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Published Monday, May 11, 2009 | 11:57 a.m.
Updated Monday, May 11, 2009 | 12:51 p.m.
Tanner Rosseau
Sun archives
UDPATED STORY: Bail set for man accused in Tropicana parking lot stabbing
A man who was stabbed to death on the Las Vegas Strip Friday morning has been identified.
The Clark County Coroner's Office said 35-year-old Gregory Dominique of Cleveland, Ohio, was stabbed several times. The manner of death was ruled a homicide, a spokeswoman for the coroner's office said today.
Metro Police said officers found Dominique suffering from multiple stab wounds at 4:12 a.m. Friday in the Tropicana hotel and casino parking lot.
The victim was taken to University Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, police said.
Officers searching the area found 18-year-old Tanner Rousseau, of Arlington, Wash., in a car near the Las Vegas Strip resort.
Rousseau has been booked into the Clark County Detention Center on a charge of murder with a deadly weapon.
Well that settles that discussion. The victim was 35 yrs old.
S711
Bad hair day for Tanner
Tanner I love you and miss you! im praying for you!
He is from Washington, not Virginia.
wow the media are retarted, ahha WASHINGTON! they dont know anything.. were pray for you :)
It's called a typo or a mistake. You guys make PLENTY of both.
see they cant even get the state right. how do people think there information is correct.
I am so sick of reading about how much you people love Tanner! You love him so much why don't you try to teach him what is right and what is wrong, so if his ass ever gets out of prison he will not kill anyone else! What he did is ripping my heart apart! I miss Gregory so much and am devastated that I will never talk to him again! At least all you Tanner loving people can visit him and talk to him, send him books to read in prison. I will never be able to see or hear from Greg again!
why... I hear you like I said on the other page we all feel for the lose of the victims (Greg)family and friends we are just defending our friend. That man was 35 they say well he should have acted like it he knew better then to start s*** with a whole bunch of teenagers Tanner was scared anyone in his situation would have done the same thing. Im sorry for your lose but I do beleive that this was self defense Im not saying what he did was right or wrong but you have to look at it from both sides. He attacked Tanner when he had nothing to do with anything and continued to attack him. The whole situatuation is just f***ed up!!
Jen227 were you there? Are you one of the cowards that did not report a man dying of stab wounds that your "friend" inflicted on him? How do you know so much of what happened? Are you going to tell me that your friend is "truly innocent"? Bull, if tanner was scared he should have ran. And by the way I do not see him being beaten up or have any new wounds; he is a stupid kid and should have been taught better by his parents, mentors and so called friends. I am also sorry for his family's loss, loss of all the money that is going to be wasted on getting him off. Again, at least they will be able to put some on his books and see him once in a wile. What he did was wrong!!!
truly innocent... who cares what state he is from?? Grow up!
its kinda hard to run when your being grabbed by the hair and gettin punched in the head. It's not his fault that guy started sh** with him he was NOT involved with the prior fight and they walked away and your friend relative whoever the f*** he was came around the corner and started beatin Tanner for no f***in reason!! I will stick up for him and continue to pray for him you have your opion and I have mine! thats that
What was he doing at 4 a.m. and why was he carrying a knife? Sounds like a drug deal gone bad...
He was a kid from WA who wasn't doing anything productive with his life at the moment. Some of his friends decided to make a random road trip to Vegas. Before he left his thug wannabe friend Conrad gave him the knife thinking it would be a cute thing to scare someone with if he got in trouble.
Conrad admitted on another article that Tanner told him it was a drug deal gone bad. Tanner had a history of poor decisions. Two weeks earlier he got hit by a car because he was skateboarding in the middle of the road. His friends are a bunch of naive enablers. It wasn't Tanner's fault he was in the middle of the road, the road construction crew should have left sidewalks for him and the lady who hit him, she shouldn't have been old and driving a car. Everyone knows cars don't belong in the middle of the road. The marks on his face all match the skateboard accident. Not a scratch from the victim that shows.
What ever happened to a good old fashioned fist fight ? This man had to have a knife with him. Why carry a knife for protection unless you are going to use it? Parents need to teach their children responsibility , now 2 people's families have been destroyed .
Peace & Blessings
What was an 18 yr old doing hanging around at a casino parking lot anyway? Isn't 21 the legal age to be in a casino - and if under 21 shouldn't you have to be with an adult??
Save your prayers for the dead victim.
Why you sending everyone to a blog website? LasVegasLynn - sounds like Random_las_vegas
The blog has NOTHING @ all to do with me. I just found it by searching Tanner's name in google. Just like I found this news article.
http://classiclasvegas.squarespace.com/
It makes a whole lot more sense than the story his friends are telling.
If found out why my post was likely removed. The blog quoted another major las vegas newspaper. If you search Tanner's name you can find the snippets of the arrest report in an article about the body (unrelated) found at another casino.
I thought we lived in America where everyone is innocent until proven guilty.....only the people that were there know what really happened. You are going off of snipets of articles, and nothing has really been printed other than a few sentences because we all know, if it is on the internet, or in the paper it HAS to be true....I feel sad for everyone involved, but please dont judge until ALL the facts have been released....
i am so sick of this crap and u guys dont even know wat fully happened for the ppl that do and understand wat tanner is going through right now then ur probably a friend. he is like a brother to me and this s--t happened but not intentionally, tanner didnt want this to happen but it was self defense, it was a drug deal gone bad!!!
i love you tanner and i am praying for u!!!
its troy
i love you tanner
and i know you.
i know your a lover and not a fighter
you only attack when attacked.
i pray that the outcome is well for you
cause i know, I KNOW YOUR INNOCENCE. AND I WISH THESE PEOPLE KNEW THE KIND OF GUY YOU ARE.
