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Mychal Bell of Jena 6 Tried to Off Himself
News, Question of The Day, SMH
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December 31st, 2008 
63 Comments 
12079 Views
Posted by Bossip Staff
Apparently, the Jena 6 cat, Mychal Bell, didn’t accidentally shoot himself, he was purposely trying to put himself in a casket:
A Louisiana teenager whose 2006 arrest in the racially charged “Jena 6″ assault case drew thousands of protesters tried to commit suicide days after a separate arrest last week, a police report says.
Mychal Bell, who was arrested last week after allegedly stealing clothes worth $370 from a department store, told investigators he shot himself Monday evening “because he was tired of all the media attention,” the report says.
The high school senior’s mother and his grandmother also told an investigator that he’d indicated “he did not feel like he could live anymore” because of media coverage of the shoplifting allegations, according to the report.
Earlier, Bell’s attorney, Carol Powell-Lexing, told CNN that Bell’s family told her he’d accidentally shot himself while cleaning a gun.
According to the police report, however, an officer responded to a 911 call from his grandmother’s Monroe, Louisiana, home, where Bell lives. The grandmother, Rosie Simmons, told the officer that she had hidden the gun after the shooting “for Mychal’s safety so he did not try to shot [sic] himself again,” according to the report.
Bell, 18, suffered a wound to the upper right chest, the report says. Powell-Lexing told CNN that Bell had surgery Monday night, and Monroe police Sgt. Cassandra Wooten said the wound was not life-threatening.
Bell was being treated Tuesday at a hospital in Shreveport, Louisiana.
Dig the irony of this. People risked their lives so this cat had a chance to live his, and when he got another chance, he happily tossed it out the window behind some department store clothes. Then he tried to take the very life that people risked their own to save. SMH
Bossip folk, when we reach the point that we care more about a youth’s life than they do, is it time to consider them a lost cause?
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KC
12/31/08, 09:21:am
This baby needs some help. It’s Al Sharpton’s fault.
sweetone
12/31/08, 09:22:am
What makes them think this wasnt an accident? Kill yo self cause you got caught stealing…..just dont sound right to me.
jc200j
12/31/08, 09:22:am
First
kahmmillion
12/31/08, 09:27:am
These children need help. Obviously their parents are their…something needs to be done.
Nina Knows
12/31/08, 09:30:am
Apparently he is going thru things, he said himself he’s tired of the media attention.
Clearly, this young man needs some serious help. And I hope he gets it.
The Bear - Black is the new White!!!
12/31/08, 09:35:am
@ KC
I think Al Sharpton is somewhat to blame too.
Pristhewriter
12/31/08, 09:39:am
Well apparantly, this gentleman requires some counseling as well as a mentor. I mean after the “Jena 6″ ordeal…you know, when the symbols and horns silenced, who was there to tach this youth some life skills, for example helping him to find a job, stay out of trouble and even encourage him to “give back.” Was he advised to possibly serve some community service to help rebuild his self esteem and turn the negative media around? i mean sheesh….where is JESSIE-JESUS!
Dayshawn
12/31/08, 09:40:am
Another black idiot
Make sure yo butt is on that plastic!
12/31/08, 09:46:am
oh, I totally predicted that!!
see, I knew he wasnt cleaning no damn gun, he was trying to end it. poor thing
i bet the YTS are still making his life miserable
pm
12/31/08, 09:48:am
God allowed him to live, so He’s not done with him yet thats about all I can say. I know he must feel bad about it. Black people rarely rally behind anything and for this fool to do this to our national reputation is just selfish.
Make sure yo butt is on that plastic!
12/31/08, 09:48:am
and Bossip you need to have some sympathy.
you dont know what this boy is going through. after that ordeal with YT and their goons, he is probably scarred forever.
Look at Rodney King on celebrity rehab. You would think with all the support he got from the black community and other opportunites that was open to him would make him a better person.
sometimes a racist and violent encounter will leave a man feeling all messed up in the head!
