Nate was adopted by the mother of Charly before Charly was born, none of them were very well taken care of. They lived in a household where people were constantly coming and going, the parents adopted a couple other children as well. Charly felt as though he was being replaced. He stated multiple times he was struggling to control his mental health. His cries were then ignored. He was self harming to the point he broke his window one morning just to harm himself with the glass. His mother, Vicki, knew these issues, among others, and ignored them. She started smoking weed with him when he was only 12. Forever altering the way he thinks and processes things. Hed often state how he felt he was "dead already" having frequent nightmares. His parents were arrested in connection with this case. As they should be. They're a lot of pieces to this case that aren't public information but so far we're only scratching the surface. As someone close to this I am bias, but I feel as though it's justified. After this happened the mother and father tried to blame it on a multitude of people, including Nate himself. It's awful and is on my mind constantly
Thank you for sharing your perspective and for shedding light on the deeper, more personal aspects of this tragedy. It’s clear that you’ve been deeply affected by what happened—and understandably so.
The situation with Nate and Charly is heartbreaking on so many levels. It’s not just about the violent act itself, but about everything that led up to it: the neglect, the emotional and psychological trauma, the cries for help that were ignored, and the unhealthy dynamics in the home. When a child’s mental health spirals and no one intervenes—especially the adults who are supposed to protect and guide them—the consequences can be devastating.
Your mention of Charly’s struggles with self-harm, feelings of invisibility, and being introduced to substances so young is particularly painful to read. These are not the signs of a stable, supportive environment. They’re red flags that something was desperately wrong. If what you shared about the parents trying to shift blame is true, it only underscores their failure to take responsibility—not just for what happened, but for the long-standing conditions that made such a tragedy even possible.
It’s important that voices like yours—who actually knew the people involved—speak up. The public often only sees the headlines and charges, not the years of pain and neglect that preceded them. While justice must run its course, understanding the context helps us see the human side of what happened—and hopefully learn how to prevent such situations in the future.
I’m truly sorry for your loss and the weight you carry from this. It’s okay to feel conflicted and emotional. Keep speaking your truth. People need to hear it.
It doesn't feel as though I can speak up or tell anyone, I can't even talk to Charly or any of his family anymore because the mom really really wants me blamed for this.....I love char...maybe too much...but I only ever wanted the best for him ..to be someone who was there for him when he had no one that cared or truly saw him ..I never wanted any of this....I can't even get updates either because the judge put a CPO on Vicki on my behalf (I've been told anyhow I haven't gotten any paperwork though) and it kills me ..I have nightmares each night I can sleep and the things she's said to me will never leave my brain and have permanently changed the way I see myself ..I've heard a lot about the procecutors not having any evidence that he did this shooting besides the fact that he confessed but they shouldn't have been questioning him as he'd asked for a lawyer and had no parent with him during interrogation...they're trying to get this confession thrown out but I don't know how any of this works honestly ...I just want to see him get help and his freedom back .
He was his adopted older brother, there was a lot going on that the public doesn't know because Charly is a minor...what I will say is that in my personal opinion as someone who knows the whole case, the parents should be held responsible. They started this and then allowed they're 15 year old to have a gun for two months (while knowing he was mentally losing it, i.e. him telling them he feels as though he can't control himself and that he feels he's "already dead". They're mother's response? "You can't smoke weed on phsyc meds" which she started smoking with him when he was only 12. Or the classic "if your just using this for attention then the meds will mess you up") then she would use him self harming against him in arguments. It's so sad to think about the fact that they had every chance to get him help and never did, slowly allowing him to slowly lose his mind until it all culminated on that morning during an argument and he finally snapped. Nathaniel was also schizophrenic and constantly in and out of mental hospitals and jail. The whole situation could have been prevented had they had parents who cared about anything but themselves. After this happened and they were blaming everyone they even blamed one of their older kids for helping the dad with the monetary part of obtaining the gun.