CAUSE YOU WOULD NOT BE IN JAIL RIGHT NOW.
I WISH I HAD MONEY FOR YOU TO GET OUT OF THIS MESS
I wonder how much you would love tanner if he murdered a member of your family. He had a CHOICE, just like any of us. Now it is payback time! What he is going through??? He has changed hundreds of lives in one second, including his own. I am more concerned what those people are going through? Pay up tanner!
Just a little geography lesson here...there IS a Arlington, Washington halfway between Bellingham and Seattle.
No one put a gun to Tanner's head and made him hop in a car with his fake thug friends and go to Vegas. He chose with the convincing of Conrad to carry a deadly weapon. He choose to pull it out and use it on a man who didn't deserve to die (it made me sick the lack of value Tanner's friends placed on the victims life). The victim may not have been and angel, but Tanner and his friends weren't perfect in the least. He needs to go to the trial and face whatever consequences. Self-defense is one of the hardest defenses out there. It's nowhere near as easy as his friends seem to think. They will get to visit with Tanner if he gets out on bail (and likely in prison in the future to). The victims family will never get to see him again. A bad situation all around but bad choices were made.
As for making the big deal over the typo of Arlington, VA versus WA. It's an easy mistake to make and you have to keep in mind the newspaper writers have to write up many articles a day. Sometimes a minor slip up will occur. The general gist of the article is still correct. Look at Tanner's friends and their writing style. They are the last people that can talk about typos. I make my share too.
Which person was the drug dealer?
Dominique handed Rousseau an empty envelope and refused to return Rousseau's money and marijuana, which started the fight, the report said.
Dominique died of his injuries at University Medical Center.
The arrest report said Rousseau admitted to the stabbing to a police officer about 30 minutes after the altercation. The officer, who was attempting to establish containment of the hotel's property, initially thought Rousseau was kidding. He told Rousseau he didn't have time to joke around, he was looking for a suspect.
According to the report, Rousseau walked out of a black Honda Civic, "put his hands up from his waist and told the officer ... "You got me."
Rousseau then told police where the bloody knife was.
DOES THIS SOUND LIKE SELF DEFENSE OR SELF COVER UP?
This is why my brother is gone because of sooooo much diversity, hatred, prejudice, ignorance in this world. Mr. Rousseau made the decision to carry a weapon and use it not the decision to walk away and get help. If you cannot make good/sound decision and fear for your life in certain areas or prediciments in the world than one should not follow thru with those movements. If he knew that a knife was needed to walk the streets that night he should have never walked the streets that night. Unfortunately it was my brother who got the bad end of the sword, but it could've been anyone even you. So do you really feel safe with someone like Mr. Rousseau walking the streets, that is what you should ask yourself. I am not saying you should not have love for him but, would you want your kids to have association with a person with that kind of mind thought? Pre-meditation!!!!
From the Washington public records Mr. Rousseau was just a defendant in a criminal trail 11-03-2008, seems like a building habit to me.
He leaves behind a mother, a father, a brother, 5 sisters, a beautiful little girl, a beautiful little boy, and countless cousins, uncles, grand parents and friends. Over something material/ life-less.
You're welcome on the post on the other thread.
There are always 2 sides to a story or situation. Unfortunately, Greg isn't here to tell his side, so that leaves the rest of us to speculate.
The more I think about this, the more that group of young adult's stories just doesn't make sense to me. As I said, Greg isn't here to dispute it, so those young adults can say whatever they wish, which of course doesn't make it a fact...
What is suspect to me, is that for one, Greg isn't a LOCAL drug dealer. He was a tourist visiting Las Vegas, just as the group of young adults were. I don't know if he drove or flew to Vegas, but that would be one long drive. If he flew here, I can't see an adult taking the risk of smuggling any type of drug aboard a plane. I mean, Security at the airports even have us take our shoes off to check now...
So now what I'm thinking is, if indeed he flew here, there probably wouldn't have been any drugs with him. People normally come to Vegas to gamble and see the shows, not to rip off young adults in a faux drug deal. If he was into that he could do that at home, not come here to do it..
Secondly, if he did have drugs, why would he approach a group of young adults and offer to sell to them? If he was a drug pusher, there are certainly enough young adults to sell to in Cleveland... this doesn't add up. I don't believe this was a drug deal gone bad..
I was born and raised here in Las Vegas, and have worked at different casinos throughout the years. What I have learned was to NEVER park in a parking garage, and I mean ever! It's very dangerous to do so. People lurk in those, and rapes, robberies and auto break-ins are just waiting to happen..
The parking lots of these Casinos are second on my list. The same can go on in these as well. The late at night, and early morning hours are the worst, because the darkness is a great cover for any crime that might be committed. It is wisest to valet park, and it's free, of course a tip is always welcome..
I am also questioning that there were 2 fights.. As you said, Greg was a big athletic man, and none of those young adults required medical assistance. One punch landing on any of those in the group most likely would have left them cold-cocked..
Cont
Now, if that first fight had taken place, what broke it up? Normally if people are having a slug-feast, they don't just stop on a dime.. something or someone with force has to come in between. I mean I can't ever remember seeing anyone fight, and all parties concerned, suddenly stop and walk away.
