buy new tires or just may not think to. I always thought I was invincible and nothing could possibly happen to me but the truth is I was just lucky.

 

[mzcelaneous]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beauty Mark I'm not sure if revoking driving privileges is what's helpful for this situation (had she been hellbent enough, she could've done the same thing without a license), but I will agree that many 16 year olds have no business driving.

Even if she didn't have her license she'd still probably drive the car. I know I did...but that's another story

And either way, license or none, that was a dumb ass (excuse my language) move. She's in a bigger car. Running into a smaller car will obviously cause little impact. Her feeling sorry may be genuine, but honey, it's not a free get out of jail card.

 

[quandolak]

.........

 

[YvetteJeannine]

Some people make mistakes. I can understand that. This, however was NOT a mistake. This was murder. Plain, clear, and simple. That girl KNEW she'd be hurting/killing somebody. Incidentally...when I was 17...*I* knew there were consequences to my actions...I don't care HOW many studies say otherwise....Teenagers know. Now, there all all different types of personalities out there...and I will say that it's possible that some kids don't understand the ramifications of their actions...but as a whole, I think in a situation like this, a NORMAL kid would know. Obviously there is somthing missing from this girl....Possibly she's a Narccisistic personality...I don't know..this is such a tradgedy.

Incidentally, I knew a young man (in fact, he dated my sister when they were very young, and he didn't have the problems he did when he got into his twenties...He taught me how to play Billiards when I was five...a really nice kid...) that did this to himself....He was coming home from Rehab (he was an Opiate addict), with his Mother and little brother following in the car behind him...He ran himself into a tractor-trailer truck on a busy route. He was killed instantly...the truck started on fire, and the driver of the truck managed to escape. The poor man is devestated...as he said in the newspaper. Now, every time I go past the scene of the accident, I think of Mick...his Mother always puts flowers and wreaths and Grateful Dead memorabilia (he was a Dead-Head) on the guard-rails the car bounced into after impact with the truck

I remember how I felt when it happened. This guy was such a nice person....unfortunately he got heavily into drugs (his Mother is a drug counselor...I don't know if she always was one, or became one after Mickey became an addict). In the end, however...he didn't think about what he was doing. What a terribly selfish thing to do...especially with his Mom and brother in the car behind him. Imagine watching you child/sibling doing something like that, but you're absolutely powerless to do anything about it??? It makes me cry just thinking about it. By all means, I'm not excusing what Mick did...but it was a diff. situation....his mind was clouded from years of drug use, he was detoxing from Opiates (which makes the brain chemistry go screwy...Endorphin production is down to almost nil), heavily depressed-which he had been for a long time-and another thing is that the vehicle he chose to hit was a MAC truck...not a lil' Honda Civc or something. Totally NOT excusing his actions...but the situation was a bit different...This girl KILLED a person 'cause a love interest turned her down!!!!

You have to wonder how sorry this girl really is...probably more sorry for herself than anything. Anybody that would do such a thing (over something SO stupid) most likely doesn't have the capacity to feel regret for her actions.

Wow....thanks for posting that, Youbeabitch....very intersting article.

 

[Hawkeye]

yw!
I'm sorry to hear about Mick

Yes personally with this girl, I don't think she's sorry at all. To be very point blank. I think she's sorry she 1) got caught 2) got her @$$ in a buttload of trouble that mommy and daddy can't get her out of.

 

[Katura]

That's horrifying.

I personally don't think 16 is too young though. I got my license the day I turned 16, not a day later. It was out of neccessity mostly, I had ballet everyday that was 45 minutes away, my parents worked a half hour in the opposite direction of our house, so leaving work early taking me to dance, going back to work ,and then picking me up to come home was totally impractical. Granted, I got into a couple accidents, but all were minor. I was taught that driving was a privledge, not a right, especially at my age; and I got it taken away plenty of times.

She was flat out irresponsible. It's disgusting that she didnt take into account that she was putting more than just her life on the line. I hope she faces the most serious consequences for this. Sorry doesnt fix a life thats been taken. Her actions were totally irrational for the 'cause' she justified it with. If attention is what she wanted, she got it, but it's for the crappiest reason ever.

Dumb Decision.

 

[Beauty Mark]

Katura- I think the problem is that many people at 16 (not all, of course) view driving as a right. I'm amazed at how different I was at 16 than I was at 18 and 20. I think I was responsible enough to drive at 16, but I know many people who were/are not.

 

[Katura]

I agree with you completely, BeautyMark. My brother just turned 16 and seems to have that attitude. He expects keys in his hand.

And that scares the living s...t out of me.

