Chaska Herald - Courts - Comments

No updates yet. As of today,

Mollee Francisco — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 16:40:56 -0500

No updates yet. As of today, the charges against Bermel are still listed as first and second degree assault. We will update this story as appropriate.

(Mollee Francisco is a staff writer for the Chaska Herald. She can be reached at mfrancisco@swpub.com.)

since I am not from this

awilliams1163 — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 13:24:31 -0500

since I am not from this area has there been any news on how this case is proceeding?

Wow, where do I begin? First

Cousin of JR — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 17:57:58 -0500

Wow, where do I begin? First off I want to thank everyone that has thought of us "the family"..
You know after being back in my hometown this last weekend laying my cousin to rest, my mind did nothing but wonder why? We all have made some mistakes but no mistake is worth taking a life over...None of us will ever know what truely happened that awful night and hopefully the truth will come out soon enough. It bugs me alot to wonder if all the focus that Brodey is getting is where the focus should be, noone has even mentioned the fact that maybe just maybe he didn't do anything at all...He is only 16 and could take the blame and get off alot easier than a grown women..I find it odd that my cousin fell and "cracked his skull on concert that was not even around" so the story from Sheree...Where in the hell does the pipe come from? You know had it been a fair fight JR may have taken a shot or two but would not have ended up the loser here, I have never heard of a boxer using anything else to fight with but his fists.
His funeral was one of the hardest things I have been through in life yet, hearing his little girl cry for her daddy watching his father and mother shed many tears and his sister trimble as she looked at pictures of their childhood. This was so wrong so very very wrong and I hope that when the truth comes out which everyone truely did it spends the rest of their life setting in a cell and thinking everyday just what they couldve done so very different...And to the one that stated KARMA is a bitch---you better believe it...
Fact here is that JR will be missed so very much, and it makes us all think once again just how short life can be..

Today in a alittle over an

awilliams1163 — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 13:14:46 -0500

Today in a alittle over an hour I will bury my nephew, Kirk. His life was cut short because of a choice made by another. We only can hope that the truth comes out and everyone can begin to heal. I pray that Brody's life will not be ruined as well. However, our justice system will do its job and we can only hope that another life isn't wasted. i hope we all learn a very important lesson about choices made when angry and/or under the influence of alchol because this tragedy doesn't need to happen again for another family. i know we have all been affected and yes we are angry but we must start to heal and begin to move forward. I hope we never forget the lives that have been lost to violence and/or alcohol. God bless all the people involved because their lives are forever changed too.

First I would like to say to

Griffdaddy13 — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 01:07:59 -0500

First I would like to say to those of you so filled with venom towards Brody, "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone." I don't know Brody, but I know his mother, and I knew Kirk. I had come to think of him as a friend, and I will miss him. I also know that he was an angry man. A 6'2" angry, powerful man with too much to drink, threatening to kill a 16-year-old boy. A boy protecting himself and his mother. No, Kirk did not deserve to die. He did, however, fall victim to the consequences of his own choices. Before you condemn Brody, maybe you should wait to hear the details, instead of a little first article newsprint. I mean, God knows the newspaper is always right. Kirk had a lot of rage, and it tended to come out when he drank too much. The saddest thing about that is that he had been trying to stop. He was doing quite well for a while. He was also on some relatively heavy medication for an injured back. 1 or 2 drinks, which is what he had been trying to limit himself to, may have hit him like a ton of bricks. To all you self-righteous uninformed, bloodthirsty fools, "Judge not, lest ye be judged in return." To Kirk, I hope you've found some peace. Goodbye my friend. To Brody, I'm not sure what to think. A man is dead by your hand, but I don't believe you meant to kill him. I can only hope for justice, and only God can decide what is truly just. Justice is what I will pray for. To Sheree, try to be strong. We miss you at break time. I understand what you've lost(to some extent) and my heart weeps for you. Come visit when you're up to it. To Kirk's family, I'm sorry for your loss, but I think it's time you admit to yourselves that Kirk had reasons for his rage, and ask God for a little forgiveness of your own. God bless you all. His will be done.