Now if in fact it was true that there were 2 fights, and in the second altercation Greg reached out and grabbed a young adult from behind, by his hair, shirt, whatever... The young adult would be facing away from Greg, not face to face. How could he knife Greg if he was facing the other way? Now say this LITTLE 120 5'8 young adult was somehow able to maneuver himself around to face Greg, and Greg gave him the time to pull out the knife, wouldn't Greg have been able to take it away from this Little man? This is assuming that this young adult was acting alone...
Sometimes young adults, on a whim drive to Las Vegas from a small town with very little cash in their pockets.. Sometimes they find they don't have enough money to get the gas to get home on.. and sometimes they hang out in parking lots thinking maybe they can break into a vehicle, or snatch a wallet or purse from the unsuspecting...
He was a wonderful person, he loved every race and gender. He was a cook, artist, 4.0gpa, loved to have fun, tickle you, make you laugh, football player, Sooooooo smart about everything in the world from animals to trees to the land to the sea, you could ask him about anything and he would know. I cannot grow old with him, laugh with him, talk to him, see him, he will not see his son, daughter, niece's nor nephews again, not alone his mother and father, sister and brother. At the age of 35, we need to STOP! He did not have a weapon he fought all of them by himself with his bare hands. We all make bad choices in life but not a one of us deserve to die by the hands of another not a one. I LOVE YOU BRO!!!
.. Why???
Sorry... I had meant that post to be addressed to you in repy to your repy to my previous post on the other thread.
((( Dominique Sibling #4 )))I am so sorry for the loss of your brother. Please except my condolences to you and your family.. So much senseless violence in the world..
Dominique Sibling I'm so sorry about your loss.
My heart goes out to your family.
Linda you are amazing you put things into words so well.
I think Tanner's friends and family FAILED him. They taught him the lesson too well that "I'm a special snowflake just for existing and nothing ever is my fault". It seems to becoming more common in this day and age of "everyone is a winner". Plus when he was being attacked his "friends" didn't help him.
The car accident is a perfect example. YES, I do feel bad he got hit by a car. He is lucky he didn't die (or get more than a concussion and a few bumps and bruises) but he seemed to learn nothing from it.
I disagree with his friends that the car accident was not his fault in anyway. They blame the city for not having sidewalks on that road due to the construction. Per his friends he was skating in the very center of a two lane road at night. Their logic is that if a car comes you can go off the road to one side. When Tanner was skating their happened to be a time when there were two cars coming in each direction at the same time.
This isn't smart or correct. According to the law (and common sense, which is getting more uncommon) when someone on foot (or skateboard) and is forced to share a public road with cars due to no sidewalk. You walk on as far over to the left side as feasible against the flow of traffic. That way if you see a car coming (you only have one lane to watch) your already pretty much off the road and you can step off OR if there isn't anywhere to step you can get REALLY far over to the left.
But of course Tanner was blameless in his fate. The city should have provided him with sidewalks and the elderly lady who hit him had no business driving according to Tanner's friends. It's logic like this reinforced over and over that taught Tanner to be irresponsible and reckless.
Due to decisions he made under his own volition, in November he went to court in WA for possession of drug paraphernalia, in April he got hit by a car and was involved in the stabbing death of a man who didn't deserve to die. Maybe if he was responsible for something earlier in his life he wouldn't have to learn his lessons so harshly.
The Tanner your wonderful and can do no wrong stuff obviously didn't help him become a responsible adult.
His friends were wrong. Tanner HAS been in trouble with the law before.
http://www1.co.snohomish.wa.us/Departmen......
search for his name and open the excel file. It's a public record case schedule.
Possession of drug paraphernalia in November 2008 he was the defendant. It doesn't say if he was found guilty or not. But possession is an easy one to weasel out of with the right lawyer. Murder not so much.
BTW their is no other Tanner Rousseau in the state of Washington. Also Snohomish is in Arlington. So it's him.
I know his friends are going to say it's not big deal and every teen ager does drugs and it was probably not Tanner's fault but it was the fault of the police for catching him.
In general you have to be doing something kind of stupid to get caught with paraphernalia.
Hi Random... please reread this paragraph.
"Sometimes young adults, on a whim drive to Las Vegas from a small town with very little cash in their pockets.. Sometimes they find they don't have enough money to get the gas to get home on.. and sometimes they hang out in parking lots thinking maybe they can break into a vehicle, or snatch a wallet or purse from the unsuspecting..."
Like possibably there were some young adults that only had $6 to their name and not enough money to buy gas to get themselves back home. Maybe the reason they were in the parking lot was for one or all of the above reasons.. Maybe Greg was jumped and because he was a large strong man they couldn't contain him and was stabbed in an attempted robbery. Not just one person doing the jumping, but the group.. Just a thought...
You know ive been sitting back just silently readind the comments amd following the story. Now ive known Icky aka Gregory Dominque from about the age of 12yrs old. He was one of my very bestfriends, no make that my brother. His family was my family was his. We been thru and did so much. He was a beautiful person and always making someone laff for no reason at all. All my kids and family knew and loved him. now me and my sister are left without him. He came looking for me about a month ago. He kept trying to get in touch with me, but i was too busy working to even find out what he wanted. Not knowing that i would never see him again. The last words i heard from him came from my sister that he told her to tell me. The person who killed him. His family and friends will be able to hear every word that this young man have to say rather it be thru visits or letters to and from jail. I feel just as selfish as the guy who killed him. I wish ive couldve talked, laffed and joke with Icky 1 more time. Life is Precious
LInda :) You are right. There is the possibility that the victim was doing nothing wrong. I do think they could have jumped him in attempted robbery. There really isn't much for the under 21 crowd to do in Vegas at 4 am. So from jump it was pretty obvious that they were up to no good, no matter what their friends say.
