Althouse: "A New York teen who became an Internet sensation for a 'laser cat' yearbook photo..."

February 22, 2015

"A New York teen who became an Internet sensation for a 'laser cat' yearbook photo..."

"... died in an apparent suicide Thursday night, according to a report."

27 comments:

Lem Vibe Bandit said...: I thought you said you didn't want to glamorize suicide.; 2/22/15, 9:45 AM
Michael K said...: "and a stepfather."

A small clue. The mother had no comment.

Too bad that kids get caught up in stuff.; 2/22/15, 9:47 AM
chickelit said...: He looked like a young David Byrne.; 2/22/15, 9:48 AM
rhhardin said...: Maybe feminists spoke harshly to him.; 2/22/15, 9:51 AM
David said...: "Definitely going to miss seeing Draven around school," friend Isabella Cella said. "He was such a nice, funny and free spirited person and I hope that wherever he is, he is finally happy."

Untimely death in the Age of Twitter.; 2/22/15, 9:52 AM
MadisonMan said...: What a horrible thing to happen.; 2/22/15, 9:58 AM
traditionalguy said...: He abandoned the cat.; 2/22/15, 10:01 AM
Eric the Fruit Bat said...: The only good thing about this sad outcome is that Mr. Rodriguez will no longer have to live among a bunch of selfish, clueless imbeciles.; 2/22/15, 10:06 AM
Freeman Hunt said...: That's terrible. Poor kid. Teenage suicides are the worst.

If you'd only waited a little longer--everything would seem so different!; 2/22/15, 10:08 AM
madAsHell said...: After laser cat, what else is there??; 2/22/15, 10:08 AM
David said...: "f you'd only waited a little longer--everything would seem so different!"

It's so hard for the very young to understand that the darkness usually will ebb.; 2/22/15, 10:12 AM
Wince said...: In slower-motion suicide news at the same page, Ajax Chick from Cheech & Chong's "Up in Smoke" Dead at 68.

June Fairchild, who appeared in more than a dozen movies including Cheech and Chong’s drug movie “Up in Smoke” before real addictions left her homeless on Skid Row in Los Angeles, has died. She was 68.

Her friend, Dawna Sodders, told the Los Angeles Times that Fairchild died of liver cancer Tuesday at a convalescent home.

Fairfield’s work included 1974’s “Thunderbolt and Lightfoot” starring Clint Eastwood, and as an Ajax-snorting druggie in “Up in Smoke.”

Fairchild once dated Danny Hutton of Three Dog Night and is credited with suggesting the group’s name.

Drugs and alcohol derailed her career in the 1970s. The Times said she spent time in rehab and jail and was robbed and raped while living on the street before going clean. She spent her last years living on disability payments.; 2/22/15, 10:16 AM
Fernandinande said...: This is bizarre:

"However, even after reaching more than 7,000 signatures, Rodriguez was not allowed to use the photo in the yearbook. Instead, Principal Diane Wilkinson, and her Chihuahua Vivienne, joined Rodriguez for a new laser cat yearbook photo."

She stuck a picture of herself and her dog in front of the kid's picture, and apparently that went into the yearbook.; 2/22/15, 10:27 AM
FullMoon said...: A permanent solution to a temporary problem..
Article does not state how he did it. If it was by hanging,and no note, like Robin Williams, I'm going with accident.; 2/22/15, 10:42 AM
Scott said...: Depression kills.; 2/22/15, 11:13 AM
chillblaine said...: Rodriguez is survived by his mother, his father, his 11-year-old sister and a stepfather.

And Mr. Bigglesworth. Rest in peace gentle soul.; 2/22/15, 11:41 AM
Laslo Spatula said...: You can't explain suicide to cats.

Mr. Bigglesworth will live with the inchoate feeling that his unconditional love was not enough to keep his person from going away.

I am Laslo.; 2/22/15, 11:53 AM
SteveR said...: @ Freeman Hunt So very true; 2/22/15, 12:31 PM
mishu said...: If only he were in Belgium, the government would have provided the service of killing him.; 2/22/15, 12:39 PM
lemondog said...: Why, why, why.....; 2/22/15, 12:42 PM
bleh said...: His last name was Rodriguez, his mother's last name is Peterson, and his father's last name is Stewart.

That alone suggests he might have had a tumultuous, difficult upbringing. Of course maybe that's not the case, but the last names certainly caught my eye.; 2/22/15, 1:11 PM
Revenant said...: That's a shame.; 2/22/15, 1:54 PM
rhhardin said...: The cat will assume that he's been eaten by some larger animal.; 2/22/15, 2:12 PM
MAJMike said...: Mr. Bigglesworth had no comment.; 2/22/15, 2:21 PM
lemondog said...: His last name was Rodriguez, his mother's last name is Peterson, and his father's last name is Stewart.

That alone suggests he might have had a tumultuous, difficult upbringing. Of course maybe that's not the case, but the last names certainly caught my eye.

Additional info indicates a high intelligence:

Student known for yearbook photo with cat, lasers commits suicide

Rodriguez is survived by Stewart; his mother, Melissa Petersen-Stewart; his 11-year-old sister, Lily Stewart; his biological father, Erik Rodriguez;

Rodriguez's wife, Amy; and many other family members.; 2/22/15, 2:35 PM
Anne in Rockwall, TX said...: My husband had been in a wheelchair these past five years. Between finances, adult diapers, medications, trying to keep a job while feeling so housebound and very little support, I contemplated suicide over and over. I knew I could never leave him alone though.

He passed away last month.

Now guilt and sorrow are threatening my sanity, but unlike my teen years, at 56, I know time will heal. I am positive Is could not have had this perspective at 17.; 2/22/15, 6:18 PM
Phil 314 said...: Suicide is the perfect opportunity for wit and irony.; 2/22/15, 8:27 PM