Thank you so much for not

awilliams1163 — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 13:18:35 -0500

Thank you so much for not hating Kirk aka JR. It means alot to me and the rest of his family. god bless you ans yours.
alice

You have not offended me in

Bob7336 — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 16:00:15 -0500

You have not offended me in any way. I understand your hurt. I live with the thought of Sean every day. I also am working with ex-offenders one on one as a mentor with a new organization called "The Mentor Corp" and I have privately dedicated this effort in Sean's memory. Hopefully each of us can touch a life and help them become productive and happy people.

I think we both have many questions as to why our loved ones died. I can only suppose what their lives could have been like without the disruptive force that alcohol was. But for now I will pray for you and your family.

Hello Bob I want to say I am

awilliams1163 — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 14:18:39 -0500

Hello Bob
I want to say I am terribly sorry for your son's tragic death. I hope like you I can become a better person and forgive Brody one day. I work with ex-offenders exiting prison so they can become productive members of society. So I do know something about what I say. I don't know exactly what role Kirk played in your sons death but buying alchol for minors is NEVER a good idea. I had a family member do that back in the 80's and his friend was decapated when he hit a hay baler that was on the other side of the hill. My family member has never forgiven himself and his life has been forever changed. I have children and it makes me mad when I find that they got alcohol from an adult friend. My son is going through a DWI at 20 and all I could think of for the longest time was he could have been killed or killed an innocent person, which happens so often. However this tragedy with Kirk has made me look at working mor with the children trying to save them from these very things that you and I have had to live through. I am having alot of issues with the brutality that was commited and I wonder why the police took so long to arrive and why the mother didn't stop it before it got that far. I also wonder what Brody's family life was like that would push him to commiting such a brutal assault. I feel sorry for everyone but having JR's name slandered has crippled this family. JR was far from perfect but I believe he was trying harder to change but we will never know that for sure now. i agree when a family memeber is abusing drugs or alcohol, or both family needs to step in and get them help. Yes, the addict may be angry at first but in time they will forgive us for making them get help. I know this is true because I worked narcotics for many years and put many people in prison because it was the only way to get them help. But believe it or not they have all thanked me for saving their lives. I just want to be sure JR didn't suffer alot before he passed away. it is killing me to think of the pain he must have felt. i have never judged a person on where they live because trailer parks can be decent places to live. All I have left is my memories of JR as a child and I don't want them tarnished anymore by the insensitivity of others who are without sin that are judging him. Please except my apologies if I offended you or your family, I am hurting really bad right now. God bless you.

I am the father of Sean

Bob7336 — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 11:25:48 -0500

I am the father of Sean Humphrey and reading the comments about this story has troubled me.

I first want to offer my sincere and deepest sympathy to Kirk's family. Losing a son, brother, father, or loved one is a loss that cannot be described and you have my thoughts and prayers.

I also want to state that whatever the role Kirk and others had in Sean’s death, both my wife and myself have forgiven them. Several of them were indeed punished for furnishing the alcohol and ultimately Sean is the one who drank and then suffered the ultimate consequence for his action.

What has prompted me to comment is that again drugs or alcohol seems to be at the root of another tragedy in our community.

Within the last few years, the murder of Nancy Everson, the death of Sean, and now possibly Kirk had drugs or alcohol as a contributing factor.

It saddens me that as a community and a society we are not changing our behaviors and learning any lessons from these events. People need to be aware of their limitations and be responsible not only to themselves but friends and family. Then when needed, we should to take action when a friend or family member is abusing drugs or alcohol. I think of the DWI’s, domestic abuse, and accidents that occur daily because of drugs or alcohol abuse. We all have a responsibility to help curb this outbreak.

I have not talked to Kirk in over a year and a half and cannot speak to any part of his life, but now he is gone and the lives of his family and the lives of Brody Bermel and his family are changed forever. Comments about this event that demean others and cause strife are counterproductive and hurtful. Let’s instead offer our support, sympathy and prayers to the families and take stock in our own lives to make sure tragedies like this do not happen again.