The story given on the arrest report has the ring of truth to it. As I've admitted before I made mistakes with drugs in the past and learned from them. Even when I was dong drugs I was as analytical and observant as I am now so I picked up "insider" info like a sponge from my own experience.
The faux drug thing, I've experienced it before. I was 19 or 20 living in a city that wasn't Las Vegas. A man approached me on my way to my apartment he saw my tie dye shirt and offered to sell me pain killers. I told him I didn't do that but if he could point me in the direction of some pot (I was out) I'd be grateful. He said he had some, we walked around the corner and he gave me a opaque brown bag that felt like it had pot in it I gave him $20. I opened the bag looked and it was lawn clippings and the man was running away. For what it's worth he had the look of a possible homeless person (this was before I hit bottom as was homeless myself) I just shrugged it of as a "I should be smarter" moment. I'm lucky I didn't get robbed around the corner, have the police pull up, or anything like that. I was somewhat street smart at that time cause I had lived in a large urban city for years and it still happened to me.
Imagine how that situation would be different if I was already stoned and drunk, had a knife, and had a group of stoned drunk "friends" egging me on. Would it have been more tempting to try and get my money back? What if it was my last $20 instead of a chunk of my fun money?
Because of living that lifestyle in the past I now can pick up on shady street scenes that might go unnoticed to most people. I've seen around the corner of a bar here in Vegas (one of the popular ones that people line up around). I was just walking from one hotel to another on vacation after I was sober for a year or so. There was a man with a Visine bottle offering people waiting to get in the bar in a fairly loud voice hits of LSD for $20 each. The trick with LSD is it takes at least an hour (usually closer to two) before it takes effect. He made a quick pass around the line collecting $20 bills and dropping a drop on each persons wrist (for them to lick) and in less than a minute he was off into the night. More likely than not those people were paying $20 each for a drop of nothing but water.
Faux drugs are easier to get for the desperate risk taking hustler than real ones. It takes no money to get lawn clippings, a visine bottle full of water, or an empty envelope. One runs the risk of having some very angry "customers" but most people knowing they were doing something illegal themselves will just walk away never to make a peep about it.
I have a feeling kids from a small hick town in WA (in the words of some of Tanner's friends) would not have seen this scam and they are more used to their drug dealers being friendly kids just like them. It would have been a shock for them to get ripped off, and they wouldn't know that in the big city those selling drugs often aren't the most honest trustworthy people. I could imagine them mouthing off fighting trying to snatch their money back and it spiraling tragically out of control from their. If this is what the victim was doing he DEFINITELY did not deserve to die, it's the risk one takes, but it doesn't mean he deserved what happened to him like Tanner's friends seem to think. A human life is more important than money or drugs. Plus for all the cries of the victim being a druggie and just robbing poor innocent Tanner that were posted in the begging. The story is now quiet different, his and his friends had no room to call anyone a druggie and Tanner wasn't just minding his own business doing something angelic. Plus the victim cannot speak for himself and deserves respect. He could just as easily just been an innocent victim of a robbery attempt for all we know. Tanner's friends showed extreme lack of character and credibility by not helping him (if he was being attacked) and Tanner and his friends did have drugs on them. So I don't trust their view of the truth as filtered as hearsay by Tanner's friends who weren't there.
I hope I don't come off as a bad person. I learned from my mistakes and I don't want other kids to go through bad things in the name of having fun and "doing what every teenager does". I really do want to help.
Kylea I'm so sorry for your loss. You wrote beautiful things about the victim (I'm trying to show as much respect as possible by reserving his name for his loved ones). I bet he was a great person deep down. He didn't deserve what happened to him. It sickens me that Tanner's friends want to make it out that the victim was somehow less of a person than they are. He had every bit as much of value as any person in this world including Tanner. That somehow Tanner is super special.
The victim had loved ones too. Ones that will never get to seem him again. If Tanner is found guilty he does need some serious form of punishment so he can finally be responsible for his actions for once in his life. As has been proven Tanner has made a string of poor decisions based on not being held responsible for his actions in the past. Teenagers are far too sheltered from the realities of the real world to they, too overprotected. Not punishing Tanner if he is guilty would be wrong. His family and friends will still get to see him and talk to him, I wish the victim's family and friends could get the same. If he isn't punished it further reinforces the message that he can do whatever he wants and not face any consequences. It's horrid that someone else had to be harmed for him to MAYBE finally learn this.
If the situation was reversed I'm sure his family and friends would be the first to cry out for a stiff punishment.
Linda raises some very good point yet again.
Was the even a 2nd fight? What if the faux drug deal went down like the arrest report says (doesn't matter if it was Tanner or one of his friends that made the deal) whoever started arguing and fighting to get their money and drugs back. What if Tanner jumped in knowing he had a knife trying to "save" his friends? That wouldn't be self-defense. The fight stopping on a dime and then the kids walking away and Tanner being grabbed by the hair and uppercutted in the face is making less and less sense the more we find out. From what we know now not a single one of these kids had any significant injury.
It's far more likely they got ripped off got angry decided to fight for their money back and everything spiraled out of control and everyone freaked out. Tanner stabbed the victim and once they realized what a horrible thing they done. They thought it would be easy to cry self-defense.
