Finding a way out of a dead-end street

A car left unattended for a moment. An eighth-grader who jumps in and drives it away. An angry owner who pulls out a gun and shoots the boy to death.

Quavale Finnell's story stuns us all for its senselessness, its wastefulness.

But how did we really think that the teenager's story would end?

In 14 years of life, Quavale had a police record of 13 offenses. He would have turned 15 on Thursday, over-age for the average eighth-grader. At 6 a.m. on a Monday morning, he was on his way to his home, not from it, as most students would be. Local law enforcement officials say he came from a large family and stayed in a variety of residences.

Our shock at Quavale's apparently impulsive and foolish act -- at the pointlessness of it, the sheer recklessness -- may be the most shocking part of this sad drama. Juvenile judges, teachers, probation officers and counselors who see teenagers like Quavale know that if you add up his risk factors, you come up with a negative score. His act may have seemed a desperate gamble, but then the odds were never in his favor.

Stopping Quavale would have required more than taking the keys out of a running car. Saving him would have required more than simply putting a weapon away without firing.

Police say he circled out of a dead-end street before he died trying to make a getaway.

People who know young, fated men like Quavale say, all too often, dead-end streets are the only routes they know.