Bob Humphrey

This incident is very

plzstop — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 23:12:16 -0500

This incident is very painful for all persons involved.

However, the pain that is truly most difficult is reading each comment. The bigotry, the deep rooted pain or anger, the intolerance or arrogance, and yet, we've all lost.

For the victims' families, I apologize for this hatred and scrutiny that has become of us.

Pain, hurt and misunderstanding of this situation has made us all weak or vulnerable. We have wasted our time by arguing, making excuses, name-calling.

Reading these comments which continue the chain of what America is going to be and yet has already become.

We are no better than those who have been blamed for their past mistakes, instead we only feed and continue those mistakes because we have not learned.

It is unfortunate that the ethics of journalism have been compromised with this story. It is most unfortunate the prejudice and ease of conclusion that most have stated with their "expert" testimony.

The misfortunate is in the thoughtless words and how they have & will create the fate or future of all victim's.

It is extremely unfortunate that those feel it is okay to discuss the private facts of the victims' so publicly.

TO THE VICTIMS:

To the mother of the 5-year-old daughter, I hope that your daughter is raised with a positive image of her father and succeeds in life with fortune of all kinds. Please be strong for your daughter, as in the future, you will be the one that teaches her the lessons of life, between love and hate, right and wrong.

To the accused and alleged victim, I hope you understand that this incident does not define who you are or will be. Strength and education is necessary to move forward by bettering those who surround you. Show them the light and road to positivity, well being and lifelong happiness.

To the families, I hope that you look for the good faith and honesty in people by not allowing this incident to consume you with anger or hate. I hope that you can take the memories of the victims' and rejoice with them their victories, pride and honor.

I hope that before we continue to comment on this tragic incident that we think about putting ourselves first and reflect on the words which we speak by understanding how this will reflect on us in the future.

Well by your user name being

faraway — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 16:13:40 -0500

Well by your user name being perfectionbby you must think you are pretty special. You are saying it is totally one sided? I am sorry but I believe the mother was drinking that night too, isn't that why she called her son? They were both drunk and neither one of them should have been driving. Your calling out on us because we are friends of Kirk or family and trying to defend him because as you know he can't tell his side of the story anymore because he is DEAD! So we are left here to defend him and I believe personally from my point of view what I have commented on towards the other family involved is nothing personal just a stereotype of trailer parks. If you read what I wrote I said not everyone that lives in a trailer park is bad or has problems. It sounds to me like you are being one sided by defending the mother and the boy. What do you really know about Kirk? Has he ever held or played with your kids? Did you have nice phone conversations with him or hang out with him ever? You don't know him, so stop saying things like you do. Let's think about this. Brody says he called 911. If that is the case and the cops were on the way, why not remove yourself from the situation and go to a neighbors for help. Brody had other choices in this, so did the mom, so did Kirk. OF course we will all take our sides and we have a right to. My constitutional rights are there for me to comment on this tradgedy and I nor you could control what anyone involved in this did. You say you live in the same mobile home park, (but no where near them however.) It sounds to me if you almost don't want to associate yourself with that either. And what are you trying to say about Northeast Minneapolis, sounds like your judging those people for where they live. Also I don't think anyone is trying to portray Kirk as an angel. I think if you read all comments, anyone that is defending him is still saying they know he had his problems. I also believe that every news story you read or hear will state at the end of it that Kirk was also involved in another high profile case in Chaska about the death of Sean Humphrey. So let me ask you how is that making him out to be an innocent angel. The only innocent angel is his 5 year old daughter that will never see her dad again. And as far as moral value, I haven't commented on the mother and kid because I don't know them. Also back to what I said before about knowing Kirk. If you had any moral value you wouldn't be dropping your comments about Kirk and what you think you know because that means you have no morals and never got to know him. Take your own advice, please! Oh, and I don't think anyone above called you trash or the mother and her son that, I believe those are your words to swallow. There must be some insecurity on your part about where you live to get so defensive about it. If you really like it there, be proud of it and tell us all how great it is, please?