I can't wait for the REAL truth to come out whatever it may be. How many bad things have to happen to Tanner 1) arrested for possession of paraphernalia 2) hit by the car when skateboarding for a mile in the middle of a two lane road at night 3) this horrid tragedy before he gets the idea that he truly is responsible for his actions and they do have real consequences. It's not always "someone else's" fault. It's awful that so many other people had to suffer because he failed to realize this due to his friends and family coddling him.
Tanner's family and friends need to start praying for the victim and his family.
Thank you for your response Random, it sounds like you were headed down a bad path there for a bit. It's really nice to see that someone was able to turn their life around and try and share with others in hopes that they might do the same.
You mentioned an arrest report. I didn't know there was one online. Do you have a link to it?
Sadly the arrest report quotes are buried in an article from another major las vegas newspaper so I can't post it here. But search Tanner's name and it's blended into an article about the other recent unrelated death at another casino. It really sheds some light on the situation.
Here is a link to Tanner's court schedule for his possession of paraphernalia charge in November 2008. If you go back to the first son article you will see one of his friends saying he has never been arrested and just because he was around drugs doesn't mean he did them. But on myspace there are comments where friends are wishing him clean pee. Also on his Myspace are pictures of him and his mom. In every picture with her he has a beer in his hand. Great way to teach that he is special and rules don't apply to him.
http://search.co.snohomish.wa.us/search?...
I write so much about this because now that you know my story you see why it hits so close to home. If one person gets what I am saying and changes their life it will all be worth it.
You guy's are funny it's like your making your own book or story!
Random_las_vegas
get off these sites who are you to say anything about this. you dont know eithier people! your just making yourself look bad! I LOVE YOU TANNER AND IM PRAYING FOR YOU!
I have just as much right to be here as you do. I"M STAYING.
Are you trying to say that only people who know someone involved in a news story can make comments about it? The internet would be a really boring place and a lot less people would be talking about celebrities.
I've made my mistakes in the past and this story pulled at my heart because it reminded me of me. I'M TRYING TO HELP PEOPLE. This situation is a great example of what can go wrong if good kids make bad choices.
Why would I take so much time, energy, and emotion if I didn't think I was doing something good for the world as a whole?
One of the major problems with society today is that people always want to blame someone else when things go wrong.
I don't know how being truly concerned about a problem in youth today makes me bad.
The victim may not have been making right decisions either. But it doesn't mean he had to be killed (unless someone involved was in mortal danger at that very second and had no other way to avoid it)
Okay random you are REALLY P***ING me off!! What the hell are you trying to prove. Do you like sit on your computer all f***ing day and just start s*** on articles. Your everywhere on here lookin up s*** try to make Tanner out to be the bad one. Yes someone died but he (Tanner) was also a victum before the "murder". I dont hear you talking about the other guy what was he doing at 4 am walkin the streets rippin people off if it wasn't Tanner someone else would have done it. Greg was a grown adult "loving father husband" blah blah blah if he was such a good person then why was he out there doing that uh? Can you tell me that. He should set an example can you tell me one 35 yr old that you kno who would do what Greg did to my friends? If so yeah... you shouldnt be talkin on here but defending Tanner. Tanner and his friends had a spur of the moment idea to go to Vegas they were exploring yeah it might have been late but they got there late. They werent 21 who gives a f*** u were 18 once we all make dumb decisions. They didnt plan this. And wtf is up with this article s***? I really dont see what your trying to prove here why dont you do us all a favor and stop coming on here I am sick of reading your "opions" How bout you start looking at it from both points of views I dont care what you say Tanner IS a good guy. Tanner I love you and am glad you got bail were all praying for you!!
In fact I do know of 35 year olds that would rip people off like that. My true to my life story of myself when I was just a touch older than tanner. That man likely was 35 or maybe older (not the kind of situation where you get an exact age obviously)..
Both sides were adult enough to be involved in a drug deal so it kind of makes age a moot point. Is 18 too young to know what a knife does when you stick it in someone?
I've been convinced by Jen's well written argument Tanner was blameless and did nothing at all wrong. He had nothing to do with what happened and it was all someone else's fault. Wow, I was stupid. He was not responsible for anything that happened in any way. In fact he is a victim himself.
its funny how ppl are fighting over this, where any of you at the sence of the crime? I knew tanner in middle school and highschool when he lived in everett the kid was one of those kid who is very good at everything he does and reacts to things accordingly. I just would like to know MR. RANDOM when you where "going throught the same thing" did you ever deal with an a 35 year old GROWN MAN trying to jack you in a town you where totally unfarmiliar with then try to beat you up? Have you ever hear of the flight and fight response or also called hyperarousal? Maybe spend some time off the blogs and read up on it and you will understand. People do things spur of the moment and not know what is going on dude to this chemical reaction(not drug related)..... Yea over a small amout of cash. It still a jack move on the 35 year olds side i would have attacked to if the guy pulled my hair. it pretty easy to turn on some one you dont know or care about.
Already knew about hyper-arousal, it is not a legal defense for murder. It just means people were mutually fighting and it got. Fighting back is understandable until you are safe is understandable, but deadly force can only be used to stop deadly force from being used against you. In most cases hair pulling and punching (if it even happened that way) is not deadly force. Once tanner pulled the knife he became an aggressor in the eyes of the law. This me get pleaded down to manslaughter. But it would be absolutely amazingly rare if it turned out to be clean clear cut self defense.It doesn't make Tanner a bad person just someone who was doing the wrong things.