Grownazzwoman
12/31/08, 09:51:am
I don’t like what Bossip said about him being a lost cause. No one should ever be considered a lost cause. WOW it sounds like the folks at Bossip have perfect lives.
THISISME
12/31/08, 09:55:am
THATS MESSED UP BIG TIME!! DUDE WILL TRY TO KILL HIMSELF BECAUSE OF $370 WORTH OF CLOTHES!!! SMH
Proud ArmyWifee
12/31/08, 09:57:am
“The devil comes only to steal, kill, and destroy. I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.” John 10:10.
V
12/31/08, 09:58:am
@ Dayshawn
He not an idiot. He’s a young man that needs help….like Jesus. We should pray for him, not put him down.
lanette
12/31/08, 10:03:am
He needs to be locked up..
i have prayed for this kid but he seems to want to go to jail so I say so be it…
moi
12/31/08, 10:03:am
Black people rarely rally behind anything and for this fool to do this to our national reputation is just selfish.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
He didn’t do anything to tarnish OUR ‘national reputation’. Our reputation has been slaughtered since the birth of America.The whole Jena 6 debacle was a coon to begin with. This was a cause waaaay too easy to take up, and rally behind…
damn
12/31/08, 10:08:am
sorry ***** mother*****er getting caught for a stupid crime, then gets really real ignant stupid, grabs a gun , shoots his dumb ***** stupid self, then…..stupid
sickofitt
12/31/08, 10:45:am
First off, him and his family need to move far away from Hickville, USA. He will never get a fair shake living there. You know they got all eyes on these kids anything they do they will be arrested for. Where is the news about the arrest on him shoplifting. Is it on tape? What happened with that?
You know how WP are when ***** don’t go their way. When their laws turnaround and kick them in the *****. They won’t stop until they get what they want. Look at OJ’s dumb *****. We are going to look up one day and this boy will be serving 30 years for littering.
AAA
12/31/08, 11:01:am
Well what can I say? If he really wanted to die he would have shot himself in the head…
Then again I’m not involved in his life, I don’t know what’s going on in his head. All I can say is I hope he gets the help he needs.
The Sensitive Black Man
12/31/08, 11:05:am
Stupid ***** can’t get ***** right. Next time put the nozzle of the gun in your mouth, tilted up, making sure when you pull the trigger, it blows the lower half of the back of your brains out. I do loathe incompetence. If you’re going to do something, do it right.
lourdes
12/31/08, 11:10:am
LEAVE HIM ALONE!!! HE NEEDS HELP!!! BOSSIP HOW DARE YOU CALL HIM A LOST CAUSE!!! HOW CAN YOU BE SO “OBAMAFIED” AND NOT CARE WHAT HAPPENS TO OUR FUTURE LEADERS??? YOU HAVE THE POWER TO HELP BUT INSTEAD YOU USE THAT POWER TO BERATE!!! YOU LOST ME ON THAT ONE. LET’S BACK IT UP AND TRY IT AGAIN!!!
AC
12/31/08, 11:10:am
he should move to another state.
Alaskan Baby
12/31/08, 11:16:am
gee willikers that’s sad!
Anton Slizzardhands
12/31/08, 11:17:am
po chile .. po po chile
lourdes
12/31/08, 11:17:am
@ THE SENSITIVE BLACK MAN: YOU ARE A MEASLEY ***** CREEP! IF THAT WAS ONE OF YOUR FAMILY MEMBERS YOU’D BE BOO HOOING ALL OVER THE DAMN PLACE. SOME PEOPLE NEED HELP YOU HATEFUL *****. HE SHOULD’VE SHOT YOU INSTEAD. NOW THAT WOULD HAVE SHOWED EXTREME COMPETENCE! ONE LESS *****HOLE IN THE WORLD!
