Staley....I can't stand by and let those who are wrong go through life on this blog thinking they are right. It is my civic duty as leader of a Nation of Dead Rockers to find errors and correct them.

I like the donating organs thing.....good for all of us to check that on our license and then if we kill someone and get the death penalty, we should do what you said I think.

Fry the kid. Who cares? The less murderers the better. Plus, killing him is way cheaper than life in prison.

Thanks for the bird dbd but seriously, I'm not good with pets. I'm glad you love your town. I have some great memories of growing up there. You are missing the point. So just to be clear:

#1. "hole" was your word, not mine.

#2. Guess what? Folks here in the big city perform random acts of kindness just like folks there.

#3. I wasn't talking about "all" people from SEMO

#4. Wanting a fair trial based on facts & evidence doesn't mean I don't expect accountability and punishment if the child is found guilty.

#5. If you haven't taken the time to visit one of those blood drives please think about doing so. It only takes a few minutes and can make a big impact in saving lives and it sounds like the hospital needs your help.

Here are some insomnia tunes for the dead rockers:

like a lemon to a lime a lime to a lemon, I sip da def ale with all the fly women... waking up but I get to sleep cause I'll be rockin this party 8 days a week - NO sleep till Brooklyn

Everybody sing it with me...UP all night, sleep all day.

I didn't start the 18 and Life song...Cliff did...I was just trying to sort out some long-questioned lyrics.

Thank you layne. Now, as far as I'm concerned, I agree with hoon, yet again. I've said it on a forum about this kid, and other people, before. It's understandable to have the urge to protect your family, especially your children...but if they did it, they did it. Why in the world would you want to make yourself look like a fool trying to defend someone who could kill a human being???

Please...I'm trying to channel Janis Joplin.

Ebonics??? That's so 20th century. How do you bootheelians (or boothooligans) know about Ebonics?

So enough of this madness. Lets talk about how the local hospital had 4 blood drives in 2007 and only managed to collect a total 67 units of blood for the entire year. Whats up with that???

nashville73, was that Ebonics you just typed?

READ....your question WAS answered. Change your name to Janis Joplin if you want, still won't help the fact you apparently can't read. Go to a pasture and sing hippy songs.....won't help your reading ability. IF THAT WERE MY KID....and he shot and killed a man, I would expect there to be a penalty. IF my kid were doing drugs in Bloomfield and were caught....I know there would be a price to pay.

I guess Ricky's sad story says it all. (Except you didn't quite answer my question.) Now I've got to decide whether to head back to the campfire, pick up my acoustic guitar, flowers, and "Up With People" songbook and travel on to more reasonable pastures or just change my name to Janis Joplin and rock on.

I'll answer your question anyway even though you haven't yet answered mine.

If Don McCollough were my husband or father I can't even begin to imagine the heartache and devastion I would feel both for the loss of my loved one as well as the senseless way his life was taken. I'm certain I would be enraged and convinced Owen Welty was guilty of the crime and I imagine I would want all the pain and loss I was feeling to be inflicted upon him and his family. As a victim of this crime I would think my feelings and emotions would be justified.

But the fact is I'm not a victim of this and neither are any of you. What do you accomplish by posting these cruel comments?

"Accidents will happen" they all heard Welty say.

He fired his six-shot to the wind and that child blew a childaway...

mdolphin - 18 and life you know

Welty was a young boy, He had a heart of stone. Lived 9 to 5 and worked his fingers to the bone. Just barely got out of school, came from the edge of town. Fought like switchblade so no one could take him down. He had no money, oooh no good at home. He walked the streets a soldier and he fought the world alone. And now it's 18 and life you got it.

Jenny I got your number

I need to make you mine

Jenny I don't change that number

867-5309

Its ALL coincidence.

I would have disciplined the heck out of him growing up and not made a knee jerk reaction to defend him each time he screwed up or acted up.

Just curious, what would you feel or think if Don McCollough was your husband or father and all the evidence in the world pointed to a punk killing him after being warned to stop shooting animals on the same property?

Don McCollough was an unbelievably great guy. When I was a kid - he was our sunday school superintendent and there was nobody better... His wife and daughter are precious people too. Anyone who would hurt someone in this way, regardless of circumstance deserves ALL that prison has to offer. If his parents hadn't defended him and gotten him out of trouble his whole life Welty may not have felt like he could get away with murder. This is truly one of the saddest cases I have seen, mainly because a family full of truly good people will have to suffer because of one kid's selfishness. AND just to add to the family's suffering, the Welty's are going to drag every part of this out as long as they can. Unbelievable. The Weltys themselves should probably sleep better if he is locked up.

I say we sit him down beside a camp fire, get out the acoustic guitar, put flowers behind our ears and sing songs. Talk with him a little bit and let him know that everybody makes mistakes, it's going to be ok. And then have a big group hug. That's should do it. Rehabilitation of the 21st century.

Maybe we ought to try and understand what Welty was feeling when he made this mistake. Let's start by opening up his brain...