You can't kill someone over a "jack move" it has to be you were killing to save your life, NOT you THOUGHT you were killing to save your life.
OldEVTFriend
I would like to inform you that I have been through the same thing back in 2000-2001 with my son and his friend they were 5/6 at the time. He tried to strangle me and beat me an bigger man than me I was at the tim 100lbs and only 5'6" and I fought and fought until he gave up. He had weapons not me. It was an article in the local Euclid, OH. newspaper and I helped put him in jail for yrs. We were brought up to fight our battles using the weapons of GOD and our hands not to carry around something that would harm the life of another in a deadly way, if thats the case we do not need to be involved. There is not a family member of mine from grand-parents to great-grandchildren who have been in any kind of trouble with the law under deadly force or use of a weapon towards anyone.
Tanner being charged with possession of drug paraphernalia, not being in school, not having job, and bouncing around living different places does not make him a bad person. He was a kindhearted, sweet, nice, academically smart guy who made some poor choices.
If Tanner was convicted of possession of drug paraphernalia he would have lost all federal and state financial aid or scholarships for college (due to laws that try to discourage college students from using drugs). This would explain why he all of a sudden could no longer afford school according to his friends. This doesn't make him a bad person.
But why wasn't it a wake-up call (or bottom) to stop doing drugs? Did the people who love him so much take the time to say "you just suffered a major setback due to the consequences of your own choices that you are responsible for, why don't you be more careful in the future, we want to see you succeed."? Instead of crying how everything is unfair and has nothing to do with Tanner's choices and actions.
The victim made unwise choices too, but it takes at least two for a flawed drug deal to go down.
possession of drug paraphernalia could be some D**K cop caught him with a pipe and charged him. BIG Deal why was the victim pulling jack moves he he was such a perfect person a father figure shouldnt be pulling jack moves on 18 year olds. Stop Refering to one charge it tanner had muti. charges i could see the problem.
Good Luck Tanner...
Saying it's the cops fault for finding the pipe doesn't make it not Tanner's fault for carrying the pipe.
See my point about how Tanner has been wrong by being taught that nothing is every his fault. Losing out on school for choosing to carry a pipes should have been a wake up call.
Did the cop put a gun to Tanner's head and make him choose to carry the pipe?
No one ever said the victim was perfect. But plenty of people want to act like Tanner was perfect and an innocent victim. He made choices and choices have consequences. He didn't have to mean to kill that man in order for it to be wrong to kill him.
oh my gosh I just looked up on Urban Dictionary what a "jack move" is because I wasn't sure if it was the possible fighting or the scam to that took Tanner's oh so precious $6 and weed.
JACK MOVE
To steal something from someone without their consent. An action which someone does to another person for their personal belongings.
Walking down the street, I
got a JACKMOVE pulled on me. There was a JACKMOVE in da hood.
That is awful to say that a man deserved to die just for tricking your friend. It wasn't a smart or nice thing to do on the victims part. But killing a man over it is WAY overboard.
When you are buying drugs getting ripped off is a chance you take. People involved in drugs aren't always honest.
It is not a proven fact that the victim jacked anyone. It is the story that Tanner and the people he was with are telling. Doesn't necessarily mean it's true.
It is a fact that the victim's life was taken at the hands of Tanner, as he has admitted to that. The victim can't tell his side of the story, thanks to Tanner and his group...
As Random has stated time and again Tanner doesn't appear to ever take responsibility for any of his faulty actions... they are always someone else's doings.
Now it's the cop's fault for Tanner's arrest? It's against the law to have drug paraphernalia, I don't care if he was caught with it once or 100 times, it doesn't change the law. The officer was doing his job.. And of course Tanner blames the person that hit him with the car when he was out in the road with no reflective clothing on. I don't get where you kids think that the world revolves entirely around you. Each person has responsibilities in life, and the world doesn't revolve around a select few.
This entire bunch needs to learn to take responsibility for your own actions and choices. We are all wrong at times and make mistakes... own up to them, act like a young adult that you all claim to be.
BTW, the more you kids post, the more you sound like gang members with the languaged being used, and the threats..
Tanner is 18 he should be graduating this year not selling drugs in Vegas during the school week. If he graduated @ 17 doing something more productive w/ life would've been even better. Given his past I guess this was the best he could do. My brother got killed over Marijuana, he did not do hard drugs,he never sold drugs. He was a 35year old man, working and trying to live life. Jack-moves.... I guess you know the all story.
I have a hunch Tanner or one of his angel friends was dealing. But we may never no for certain. They certain act like it and he had no visible means of support.
Linda - You make a great point....the more these "friends" of Tanner post, the worse they all look in my eyes. I have yet to see a post from one of Tanner's "friends" that shows they are somewhat intelligent and are capable of making good decisions.
S711
Sinatra take a look at Jtown. I believe he or she is a friend of Tanners. In the beginning the posts were typical of his other friends (which is understandable in such a shocking situation), but over time the post got really thoughtful and very cool. Truly showing concern for both sides and remorse for what a tragedy this is. Jtown has bolstered my hope that something good can come of all of this.
Also there is a new friend posting on the bail thread who is a fantastic writer. A bit arrogant and a bit accusatory, but I can't fault the thought and execution in the least. Clearly expressed ideas are awesome. I'm surprised how this story has become like a magnet for some of us not involved. There was just something about it that warranted a lot of discussing and thinking. For me it was how close to who it hit. I could see myself in it in some ways and I wanted to reach out and help those involved.