The Sensitive Black Man
12/31/08, 11:25:am
lourdes
It would seem you have a soft spot for thugs and the bad boys. I’m going to *****ume that you’re one of those young impressionable black w*****s’ who does’nt know any better, and will eventually outgrow the whole “THUG WORSHIP” thing. Bye *****!
Lady J
12/31/08, 11:37:am
He is obviously sufferring from depression and it seems he has some Bi-Polar behaviors… he needs a psych eval with proper medication. Clearly, he had “issues” for a while… One doesn’t wake up and decide “Oh I think I want to take my life today”. Mental health has never been addressed properly in this country….
Moreaces
12/31/08, 11:38:am
This young man obviously needs a mentor, or something to the effect to guide him in the rigtht direction, our young black men have too few role modles in their lives.. sad
Le Sigh
12/31/08, 11:47:am
whatever his “issue” is, the remedy is not shoplifting. i am done feeling sorry for negroes who make bad decisons and then figure out that they can’t/don’t want to deal with the consequences. guess what? you don’t want attention…MOVE! you don’t want negative attention…don’t steal and do dumb stuff! he’s not retarded in any way so he is capable of making decisons and comprehending right from wrong.
regardless of the presence of a mentor or not, how “confused” does one have to be to know that what he keeps choosing to do is wrong? everybody kills me making excuses for ignorance. EVERYONE has a story to tell. everyone has struggles, everyone has hurt and everyone has things they go thru, so cry me a river. what’s keeping me from running naked in the streets shooting folks cuz “boo-hoo-hoo, i didn’t have father growing up”? at what point does personal accountability come into the picture? some folks are just bad apples…case in point here.
all you people defending him…how about you figure out how to mentor and help him…just like ya’ll banded together to wear black and march on that foolishness…
All Out
12/31/08, 11:54:am
He wouldn’t draw all this bad attention if he would just do the right thing dammit. Don’t shoplift and don’t get five of your buddies to beat down one person. Black men don’t fight that dirty. No sympathy from me I am done feeling pity for thugs who refuse to change.
Roe ski Love
12/31/08, 11:59:am
Damn I thought that when you face adversity, that your supposed to use your inner strength to overcome your cir*****stances. Since when has suicide became the answer for us. Maybe good ole Al Sharpton should have told the kidds, that they will be part of the media frenzy for the rest of their lives, so from now on stay out of trouble.
NewOrleans
12/31/08, 12:10:pm
SYMPATHY???? Oh ***** no…this boy doesn’t deserve any sympathy, and neither do the other idiots of the alustrious “jena 6″..Put em up against a wall and off em..
bossip is retarded
12/31/08, 12:34:pm
people foget that the jena 6 wasnt a bunch of do gooders that got caught up in a civil rights movement. the a bunch of young bad ***** children that wanted to scrap. al sharpton, jesse and all yall *****heads that put “support the jena 6″ in soap on ur car windows made them out to be the symbol for a nation. they young dumb***** kids shame on yall for using them as a political front. somebody need to cut jesse and al’s nuts off.
Yezzurr
12/31/08, 12:47:pm
Hey pray for this young dude suicide is no joke and some people aren’t ready or don’t want fame.. No excuse for what he did but just get help.
la vida
12/31/08, 12:57:pm
LOOKS LIKE BARACK CANT “CHANGE” “EVERYTHING” (ROLLS EYES!)
sepia830
12/31/08, 13:01:pm
This is really sad. What I don’t get though is why after all the media coverage from before would he go out and (allegedly) shoplift and NOT expect more media attention? He needs therapy and not the solitary confinement kind.
Ashame
12/31/08, 13:06:pm
I guess everyone making the bad comments are perfect and never made any mistakes in life! This young boy needs help! We are so quick to turn our backs and judge others. We don’t know what he is going through. Everyone deal with situations differently. Just b/c you can deal with being poor, single mother/father, doesn’t mean someone else can. Some people take longer to rise above their cir*****stances.Think about other people, not just yourselves. One day we may be put in the same cir*****stance and lets see how we deal with it!