 

[Raerae]

While I'm not defendering her actions as I think they are horrible. I doubt this was planned, or some type of attention grabbing action. I've been in the car driving when I got hit with an extremely powerful emotional reation to a situation that had just happened in my life. I've had times in my life where when i was driving, the thought of hitting the gas and driving off the road / into traffic / whatever crossed my mind. I've you've never had a situation in your life that cause you to feel suicidal, your extremely lucky. For those of us who have (and I think it's perfectly normal), you might understand why she did this.

I do not believe she planned it. I DO believe that for whatever reason, something happened BEFORE SHE GOT INTO THE CAR, and while she was driving home or wherever, she hit the critical emotional overload that sent her into the emotionally unstable state that caused her to say, "F IT" with her life, and crash her car. I refuse to believe she (or anyone really who has comitted suicide while driving (or tried)) became emotionally unstable, and decided to get in her car to crash it.

The above belief is based on my own dealings with extreme depression/emotions/etc. As well as the times (it's happened a few times) where I've been in a situation that upset me, and while driving home AFTER the situation (sometimes days after), I hit my emotionalbreaking point. As life would have it, i just happened to be driving when it happened.

She could have been having a phone conversation with the girl who rejected her while she was driving. And the emotional rejection involved in that conversation caused her to want to end her life. Maybe this was her, "comming out" and she got rejected when it happened, that could easily be a cause of severe emotional trama. Especially if she was freaked out about all the other parts of her life that were now effected because she said she was a lesbian, and wasn't ready to face alone.

You can't judge this case by what you read in the news. Suicidal feelings remove all sense of whats right and whats wrong. I highly doubt she was thinking about the structural difference of her car, compared to the car she hit, when she broke with reality and drive into the other lane. Again if you haven't had these types of feelings, you dont know how it feels. REAL suicide isn't planned, it just happens. I've been washing dishes when I've broke down before. And the knife I was washing, was the knife I was thinking about cutting my wrists with. She needs psycological counciling, not a life sentence.

 

[NutMeg]

I've had those feelings before too, but the difference is that neither you or I acted upon them. She did, and someone died. To me, that whole emotionally distraught thing is not an excuse. I've been driving and wanted to just wrench the wheel to the side and let it be over, and I'm sure alot of people have had thoughts like that, but I didn't do it and most others don't either. So in my mind, not a valid excuse.

 

[Raerae]

yeh but we obviously weren't as screwed up as she was. I've never been depressed enough to actually attempt a suicide. The people that do commit suicide successfully are obviously more disturbed than we were.

I also know that regardless of my bad moments, i've gotten through enough of them to understand that the low parts in my life, are mirrored by an equal number of high points. So my bad days (and some have been really bad) are never bad enough to make me wanna miss out on future good ones.

 

[*Stargazer*]

She was lucid enough to send a text message to the girl who spurned her. If she was so set on hurting herself, she should have done the poor dead woman a favor and driven into a tree. This was never about hurting herself though, it was about making someone else (the girl who spurned her affections) feel as bad as she did.

She should spend the rest of her life in jail. I'd feel sorry for her if she'd killed herself, but she didn't. She killed a woman with three children and left one of those children even more traumatized for life.

 

[Janice]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ladybug10678 She was lucid enough to send a text message to the girl who spurned her. If she was so set on hurting herself, she should have done the poor dead woman a favor and driven into a tree. This was never about hurting herself though, it was about making someone else (the girl who spurned her affections) feel as bad as she did. She should spend the rest of her life in jail. I'd feel sorry for her if she'd killed herself, but she didn't. She killed a woman with three children and left one of those children even more traumatized for life.

 

[Katura]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ladybug10678 She should spend the rest of her life in jail. I'd feel sorry for her if she'd killed herself, but she didn't. She killed a woman with three children and left one of those children even more traumatized for life.

Yep. Left a husband with three kids to take care of...I don't even know how he's coping with it.

 

[Uchina]

UGH, christ, if you wanted to die in a car accident, why not find a cliff, a tree, or a telephone pole?

 

[Raerae]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ladybug10678 She was lucid enough to send a text message to the girl who spurned her.

You've never called someone when you were super upset?

And what do you think the note that people who commit suicide is? Thats the exact same thing as the text message.

Again while I dont agree with her method, and i agree anyone who is going to kill themselves should do it in a way that only physically hurt themselves (emotionally you hurt a lot of other people regardless). I dont think people who are legitimateley suicidal enough to actually make a legitimate attempt at it (and I would think driving into oncomming traffic qualifies as this) really pick when and where they go.

You also have to look at the type of suicide it was. I'm sure this wasn't a depression based suicide, which is typically more private. This one was motivated by raw emotion (look at the situation leading up, thats a pretty hard situation for any 16 year old to deal with) which tends to just happen w/out any pre meditation.

This isn't murder, Man 2. She didn't plan on killing anyone other than herself, tragically, as life usually is in these types of things, the person who SHOULD die, never does. And sadly there are only victims of their selfishness.