Please tell me where i ever said the guy deserved it? No body ever should die or have that be wished uppon him. yea i feel for the victim i have had 2 friend this year alone in my highschool die. And if you miss linda wanna acuse this of any sort of "gang violience" i would be happy to have you look up any record on me from school to criminal....NOTHING. Tanner was a good kid and the guy didnt deserve to die period end of story. im not trying to offend any one i am just telling facts i know about him.
OldEVT:
"yea i feel for the victim i have had 2 friend this year alone in my highschool die. And if you miss linda wanna acuse this of any sort of "gang violience"
Did they die from natural causes, or was violence a factor in their deaths?
"possession of drug paraphernalia could be some D**K cop caught him with a pipe and charged him. BIG Deal why was the victim pulling jack moves he he was such a perfect person a father figure shouldnt be pulling jack moves on 18 year olds. Stop Refering to one charge it tanner had muti. charges i could see the problem."
THAT to me is gang-like talk. Hey, and let's face it, Tanner just turned 18 in what, September? In November he was arrested. Here it is May, and he is arrested again. So, he has had multiple arrests.. We have no idea what his past arrest record is, because he has only been classified as an "adult" 8 months. That means any prior arrest record that might be, would have happened when he was a juvenile. Those aren't open for the public to see. For all I know he may have been arrested many times before he turned 18...in and out of this system, ect...
all you people who say tanner is a criminal, he's not. he is a great person.Sure he has gotten in some trouble in the past, but still most of you never knew him. i guarantee he would of never done that unless he was going to lose his life. besides thats tanner is a way better person than that idiot selling $h!t to people pulling jack moves. he always had a smile on his face, never letting anybody get him down. now he is in jail,for what nothing, for a deal gone bad supposedly. b.s. thats not the it went down, i mean come on. some 35 year old ripping off a kid. and the kid killing him right there on the spot, right....
tanner i miss you man . keep your head up. people are working hard up here to help you out of this mess. i will see you soon hopefully.
To all the people spreading your slanderous filth about my friend you can all rot in the darkest pits of he11 this kid has to be one of the nicest individuals i have ever met. He has continuously showed support to anyone who has asked for it whether it be a place to stay or money for food, whatever the case this kid is getting screwed over by you media goons with nothing to do but bad mouth a kid who obviously was striking out in defense. i know the family of the victim must be hurt but this posting is not for this this posting is for the facts not for you to vent. please people state the facts i'm sure this guy was a great guy but if he tried to hurt my friend i would have done the same in his situation. i may be a little guy to but if some big ass guy started beating my ass i would defend myself too. and random las vegas.... SHUT UP ALREADY this has nothing to do with you and u don't know either parties so shut up and stop stating your opinion.
This comment section is for EVERYONE with ANY opinion concerning this situation. It's not just a "We Love Tanner!" section. That would be boring. So we'll keep using our 1st amendment right. Thank you very much.
None of the comments here have approached the legal definition of slander or libel. Look it up in the dictionary.
Best of luck to all involved.
KEEP IN MIND!!!!!
ABSOLUTELY NO ONE HERE KNOWS ALL THE FACTS!!!! (not even Tanner's friends). So for those who say we must stick to the facts. All that would leave us with is copying and pasting the story from the top and saying how bad we feel for Tanner and the victim.
We wouldn't have the lively useful conversation (both good and bad).
Keep posting what you feel, I know I will.
Where were all these great friends of his when he was supposedly getting attacked?? If he was attacked as you say, why didn't his friends jump in and help defend him?? The just stood by and watched their little buddy fear for his life. With friends like that who needs enemies? Can you answer that?? lol, didn't think so...
Had they been real friends the man wouldn't have been stabbed to death, and Tanner wouldn't be facing murder charges.. IMO they're at fault as well, and really lousy so called friends.. You said he always supported his friends... how come they didn't support him??
Had i have known that tanner was going to vegas i would have gone with him especially if i knew he was just going with conrad... i honestly dont like or trust conrad but he is not the one facing charges so don't say i'm a lousy friend i have tried to figure out the fact more than many of you like random who doesn't even know the content of either persons involved character. and to linda id say i can answer your question if i would have been there and seen him getting attacked it would have been me in jail right now because i would not let that happen to my friend what would you have done if a good friend of yours was getting attacked by a man who was obviously older and more prepared to fight???? i think that under the circumstances he did what he had to do? and if it would have been the other way around and the guy who died would have killed my friend i guarantee id be looking for him right now! but the way things happened i think and hope things get settled soon and if he has to do time then thats what hes gotta do but to say he could face a life sentence for self-defense is utter BULL SH1T
Matt, actually you do sound like someone the genuinely cares for Tanner. Too bad you weren't there.. maybe you could have prevented this tragedy..
What I said was that the people that came here to Vegas with Tanner aren't true friends, and I think you know that as well as I do.. Being as you weren't there, that wouldn't include you as a terrible friend.. Matt please remember using a weapon on an unarmed man isn't the answer...
