Teens Kill Foster Parent
1-1-08
The foster care system has long been a subject of intense debate and scrutiny. Discussion erupted again in Charlotte,
Tennessee, after two teenagers were charged with killing
their foster mother and her mother-in-law. The New Years day killings sparked renewed criticism about how the State
Department of Children’s Services place juveniles in foster
care.
Seventeen-year-old James Earl Garrett, and 15-year-old Jeffrey Byrd Johnson Jr. are both charged with first-degree murder in the slayings. Police have remained silent as to a possible motive in the attacks.