Son Slays Mother

* Re “A Family Torn From Within,” May 29: When anger and a family gun shake hands, tragedies like the Connolly family are fated to occur. Regardless of whether 14-year-old Danny’s act was premeditated, two things are clear. His mother would have been better able to defend herself against her son’s fists or a kitchen knife, and Danny would be looking at a therapist instead of prison bars.

DEB FEINBERG

Pacific Palisades*

Please explain this one to me. A child who premeditates and executes a murder because he chafes under parental constraints within a socioeconomically privileged family deserves more legal consideration after he murders his mother than an underprivileged gang member who murders a rival? As a concerned member of society, educator and parent, I certainly hope not.

DEBRA A. BALLARD

Westchester