Sign Christopher's Bill!
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Website dedicated to Christopher Pittman: www.christopherpittman.org
Click on the link below for more info!
Juvenile justice reform.
Reform of the perscription drug industry/FDA.
DONATIONS FOR CHRISTOPHER'S CANTEEN AND COLLEGE COURSE:
If you would like to send your donation directly to the bank that holds these funds for Christopher, please send them to:
Christopher Pittman
c/o Center State Bank
1017 Main Street
Wildwood, FL 34785
Make sure you write on your check: payable to "Christopher Pittman" and "for deposit only" on the back.
MANY THANKS! Every little bit helps!
Christopher Pittman when he is freed!
CHRISTOPHER'S STORY
Christopher Pittman came to live with his beloved paternal grandparents after his chaotic home life in Florida drove him to attempt suicide. His mother had left his family when he was very small. She then came back into the life of him and his sister only to abruptly end all contact with them after only a very brief period of time. This devastated Christopher and his sister and is what led him to attempt suicide. That act, in turn, is what led to his commitment to a psychiatric facility where he was placed on the antidepressant Paxil. Upon his release he came to live with his grandparents, Joe and Joy Pittman. A decision agreed upon by his grandparents and his father. Christopher had spent many summers and vacations with them and loved them greatly. A South Carolina physician, Dr. Eric Naumann, switched his medication to Zoloft, an antidepressant not recommended for use by children, 3 weeks before the fatal shooting. These were free samples and he didn’t have any samples of Paxil. In all actuality, NO ANTIDEPRESSANT or SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) as they are classifed, is approved for children.
Although both drugs are similar, it is not recommended that one be started prior to “weaning†yourself off of one before starting another. Christopher allegedly began to experience negative side-effects from the new medication; his sister went so far as to describe him as “manic.†He purportedly experienced a burning sensation, he was constantly jittery, very talkative and anxious. When he complained about the side effects of the drug, it is alledged the doctor upped his dosage from 100mg daily to 200mg daily.
The day before the shooting, Christopher had an argument on the school bus, was said to have choked a fellow student. Aggression and hostility is also a side effect. This led to his gradparent having to get him out of school that day. Later at church, somewhere Christopher went often with his grandparents and was well-liked by the Pastor, he disturbed the person playing piano by kicking the bench. This was all bahavior not typical of Christopher who was known to be a quite boy and very well-behaved. That night, after receiving a paddling from his grandfather, or so it has been said, Christopher went into his grandparent's bedroom and murdered them with their own shotgun which he had been taught how to use. After the murder he set fire to the house using a candle and papers.
According to two highly qualified expert witnesses who testified at his trial, Christopher was "involuntarily intoxicated" on Zoloft and exhibiting psychotic features when he shot his grandparents to death in their bed on Nov. 28, 2001.
Christopher was taken into custody by Deputy Lucinda McKellar who, after informing him of his Miranda rights, induced the isolated little boy to purportedly waive his constitutional rights and confess to the killings. Incredibly, there was no recording made of the interrogation, his confession was not written in his own handwriting. It was written a total of three times by Deputy Lucinda McKellar. He was still under the influence of Zoloft and confessed to the murders as if he didn’t care about it at all.
The ensuing murder charges against Christopher could have been heard in Family Court, a salutary, confidential forum whose focus would have been on providing him with the rehabilitative services he desperately needed.
Unfortunately, but all too typically these days, yahoo prosecutors were utterly indifferent to the child's plight.
So they vigorously objected to the Family Court's adjudicating the case just as they vehemently opposed a defense request that reasonable bail be set. Lacking the judicial courage required in this terrible time for America's kids, the court sided with prosecutors on both matters. Christopher was to be tried as an adult and thus faced life in prison.
Christopher remained in custody for well over THREE years before being brought to trial, an unconscionable delay. The jury didn’t see the troubled 12 year old boy who was slight for his age. They saw a 15 year old who was as tall as his attorneys at 6 feet tall.
Christopher’s attorneys admitted that yes, Christopher had committed the awful crime of killing his grandparents, the two people that he loved most in the world, but that he was not himself at the time. The makers of Zoloft, Pfizer, injected themselves into his trial and helped the State of South Carolina convict him. They denied that their drug could have side effects that could make someone act the way Christopher did and commit murder. His family told of a boy who was kind, gentle and sweet before being prescribed Paxil and Zoloft. They also told of the boy that he became. He was a boy that they didn’t recognize, the boy who would commit an unspeakable act.
After the jury convicted him -- a result that should have surprised nobody --Christopher's aunt, Melinda Pittman Rector, whose parents were the deceased victims, told the presiding judge that her mother and father would have been pleading on Christopher's behalf because "That was not my nephew that night. He was a good kid."
Under South Carolina law, however, the mandatory minimum sentence was 30 years in jail and that was the sentence meted out by the court for the psychiatrically induced, totally-out-of-character behavior of an emotionally disturbed 12-year-old child.
Christopher’s attorneys appealed to the South Carolina Supreme Court but his conviction and sentence was upheld.
Since Christopher’s conviction, the FDA has required that all SSRI class drugs have a “black box warning†stating some of the adverse side effects of these drugs. This warning is the closest thing to an outright ban that the FDA can give. Also since Christopher has been convicted, it has been reported that many of the school shootings involving children have been linked because many were either on or withdrawing from antidepressants.
Christopher is currently waiting on an answer from the United States Supreme Court to see if they will agree to hear his case. His attorneys have contended all along, even during his first trial and prior to it, that his 8th Amendment rights were violated and further violated by the imposing of such a harsh sentence on a 12 year old child. Many organizations, most of whom fight for the rights of juveniles here and around the world, have submitted briefs on behalf of Christopher. Even 3 judges, who presided over (and one currently) juvenile courts, wrote a brief on Christopher’s behalf.
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SHEILA and MIKE who started and maintain the website christopherpittman.org. KNIGHT who does so much and devotes so much of her time to the kids and all the others there who continue to fight for Christopher and other children. They are true HEROES!