Two youths get probation in Morristown bullying case; ‘You are both cowards,’ mother of suicide victim Lennon Baldwin tells them

Two teenagers each got a year on probation in a plea deal on Tuesday. But the parents of Morristown High School suicide victim Lennon Baldwin imposed harsher sentences on the individuals they blame for their son’s death, passing judgment on them with angry words that they are unlikely to forget.

“You’re both cowards, bullies and criminals,” Lennon’s mother, Sharon Varnelas, told them during their sentencing in the Family Division of Superior Court in Morristown. “You should be ashamed and your families should be ashamed.”

“My recommendation is you spend the rest of your lives begging for forgiveness from God and from Lennon,” said John Baldwin, father of  the 15-year-old freshman who took his own life at the family’s Morris Township home on March 28.

“As for me, do not ever attempt to ask for forgiveness. I will never forgive you for what you have done to my Lennon.”

One youth pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit theft, a third-degree crime, and simple assault, a disorderly persons offense. He already served five days in a juvenile lockup and must serve 20 more in a supervised manual labor program. His DNA and fingerprints also will be kept on file by authorities.

The other teen pleaded guilty to theft, a third-degree offense, and obstruction of justice, a fourth-degree crime. His penalties were identical.  Their names cannot be released because they were under 18 at the time they were charged.

Looking one of them in the eye, Judge Michael Paul Wright warned that a two-year prison term was likely for any violation of probation.

The emotional testimony of Lennon’s parents and their description of the “vicious, unprovoked assault”–a kick to Lennon’s groin, recorded by Morristown High School security camera on March 6, which set in motion events culminating in Lennon’s suicide–nearly swayed the Judge to reject the plea deal as too lenient, he said.

According to Lennon’s parents, one of the teens threatened to throw their son off the rooftop parking garage of a Morristown department store on March 9, after robbing him of $60. The other teen threatened that “the Bloods [gang] would be after him” if he reported the robbery, according to Lennon’s father.

Lennon had been lured to the parking garage to buy drugs, according to one of the teens.

The setup–one of the teens testified five people were present–was meant as retaliation for the school suspension of the teen who had kicked Lennon, John Baldwin told the court.

The teens had blamed Lennon for snitching, even though he followed orders from one of the teens to tell school officials that the kick was just a joke, authorities said.

Morris County Prosecutor Robert Bianchi told the Judge that, while he believed every word of the parents’ story, it would be impossible to prove that the teenagers intended to cause Lennon’s death without the victim’s testimony.

“But these two gentlemen should be very clear in their minds, that there is no doubt in my mind that these events ultimately led a very frightened, very scared young man to take his own life,” the Prosecutor said.

The teenagers sat with heads bowed for most of the proceeding. Tears welled up in the eyes of relatives.

A third person charged in connection with the rooftop incident, 19-year-old Michael Conway, is scheduled to appear in court on July 31.

The fact that neither teen at Tuesday’s hearing had any prior convictions weighed in their favor, the Judge said. Public Defender Ana Tent said her client also had been getting counseling, and was working with a local organization to try to help young people.

But it was “no coincidence” that Lennon killed himself one day after the pair were released from a juvenile detention center and placed on house arrest, John Baldwin said.

Now Lennon is “under permanent house arrest, and not in my house,” he said.

The family laid Lennon’s ashes to rest earlier this month.

Shortly before his death, Lennon had confided that he wished he had fought back on the parking deck, but was outnumbered, his father said.  The family was preparing to move Lennon to another school for his own safety, the father said.

“I know in my heart that Lennon took his life out of fear. I know he would be alive today if not for the horrible actions of these two individuals,” he said.

Lennon’s mother thanked the Prosecutor’s Office and Morristown Police Chief Pete Demnitz, who attended the proceeding, for their handling of the investigation.

Every day is bittersweet now, Sharon Varnelas said. Sometimes she calls Lennon’s cellphone just to hear his voice message. Reminders of her son are everywhere–from a toolbox she made for her, to his guitar and drums, now silent. She sees the memorial armbands of his bowling buddies, and his bed, where the family cat still sleeps.

“The shock is wearing off,” Sharon said, “and the reality that I will never see him again is setting in.”

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