Woman Cyberbullies Dying Neighbor

**PokemonMasterTrainer** · 13th-October-2010

Who is 7 years old!

(CBS) Seven-year-old Kathleen Edward knows what it's like to die from Huntington's Disease. Last year, the debilitating disorder, which progressively destroys the mind and control of the body, took her mother's life.

Kathleen has it too.

But the disease is not her only nemesis. Kathleen is also the victim of a horrifying cyberbullying attack and the perpetrator is a 33-year-old neighbor, Jennifer Petkov.

Petkov admitted to WJBK News in Detroit that she had posted ghoulish art work of the child on her Facebook page. The picture showed the Kathleen's face - eyes closed and tongue lolling out - with a pair of crossed bones beneath it.

Petkov also admitted to posting a Photoshopped image of Kathleen's mother cradled by the Grim Reaper.

When asked why she did it, Petkov sounded a lot like a high school mean girl. "Personal satisfaction," she told the station. "Because it rubs their a-s raw."

"Cyberbullying gives people the opportunity to be more aggressive than they would allow themselves to be in person," Dr. Samuelle Klein-Von Reiche, a clinical psychologist in private practice in Manhattan, tells CBS News. "There is a weaker sense of personal responsibility. You don't have to confront someone directly."

Still, there had been plenty of public confrontation in the past. Police said they visited the two homes on several occasions, as the families had been feuding for years.

More recently, neighbors in Trenton, Mich., told the local news station that Petkov and her husband decorated their pickup to look like a hearse, strapped a homemade coffin on top, and drove it back and forth in front of the home Kathleen shares with her father and step mother. Petkov said it was just a Halloween prank.

The origins of the dispute are unclear, but that seems less important than the question of why, and how, a person could be so cruel?

Dr. Klein-Von Reiche, who can't comment on this specific case, says there are several possible explanations for why an adult would bully a child.

"People who believe that cruelty is an acceptable means to channel interpersonal conflict, often suffer from severe narcissism with an antisocial element," she says.

In addition, she adds, we live in a media culture where over-the-top drama, including vicious fighting on reality TV, is pervasive. "For someone who already has questionable judgment," she says, "that only reinforces the idea that extreme mental cruelty is acceptable."

The Edward family now has a restraining order against the Petkovs, and the neighborhood has banded together in support of the little girl. A Facebook group, "We Love You Kathleen," has almost 4,000 members. A toy store in Ann Arbor raised $9,000 for a shopping spree, according to WJBK.

Petkov and her husband have made a public apology and dismantled the coffin on top of the "hearse." Small favors for a girl who faces a disease without cure.

According to the Mayo Clinic, Huntington's is "a progressive, degenerative disease that causes certain nerve cells in your brain to waste away." The result is uncontrolled movements, mental disturbances, and death. Symptoms usually develop in middle age. It is rare for children to show sings of the genetic disorder, but it can progress faster if they do.

They're still be harassed by the neighbors: Kathleen Edward's Family Speaks Out About Taunting

**Marx** · 14th-October-2010

What a sick fuck... just disgusting.

I'm sure feminists will find an excuse for her though, some man 'made her' do it.

**haute macabre** · 14th-October-2010

Omg wtf?

This is something a teenager would do, but a full adult? Just sick, especially when it's a child that has a serious disease.

If I were her mother, I'd sue her ass for harassment or end up in jail due to beating the snot out of her.

I'm glad that people are defending her and supporting her. If only they would do this for men more.

**Percy** · 14th-October-2010

A small correction is needed.

According to the Mayo Clinic, Huntington's, like Feminism, is "a progressive, degenerative disease that causes certain nerve cells in your brain to waste away." The result is uncontrolled movements, mental disturbances, and death. Symptoms usually develop in middle age. It is rare for children to show sings of the genetic disorder, but it can progress faster if they do.

**PokemonMasterTrainer** · 14th-October-2010

Quote from Marx

What a sick fuck... just disgusting.

I'm sure feminists will find an excuse for her though, some man 'made her' do it.

She pretty much got mad at them over some text message that the girl's family was unable to respond to.

**Zuberi** · 14th-October-2010

It wasn't her fault.
It was the damn patriarchy!

**Zuberi** · 26th-October-2010

Story here. Excerpt:
'It's been a rough month for Jennifer Petkov. The 33-year-old Trenton woman accused of bullying 7-year-old Kathleen Edward lost custody of two of her children this week, according to Fox 2.
The television station reports a Wayne County Probate Court judge has ruled Petkov's eight-year-old daughter and five-year-old son should live with their father until further notice.
The father, who had a relationship with Petkov prior to her current marriage, filed for an emergency hearing shortly after Petkov made national headlines by admitting on camera that she posted disturbing images on Facebook of Kathleen, who is in the final stages of Huntington's Disease, and her mother, who died of the degenerative brain condition.
The story went viral and Petkov soon found herself and her home the target of death threats, broken eggs and unwanted pizza deliveries. Last week, she allegedly tried to run over another neighbor, Tana Boling with her car. She was arraigned on felonious assault and reckless driving charges, but her attorney said video evidence contradicts Boling's story.'

**Marx** · 26th-October-2010

Threads merged.

**Marx** · 26th-October-2010

The father, who had a relationship with Petkov prior to her current marriage, filed for an emergency hearing shortly after Petkov made national headlines by admitting on camera that she posted disturbing images on Facebook of Kathleen, who is in the final stages of Huntington's Disease, and her mother, who died of the degenerative brain condition.

Yet, I bet when the Father tried to tell the Judge what she like during the separation period... the Judge wouldn't hear a word of it.

**PokemonMasterTrainer** · 27th-October-2010

Quote from Zuberi

Story here. Excerpt:
'It's been a rough month for Jennifer Petkov. The 33-year-old Trenton woman accused of bullying 7-year-old Kathleen Edward lost custody of two of her children this week, according to Fox 2.
The television station reports a Wayne County Probate Court judge has ruled Petkov's eight-year-old daughter and five-year-old son should live with their father until further notice.
The father, who had a relationship with Petkov prior to her current marriage, filed for an emergency hearing shortly after Petkov made national headlines by admitting on camera that she posted disturbing images on Facebook of Kathleen, who is in the final stages of Huntington's Disease, and her mother, who died of the degenerative brain condition.
The story went viral and Petkov soon found herself and her home the target of death threats, broken eggs and unwanted pizza deliveries. Last week, she allegedly tried to run over another neighbor, Tana Boling with her car. She was arraigned on felonious assault and reckless driving charges, but her attorney said video evidence contradicts Boling's story.'

How's about permanent custody? She's got serious problems.