Memphis teen Cartrail Robertson dead, family partially blames Facebook

By Chellie Cervone - Posted: Mar 15, 2014 at 6:13 am

Cartrail Robertson posing with a gun in a Facebook photo.

Cartrail Robertson posted this photo to his Facebook page two day before his death. (Photo: Facebook)

Death of Memphis teen Cartrail Robertson

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — On Feb. 27, Memphis teen Cartrail Robertson died of a gunshot wound. He was only 13-years-old.

Darrin Wilson (Photo: Facebook)

His friend , 15, has been arrested in connection with his death. He’s been charged with reckless homicide and is being held at a juvenile facility.

At first, his death was attributed to two young kids that somehow got their hands on a gun and it ended tragically.

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And then the questions began.

How did the children obtain a gun?
Why was a 13-year-old kid going over to his friends house at 3 a.m. on a school night?
Where were the parents of Cartrail Robertson and Darrin Wilson?

Robertson, in all of his 13 years on earth, seemed to have developed an affinity for guns and street life. Although it is not known exactly where he obtained the gun, there is no doubt that he had at least one. He and his friends bragged on Robertson’s Facebook page about a life of drugs, money, booze and guns. Disturbing photos culled from his Facebook page depict a young boy who seemed to enjoy pointing guns at others.

He was able to go out at 3 a.m. because he did not have any parental supervision. His mother, Elonda Robertson, who gave birth to child number 13 in February appears clueless as to what her offspring was up to. Perhaps she just didn’t care. Perhaps she was too busy with the younger children. She has no source of income and could not afford her son’s funeral, according to the fundraising page that a relative claims to be running.

With such a large brood of children and no source of income there is wide speculation that Elonda Robertson relies on public assistance to meet the family’s day-to-day needs. Robertson’s biological father is reportedly incarcerated.

Wilson was at the home he lived at with his mother and her boyfriend who owned the home. Wilson’s mother and her boyfriend were reportedly both at work. There are many cities that offer non-standard work hours. Without adequate plans in place, young children left on their own can often get into trouble. Wilson’s 17-year-old brother was left in charge.

Catrail Robertson Facebook photos snapshot.

Screenshot of photos from the Facebook page of Cartrail Robertson (Photo: Facebook)

Almost as soon as his death was announced, family members of Robertson came forward tried to either deny that Robertson was had guns or to try to defend their actions of not being involved in his life by providing lame excuses.

Robertson’s Grandmother described Cartrail, as a bible toting angel. She said,

Cartrail don’t have a gun. Cartrail have a bible. He don’t have a gun. None of my kids are violent. I didn’t raise my kids like that.

The Grandmother was perhaps not involved in his day-today life, although she said she didn’t raise “her kids” like that. Then she tried to deflect blame away from either kid and blamed an unknown person. She said,

I really don’t think the 15-year-old did it. I think he’s taking the rap for somebody.

Robertson’s Aunt was on a campaign to raise money to bury Robertson. She provided the lame excuse that due to Facebook’s privacy settings, the family was not privy to the actions of the 13-year-old. As a minor whoever was responsible for him obviously did not ever supervise his online activities.

She also said that the photos were photoshopped. She posted a message a message on the fundraising site that said,

I have noticed some photos appearing by the media on Facebook. The photos are a shock to every one in the family. The photos could not been scene by family on his Facebook because Facebook allowed 13 year old’s or older to have blocking features on sharing in their Facebook profiles. Before he is judged as a problem deserving of premature future think about the peer pressure that you may have been under as a child. Some people just never got caught. Cartrail whom was in some of these photos (besides the ones that were photoshopped). They are upsetting to me and I am wondering who supplied these kids with such materials. But we cannot bring him back. The child that was in those photos was not the same little sweet boy I just spoke to three weeks ago.

There are even some people who want to turn the death of Robertson into a racial issue with one blogger using an example that can best be described as an apples and oranges scenario. The blogger wrote,

It goes without saying that if a group of WHITE KIDS were seen playing with guns, holding them in a threatening manner and thus a BLACK LIFE was taken at the end of the scene – this story would have gone from being “Reported” over to being “AGENDIZED” – as this lifeless Black body would be used to make a larger inference upon “The State Of Race and Racism In America.

If the poster had posted a “what if” scenario that included a bunch of white young thugs who were into guns and drugs and one of the white thugs, who was 13-years-old, went to a friends home at 3. a.m., the problem would still be the same. The root of the problem is a lack of parental oversight and involvement.

A Lack of parental involvement can kill your kids .. or cause them to kill someone

Wilson is scheduled to appear in court on March 19. His attorney contends that the gun did not belong to Wilson and that Wilson even told Robertson to unload the gun and tried to get the gun away from Robertson. He claims his client did nothing wrong.