The Sensitive Black Man
12/31/08, 13:15:pm
Ashame
Naw *****, unlike that ***** up you feel so sorry for, if i decide to check out of the program, i’ll do it right. This ***** was just looking for some attention, knowin’ that stupid *****es like will be more than happy to pop your *****y out and breast feed his ***** like the deluded, doting Aunt Jemima, yo ***** be. Stop cottling these career criminals.
The Sensitive Black Man
12/31/08, 13:16:pm
*like you*
lourdes
12/31/08, 14:06:pm
@ The sensitive black ***** wipe
I’m not angry at you. I feel sorry for you. I’m not the type to try and justify anything wrong anybody does, the boy is just lost and needs help! I Personally don’t like thugs and will never date one. One broke in my house and would’ve got shot if I would’ve been at home. But this boy is a troubled child. Some people can redeem themselves. Why are you so angry?
memchee
12/31/08, 14:12:pm
Bossip you guys are wrong!!!
Many people who undergo media scrutiny suffer depression. At a certain level this guy may have come to believe that he has lost his freedom to be himself.
Think about it, because he was a minor player in a larger cause….everything negative he does will be news.
The young guy is human and needs help from an older man and a therapist (for the depression and probably anger) to guide/help him achieve his goals.
He may not have stolen those clothes,he may have been setup!!
BlackBeauty
12/31/08, 14:20:pm
This is sad. I hope that he gets the help that he needs. Sometimes that 15 minutes of fame is not all that it is cracked up to be, however, I’m sure that he knows right from wrong and he had no business stealing.
mieranda
12/31/08, 14:24:pm
It’s not right to judge this young man. It has to be hard living the life that he is living. No one knows how he feels when he lays his head down on a pillow at night. Maybe we can’t understand why he allegedly stole clothes. STOP JUDGEING HIM. This young man has gone through something that YOU or I never have expreienced, i can’t say how i would handle his situation and neither should you. He did not ask for this to happen, he didn’t ask for media attention. If you ask me he got used both ways. We need to pray for him.
Ignorance is Contagious
12/31/08, 14:50:pm
This is the reason why the Black community has GOT to get out of the habit of defending Black men for the sake of defending them. For Every drug dealer, rapist, child molester and thug, Black folks are out there marching swearing to God there was an injustice on his behalf.
Yes, I feel sorry for anyone who wants to take their own life, however, this young man needs to make better choices. First they were at the BET Awards flashing their donors money. Then they got in trouble somewhere else and now he is stealing.
If this was a sista, she would be called every degrading name in the book and tossed to the side.
Ignorance is Contagious
12/31/08, 14:53:pm
I am amazed at the sympathy Black people always have for career criminal Black men, but let a Black women even walk out side with a mini skirt and she is worthless. Some times I really have to shake my head.
bogman1
12/31/08, 15:27:pm
Jacky Jasper’s
2008 Top 10
American House Negros
http://diaryofahollywoodstreetking.com
French/Haitian in the FLA
12/31/08, 16:12:pm
I am not p*****ing any judgment as I beleive that the poor young man is probably deeply depressed and tormented, but not for nothing, if he wanted to die, he would have shoot himself on the LEFT side of the chest. ( HELLO!!!!) I think it was a cry for help. God bless him, and if God didn’t call him home then, it means he has some living to do down here. Get better my baby brother!
gofigure
12/31/08, 16:14:pm
You mean this
“attempted suicide”
artist missed that
BAG ***** HEAD with
the gun shot —-
how “serious” could the
“attempt” have been?