Dear PerfectionBby, I am

sickofit — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 15:40:37 -0500

Dear PerfectionBby, I am speaking with the knowledge of knowing this mother and her son for 7-10 years. Would not make observations that were not founded in fact and verifiable. You obviously don't know them. Mr. Anderson does not look like a complete angel. (except now probably). Self defense can be accomplished a number of ways besides bashing someone's skull in, especially if they are already in a drunken stupor. Brandondale is a nice place, bad people live everywhere. Settle down.

Honestly, Mr. Anderson here

PerfectionBby — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 15:31:52 -0500

Honestly, Mr. Anderson here was not the victim. If he had not assulted His girlfriend (the mother) Mr. Bermel would NOT have assulted Mr. Anderson. If Mr. Anderson had gotten help with his issues before hand and continued with it maybe he would have been a more stable person. I've seen Mr. Andersons own criminal record (which is public information) and a good majority of things are alcohol related. Which obviously shows the behavior he portrays was definately around BEFORE this incident even occurred. I'm ashamed of anyone who blames the mother and is making Mr. Anderson look like he's TOTALLY innocent. Obviously people in chaska are too obsorbed with their own little narrow-minded ways of thinking to realize the reality of this situation was a pure case of self defense. When the REAL truth comes out I hope you all feel ashamed for even THINKING about labeling this Mother and her son as "Bad People who can't make good choices". You all OBVIOUSLY have no idea what an abusive relationship is like. And for those of you who are prejudging them because of the fact they live in a Mobile Home Park need to grow up. I live in the same park (no where near them however) and honestly, if you people are so shallow that you're going to judge someone because of where they live instead of actually getting to know the person you have no moral value AT ALL. How dare ANY of you subtype her, her son and any other person in this park as "trash" or whatever else you might have to say because we live here. Unlike some of you people, based on what you've wrote must obviously have no clue what this park and the people in it are like. This isn't Northeast Minneapolis people, this is Chaska and just because someone whose son was defending his mother lives in a mobile home park, does NOT make them trash.

On another note, this story is ABSOLUTELY one sided right now making Mr. Anderson look like some complete angel who died innocently without a past, which sorry to TRUTHFULLY inform you, was not the case. So instead of opening your mouth to say something COMPLETELY stupid and/or not ligitament at all to this case I would suggest to STOP believing EVERYTHING you hear/see on the news because quite frankly, NOT ALL of the FACTS have been released yet. So in all honesty if i were you, i would think about all sides and senarios of this case before you pop-off with something totally irrelavent.

To ROxYOV3R My intentions of

faraway — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 15:10:51 -0500

To ROxYOV3R
My intentions of what I said is this. When I die, or anyone else does things come up hidden or out there in the public eye for everyone to get a hold of. My comments about having skeletons in your closet is what it is. If I died tomorrow in a terrible manner as this and had done stupid crap and made bad choices it would come back on me just as it has Kirk. As people, we don't normally think about that kind of stuff and continue to live our lives. You totally took what I said out of context so go back and read what it is really saying. I don't wish nothing bad upon you or anybody. I am just stating that people have to think about these things and it was not intended to go directly after you. I was trying to generalize and said you, and instead I should have said me or anyone in general. I know that I wouldn't want my family and friends to have to read bad stuff about me if I died and everyone was talking about it like they knew me or knew something when they didn't. All I was trying to say is I don't think you would want that for yourself or for anyone you care about too. Think about it!

Dear Faraway, Please accept

sickofit — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 15:06:58 -0500

Dear Faraway, Please accept my condolences for your loss. Do not feel guilty as you had no control over what happened. I speak from experience with the people involved. There is nothing you could have done, and Kirk made the choice with whom he was involved with. Had he really known the truth about whom he was dealing with, would he have still associated with them? Only he knows the answer to that question. The whole thing is very tragic for everyone involved. As stated earlier, I can only hope the truth will finally be known about what really happened that night, and you will find closure in it somehow.