A misguided youth who found himself in the national spotlight as a kind of poster boy for teen justice, is in trouble again.
Mychal Bell was the ringleader for the so-called ‘Jena 6’, a gang of black toughs out of Jena, Louisiana who some thought were unjustly incarcerated for beating another boy within an inch of his life.
Police say Bell shot himself in the chest yesterday after getting caught shoplifting on Christmas eve.
Doctors who treated bell say the wound is not life-threatening. Bell had surgery last night to remove the bullet.
According to Bell’s lawyer, the shooting was accidental and occurred when the 18-year-old was cleaning his gun. The lawyer didn’t say why a convicted felon was handling a gun but I’m sure he will think of some excuse.
Bell has been living in Monroe, Louisiana, a rural town about 70 miles north of Jena, with a foster family since agreeing to a plea bargain on the assault charges last December.
Bell was the only teen of the six to be sentenced for the brutal attack on a classmate in Jena in 2006. The plea bargain kept him out of jail, but he is still in custody of the Louisiana justice system.
Bell attends high school in Monroe where he carries a 3.0 grade point average.
