Seventeen-year-old Claudia Hidic was shot in the head at the rear entrance of a man's home in late June. In a case that was originally ruled a homicide, it turns out that this young woman faced a bit of Texas justice for getting herself in way over her head. She is being referred to right now as "the mastermind" of a burglary gone awry, and may have even tried to rob the same house at least once before. Her friends are outraged, as are her family, but do they not realize that this young woman was doing the very thing that gets any other criminal shot? She chose to illegally break-and-enter a home with the intent of burglarizing and possibly harming those inside as she had at least two accomplices with her, knowing she was entering a domicile that was inhabited by at least five other people.
To be completely opinionated, Claudia Hidic does not deserve sympathy. From the looks of her online persona, the 17-year-old appeared to be the stereotypical middle class girl who had dreams of "being hard," as though she truly had something to prove. She took her criminal activities way too far and she paid the price for it.
What is a shame, however, is that this young girl will never have the chance to grow and evolve from what she was to something better. Not every criminal stays one in their youth -- and that is speaking from experience. Claudia could have been far more than a thief and a thug. She could have grown to be an educated, bright and resourceful person with a promising future. On the downside, she could have only spiraled deeper into a life of crime and disgrace if she were to be successful in her heist attempt.
Certainly the person who shot her will feel his own guilt throughout the years, because it is never easy to make that decision to protect your home, your belongings and your family. He certainly must not have known that the people coming into his home were led by 17-year-old girl, and you cannot expect any homeowner to stop and check for such a thing. Every second counts when you are defending your environment, and each second that passes could be a second that you are in danger during a home invasion.
Crime analyst and profiler Chelsea Hoffman can be found on The Huffington Post, Chelsea Hoffman: Case to Case and many other outlets. Follow @TheRealChelseaH on Twitter or click here to contact Chelsea directly.
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Comments: 43 ( 18 removed by Chelsea Hoffman )
but I do have a problem with people using hate speech and racial hate speech. I think Samantha was only here to spread animosity and anger. She will probably be gone before long as this post was reported for hate speech. Not by me, but seeing as though she was using bigoted language, I am going to venture to guess that someone took issue with her disregard.
Not all of the romani people are gypsies, as are not all of them even pure roma. Myself -- I have very, very little roma blood, but I do have family who are traditional in this country and out of this country. The word gypsy is hurtful because of the negative implications people have given it.. in the UK they are called "f**king scum of the earth" and it is very hurtful. The saddest part is not having your own homeland, to be called "bosnian" or "romanian" or "british indian" -- when you are not.... Granted, I have never once experienced the plight of my heritage, not like those in Europe and throughout the rest of the world, but it is hurtful to see that term and to see people use it with venom behind their lips.
I understand that you didn't intend for it to be a slur, but samantha intended it, and she is gone.
I have sympathy for everyone in this story to a certain degree -- but regardless of whether or not he was dealing drugs (which I do not argue with) it was his home. She chose to attempt to burglarize it. I will not talk politics, but depending on the drugs this guy was allegedly dealing, I can see it as a good thing or bad thing.
I can never justify thievery though, even among my own family. Case-in-point -- I have a family member who is now dead after missing for several days. Come to find out, he was trying to steal copper and got himself trapped in the attic of an abandoned home. I only feel sympathy because he is another human being, but at the same time he got what he deserved.
Karma. You don't steal what does not belong to you.
What's missing here is that the home owner had loaned her money a few days before so she could bail her boyfriend out of jail (arrested in a drug sting). The day or so before, she asked him for another $600 and he declined.
The home owner wasn't home when this happened. One of the guys she recruited to rob the house with her has admitted that he was the one that shot her during all the mayhem. Also, she acted as if she being held hostage by the two guys.
Sad story, but stupid is as stupid does. He boyfriend was on the news the other night talking about how the killers are still out there and that she was trying to get money back that was stolen from her so she could pay for a speeding ticket.
What was said above is right -- when an 18-year old girl killed an intruder with a shotgun last year, she was applauded. This case is no different. No double standards apply.
But I understand that you're offended, I just don't intend on changing my stance. Sorry you feel the need to take the opinions of others so personally.
Have a good week.
Thanks for your feedback.
And yes, "gypsy" is a slur, and a damned offensive one to those with romani heritage.
Therefore, hate speech is removed and reported (apparently not by me this time, which is odd IMHO)
here's a post about it if any of you want to tune in or at least find out what's going to be in the show program.
http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474981467294