Charleston was born on July 19, 2006, in Pulaski, Virginia. He had one older brother. He was so full of life. He was in every way a smart, energetic, and kind little boy who was very much loved by his family. He loved to partake in outdoor activities with his older brother, and was always a really happy kid who really liked having fun and being with his family and friends.
Charleston was a great boy, but he had some anger issues. When he felt someone had slighted him, he got really upset, especially if he already disliked the person. This would lead to persistent, months-long cycles of anger and hatred, and some even resulted in his internal anger and frustration getting so bad that he would lash out at specific peers at his school who he felt behaved badly and didn't belong there. Of course, the intensity of these emotions, while only natural, were a huge burden to put on a 7 year old.
Everything fell apart for him on June 5, 2014. He got extremely angry at a peer he already disliked, due to believing the peer had "slighted him" as a result of the peer's "psychotic behavior" that "should've resulted in expulsion long ago". The very next day, he snuck a bocce ball from his family's garage into his backpack and took it to school with him. At approximately 10:05 AM that morning, he marched into the room and, with very little emotion other than anger, threw the bocce ball in the peer's face, which was already disfigured due to previous incidents that Charleston was not involved in. As he walked away, he muttered under his breath "I'm not sorry and I hope you die".
This bocce ball throw caused serious injury to the other student; including all-around facial fractures, bleeding from the head, skull denting, and even some mild brain damage. But certainly, Charleston did not go into school that day intending to cause as significant of an injury as he did. Given his young age and the lack of resources he would've had to know of the risks of these injuries, would he have even known how?
At 10:40 AM, Charleston overheard teacher discussion about the incident and found out that the other student needed to be taken back to the hospital, this time in intensive care, for potentially life-altering injuries. Realizing the extent of injuries he caused, it is believed Charleston became worried that police would become involved and he would get in trouble with the law. He panicked and ran out of the building and into the school driveway, attempting to elope from school campus. He ran right into a maintenance tractor and got rammed into and knocked onto the concrete, causing injury. Charleston was taken to the hospital, refused the life support, and insisted on going home. He died at his residence that night at around 9:30. There is no trace of what happened to the other student.
After his death, it began to come to light that it may have been more than just the fear of legal involvement that freaked Charleston out. It was reported that he overheard someone being hesitant to give him something to make up for what angered him so much, saying that doing so would make him a “stalker”. This statement and the subsequent description of how it would make him is bound to be tremendously emotionally unbearable to any child, let alone a 7 year old
It is important not to judge this boy solely based on his final hours. He was a great boy, a genuinely good-natured child who just made bad choices sometimes. Do not remember him as an evil monster because of his final moments; salute him and say his name as we stand to prevent this from happening to other children. It may be too late for Charleston, but, if we can do things to make up for the events that get these children so mad, it would drastically reduce the risk of these horrific events occurring with other children.