Rawr
12/31/08, 16:29:pm
How sad
Southern Belle (everything that is good comes from here)
12/31/08, 16:35:pm
i beleive this boy isnt tired of the media attention he is searching for more media attention he needs to pick up a book do something to occupy his time he knows that some people got it in for him they want to put him in jail so why do things that jepeordize his freedom he doesnt care after all the sweat and tears our naacp put in for his well being he goes and does stupid things like shoplifts and then after you bring shame with that you wanna kill yourself he has OJ syndrome
kim
12/31/08, 16:37:pm
Bossip your article is concrete proof why individuals in the spotlight often get tired of media attention. As a whole when will we ever come together and stop stabbing each other in the back. Clearly anyone who shoots him or herself has some serious mental issues going on, and you treat it as if it was one big joke.
dubya
12/31/08, 17:17:pm
Le Sigh
whatever his “issue” is, the remedy is not shoplifting. i am done feeling sorry for negroes who make bad decisons and then figure out that they can’t/don’t want to deal with the consequences. guess what? you don’t want attention…MOVE! you don’t want negative attention…don’t steal and do dumb stuff! he’s not retarded in any way so he is capable of making decisons and comprehending right from wrong.
regardless of the presence of a mentor or not, how “confused” does one have to be to know that what he keeps choosing to do is wrong? everybody kills me making excuses for ignorance. EVERYONE has a story to tell. everyone has struggles, everyone has hurt and everyone has things they go thru, so cry me a river. what’s keeping me from running naked in the streets shooting folks cuz “boo-hoo-hoo, i didn’t have father growing up”? at what point does personal accountability come into the picture? some folks are just bad apples…case in point here.
all you people defending him…how about you figure out how to mentor and help him…just like ya’ll banded together to wear black and march on that foolishness…
———————————————-
Amen!
dubya
12/31/08, 17:19:pm
I’m sorry, Le Sigh, you deserve a standing ovation. I agree with you 100%!
Duni
12/31/08, 19:51:pm
Pray for him and keep your evil comments to yourself…..One thing I learned growing up….”THERE, BUT FOR THE GRACE OF GOD, GO I”.
Don’t make negative comments, don’t judge. Just send prayers and love for ALL of our young Brothers and Sisters out here living in Hell!!
Niasia
12/31/08, 20:03:pm
This is sad. But it speaks volumes about the mental health in the black community. We as black people should take it a lot more seriously. These children are mentally unstable and no one even takes notice. I hope he can turn it around I do. And Bossip have some dignity attempted suicide is not a joke or anything for you to p***** judgement on! Goodness black people mental health is real and we need to evaluate ours!
SHA IN DC
12/31/08, 23:47:pm
THEIR NEVER
A
LOST CAUSE.
Mock Rock Star
1/1/09, 01:17:am
Bossip i actually with U until the end…he’s young and he’s growing and learning how to deal with life…he’s from a redneck ***** place and being a black man in the south he’s *****ed up…***** him, he better get through that ***** like true ballers do…may God be with him
HOT_HOMO
1/1/09, 01:43:am
This is sooo stupid, but how many black people were all quick to rush to judgement & run down to Louisiana and support this *****tard and those other dumb*****es!!??. Obviously he was a troublemaker then and still is a troublemaker and stealer now. This kid needs an intact normal family life and some one to get on his *****, push him to get an education which will provide options other than stealing.
Unkle Ruckus
1/1/09, 06:01:am
A .22? I shoot myself with a .22 just to wake up in the morning. He needs some real psych care.
tay
1/1/09, 16:33:pm
He couldn’t have been trying to kill himself to bad, if you have a gun you put it to YOUR head. Damn. But maybe he needs help..Idk. Don’t know the kid, this is sad none the less though.
Simon The Cat
1/8/09, 01:53:am
Hey..he was a troublemaker then and still is a troublemaker and stealer now. This kid needs an intact normal family life and some one to get on his *****, push him to get an education which will provide options other than stealing.
SMH
1/18/09, 23:13:pm
Simon-
You are RIGHT. Unfortunately, Bell comes from a family in which BOTH his parents have been accused of *****ault. He didn’t have much of a chance coming from that, but that doesn’t excuse his behavior. My own grammy & gramps came from a lot worse and made good with their lives and raised upstanding children.