Farmington Hills Woman: Tucker Cipriano 'Went Off the Deep End' After Birth Mom's Death
Christine Frederick says the teen accused in Monday's brutal attack on his family lived with her for several months last fall.
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After the emotional arraignment today of Tucker Cipriano, 19, and Mitchell Young, 20, who are facing charges in the beating death of Tucker's father, Bob, and attacks on his mother, Rose, and brother Salvatore, a Farmington Hills woman is pointing to Tucker's adoption and alleged drug use as possible triggers for his troubles.
Outside the courtroom, Christine Frederick said Tucker spent several months with her last fall, while she recovered from brain surgery. She said she often takes in young people who have nowhere else to go, and he heard about her through friends.
Tucker was on the right path, Frederick said, and didn't leave her house "because he didn't want to be around any bad influences."
"Tucker's real mom just died and that's when he went off the deep end," Frederick said.
Frederick and Alex Stone, a friend who was among about a dozen young people in the courtroom, said Tucker might have been high on the synthetic drug "Spice" the night of the attacks.
Rather than a cell, Frederick said, the teen needs help. "Until the courts can start seeing that these kids need help instead of sending them to jail where they don't get it, there's going to be a lot more of this."
Frederick said Tucker loved his father "with all his heart", and she doesn't believe he killed Bob Cipriano.
Assistant Oakland County Prosecutor John Skrzynski, however, has no doubt that Tucker Cipriano and Mitchell Young committed the crimes of which they are accused. In asking that 47th District Court Judge Marla Parker deny bail, Skrzynski called the facts in the case "just horrific".
"It is an inhuman crime," he said, asking for denial of bond based on public safety and "the quality of the proof that the Farmington Hills Police have assembled."
Speaking after Young broke down in tears as Parker read the charges against him, Skrzynski said, "It's just a shame that this young man could not have displayed this type of humanity when cracking heads inside that house."
The two men face charges of first degree homicide and felony murder, both punishable by life in prison, two counts of assault with intent to murder and one count of armed robbery, punishable by life or any number of years. Since an assault with serious injury occurred during the armed robbery, the minimum sentence is two years.
Pre-exam conferences for both men are April 20, with preliminary examinations set for April 25.
Kathi Barker
5:38 pm on Thursday, April 19, 2012
This lady is nuts-I wonder if she isn't on this drug SPICE.
fruitcake
Mary Burck
5:39 pm on Thursday, April 19, 2012
this is the woman that takes in kids, makes them go on food stamps and any kind of social services she can scam the govt. for and then haves them give them to her for rent.
Roberta Hill
1:05 pm on Thursday, April 19, 2012
This woman wants her moment in the spotlight. She has no knowledge of Tucker's "birth parents". The only parents Tucker had are the loving, caring Bob and Rose that did everything they could to help him.
sylvia
1:48 pm on Thursday, April 19, 2012
I don't want to hear about drugs, I don't want to hear about adoption. This was a clear-cut case of pre-meditated murder. Period.
Trish E
5:39 pm on Thursday, April 19, 2012
His REAL parents are the ones he chose to kill. His BIRTH mother is the one that died. Big difference. I've seen many kids whose parents were in a position of authority act out by doing drugs, drinking, hanging out with the wrong crowd. Most of them grow out of it. He never gave himself the change to realize his parents were right.
Rita Dennaoui
11:57 am on Friday, April 20, 2012
Sometimes, people comments about other families as if they really know how the parents may have suffered trying to do their best. What happened to this family can happent to anyone. My heart cries for the family, and for the son who commited the crime I have to cry for him he is going to need it. May the father rest in peace, and time will help heal the pain.
Mary Doe
2:21 pm on Thursday, April 19, 2012
"Real" mom? WTF? I knew the family...No one was more a parent, mom and dad to Tucker that is the "REAL" mom!!! what a lunatic this Frederick is.
Angie D.
4:38 pm on Friday, April 20, 2012
I thought the same thing, REAL is who wiped your snotty nose and came in the middle of the night when you had a bad dream. So glad someone else picked up on that!!!
sylvia
12:14 am on Friday, April 20, 2012
Christine Frederick is an enabler. My real parents died three weeks apart in 1997 ?& I didn't "go off the deep end" in any manner, let alone commit premeditated murder. When are people like Frederick going to understand the simple concept of taking responsibility for one's own behavior? If Tucker wanted help, such as counseling or drug treatment, why didn't he get it? Since he was involved with the criminal justice system, I'm sure he could have accessed a treatment program. The answer is he didn't want help. Now, he's in trouble, so he wants help? Please.
A follower of the case...
8:17 am on Friday, April 20, 2012
Are her fifteen minutes over yet? I wish someone would stop giving her the attention she is so desperately seeking. He did it, you can't argue with evidence. On top of committing such a horrific crime, he planned it and shared it with others ahead of time. It's not as if he suddenly snapped. As for getting him help instead of jail, Bob and Rose provided him with the best of "help" and sevices his whole entire life. You are no longer in a position to receive help after you have murdered your father and destroyed your mother and brother's quality of life and traumatized your other siblings. They are the ones who will need help, what he needs is a life in prison.
suzie q
1:51 pm on Friday, April 20, 2012
Who is this Christine person who is so involved with Tucker? Is she blaming his parents for adopting him? She's almost making them out to be cruel monsters for bringing him into a loving family. She sounds like she needs her 5 minutes of fame. Are the police investigating her involvement? All forms of media - Please, Please, Please stop encouraging this nut to perform. From all reports so far, Tucker had a loving, caring family who did everything they could to help "their" son. I know a lot of adopted people who didn't kill their adoptive parents or resent them for giving them a loving home. I know people who have adopted because they wanted children, or had biological children and wanted to give that love to another chosen child. I know people who are closer to their adoptive children and actually look more like their adoptive children than their biological children. And none of the parents have been murdered from resentment of being adopted. This theory doesn't cut it with me. So now, we need to outlaw guns, drugs AND adoption?? Kids go on drugs whether they are adopted or not. They don't use drugs because their adopted. Unfortunately some teenagers can't resist the peer pressure to experiment and sometimes lose. It's so cruel to blame a dead father and critically injured mother for this.
A follower of the case...
3:14 pm on Friday, April 20, 2012
Amen to the previous post! I wouldn't be surprised if this women turned out to be a supplier. She is a cat lady for delinquents and very much an enabler!
Patricia Avery
6:36 pm on Friday, April 20, 2012
Take the threats and actions of your children seriously and be prepared to defend yourself and family. I know.
Ryan Gumola
9:06 am on Saturday, April 28, 2012
I used to live near this woman. She is a lunatic. Everything she is saying is a complete lie. She takes in these children to use them for all the money and government benefits she can. And while she "takes" care of these delinquents, she ends up wrapping them up in her pit-hole of a life. She deserves jail time and to be taught a severe lesson for giving or aiding in drug usage.