Matt, friend or anyone that I saw being attacked, I would have started screaming for help first thing.. this will normally scare off an attacker, secondly, I would have jumped in and broke up a fight (I have done it before). Now in the case of Tanner, if Greg did attack Tanner, which I am sceptical that he did. He had a group of people with him. They could have easily broke that fight up as they out-numbered Greg. How many other kids were there? 4 maybe 5 or more? One could have called 911, the rest could have been breaking up the fight. Matt, he should do time and I know you don't want to hear that. He killed an unarmed man, and that is murder. I wish Tanner had been home in Arlington with you instead of with these creeps he came to Vegas with. Actually you seem like a nice young man with a good heart, unlike the kids he came here with..
thank you for the nice words linda i appreciate that and i agree he does need to serve time. killing a person is not something anyone especially the one who committed the crime can shrug off but the idea of a life sentence is a little outrageous in my opinion. i agree the people he was with should have jumped in and protected tanner as well but from my experience the people he was with were only looking out for themselves and not tanner which honestly is very sad i wish i could have gone with him and prevented this. :( but whats done is done and all we can do now is hope for justice and for the people closest to greg i would like to express my deepest and sincerest appologeez because this should not have happened. and to all the friends of tanners and mine he probobly will serve time and thats fine he will most likely become and better person out of it but i hope he doesnt come out of there a different person because from experience i know that the person he is, is not that bad of a person and i know that prison can change people for the worse.
You're welcome, Matt. You really are the first one on here that I feel had/has Tanner's best interests at heart. You also have showed respect and sympathy to Greg's family which goes a long way in showing good charecter. See, I do look at you as an adult, unlike the others, because you have acted in the manner a good and caring adult would, when the others have not.. I think you honestly realize just how tragic this is, and how much the family is suffering as well and are speaking from your heart.
I think most of Tanner's problems most likely begun when he moved in with Conrad. I think both Condrad and Richard are bad news and Tanner has been naive. After all if there was a first fight, it was said it was one of the others did wrong and started it, not Tanner and not Greg, which set this travesty in motion.. I think those others belong in jail right beside Tanner, because the others started the fighting. Richard and Conrad are both 6ft tall... and Richard is big and he is much older, he weights every bit as much as Greg did and probably more.
As for Tanner's sentence. That is hard to predict. Because he has not previously committed a violent crime, that most likely will go in his favor, also there are sometimes plea bargaining, so we will just have to see..
Much of the postings on this have moved over to http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/may... if you care to join in there. I think it would be nice for Greg's family to see that there are some people that do feel for their loss. Thank you Matt for such an eloquent post. I realize you are hurting too..
Perfecto Matt!
I couldn't agree with you more. It saddens me that Tanner got talked into going to Vegas, by not the best of his friends. He really does sound like a great guy. He just got caught up in bad decisions and choices.
I've said it before, but I'll say it again just to be clear. Life seems like WAY too much but some sort of sentence does seem appropriate. It really rubbed me the wrong way, the people who just wanted to shrug this off (they even went as far as to make it sound like the victim was somehow less of a person than Tanner and deserved his fate, which we know is not at all true). I don't want justice served to Tanner to just be punitive (punishment for the sake of punishment only). I hope it is rehabilitative for Tanner and lots of other people (in indirect ways). I really do wish we had a better tool in society than prison to deal with good people in bad situations like Tanner. But we have to do the best we can with what we do have.
I agree with you that Tanner isn't a bad person. He just seems a bit misguided and lost. He obviously has a huge heart and it appears a lot of talent. He just needs/needed those who love and care about him to help him channel it into something huge.
Prison, I agree it can make some people better and some people worse. One of my best friends who is the nicest people in the world he spent 5 years in prison (got caught holding someone-else's large quantity of drugs). You would never guess unless he told his story that he had time in. But on the flip side some of the scariest people I've met are former prisoners. To me the difference seems to be how their family and friends handled the time in. The scary ones I've noticed have no family and friends left to speak of once they get out. My friend who turned out well after spending time in prison. Lots of his friends and family before are still in his life and stronger than ever.
One of the BEST things I think the people who care about Tanner can do. Is just do the best they can with the legal system, hope for the best but prepare for the worst. If they just focus on trying to make Tanner free with no consequences I think they might be really hurt and disappointed. Knowing that prison is a strong possibility they need to prepare for what they would do if Tanner spends time in. They need to be ready to write, send cards, letters, and care packages, accept phone calls and anything else they can do to support him. While in I'm sure he'd spend a lot of time thinking about his life, the world in general and this situation. Maybe he will do something really special like write a book or maybe one of the best rock and roll albums of all time (some of the best music has really deep emotion behind it).
If Tanner goes to prison, his family and friends also have to do the best they can to take care of themselves. Something I think might help is reaching out into the community. It seems like the feeling of having nothing to do in Arlington but party to the extreme has let a lot of people down. I came from a southern town smaller than Arlington and we suffered from the same "nothing for teens to do syndrome". One of the coolest solutions I saw was a local mom who would raise money to rent out space wherever she could once a month or so for local teen bands to play. It really encouraged the local music scene and gave young people (musicians and non-musicians alike) something to do at least once a month (some much more because they dedicated their time to getting ready to play). It even eventually attracted bands from slightly larger small southern towns. One band even got fairly successful national (Evergreen Terrace, if your curious).
The skaters in your town might want to start volunteering time at the local elementary and middle schools skating with the younger kids. I think it would do amazing things for both the big skaters and little skaters. If family and friends were comfortable they could even use the skating as a organic opportunity to talk to kids (in age appropriate non scary ways about what happened to Tanner and how they need to be careful about who they hang out with).
I really do wish everyone the best, your really cool Matt, If you know of or see Jtown, give him a good word for me, I was really impressed by him and then he just kind of disappeared. I hope my public praise didn't scare him off. I know your going through a rough time right now, but thanks again for taking the time out to say something as perfectly thought out as what you recently wrote Matt.
Best regards to everyone.