An 11-year-old Wisconsin boy will stand trial for his mother's murder. Police testified family members were worried the motive behind the homicide was a VR headset.

An 11-year-old Wisconsin boy accused of murdering his mother has been ordered to stand trial.

The boy is charged with first-degree intentional homicide. The district attorney’s office is seeking to try him as an adult. The court has ordered that the boy’s name not be revealed because he may still be tried as a child.

In July, the court found the boy competent, according to court records.

Milwaukee Detective Timothy Keller testified in court on Tuesday about speaking with the boy about his mother’s death.

The detective said he questioned the boy the next day and the then 10-year-old boy admitted shooting her but called it an accident, according to WISN.

“[The boy] stated that he took up a shooting stance and was pointing the gun at her as she was walking towards him and asking him to put it down. And that’s when he indicated that he fired the gun with his intent to scare her by shooting the wall behind her,” Keller testified.

“He had made a purchase on his mother’s Amazon account for some virtual reality goggles the morning after this homicide occurred. And [family] were concerned because he had had an argument with her about whether he could have these prior to the homicide,” Keller said.

  • pixxelkick@lemmy.world
    565·
    2 years ago

    Its interesting how if the boy shot and murdered someone else, the mother would be the one responsible for it, due to leaving the gun somewhere the boy could access it and shoot it.

    But now that she specifically is the one who got shot, with her own gun, now the boy is the one responsible.

    It doesnt seem logical that you can have both, who gets shot with the gun shouldnt shift responsibility. She left an extremely dangerous and lethal weapon laying around where the 11 year old boy could just get his hands on it. She is responsible for her own death through her own negligence.

    It’s actually insane that this literal child is being tried for an adult, a threshold he is barely half way towards hitting. This kid literally is still in elementary school and has only just started to be taught basics of multiplication. His brain isn’t even remotely close to done developing, and he hasnt even really started puberty yet.

    If he was, say, 16 or 17, sure I could see it. But fucking eleven? Insane, ludicrous, actually crazy. That is not an adult, and anyone trying to try the kid as an adult is a fucking lunatic.

    • SheeEttin@lemmy.worldEnglish
      271·
      2 years ago

      She would be responsible for an unsecured firearm and child endangerment, but I don’t think they’re usually charged with the actual murder (unless it would be a felony murder rule).

      But this kid certainly shouldn’t be tried as an adult.

      In any case, I’d like to back waaaaay up and ask how this kid got access to a loaded gun in the first place.

      • JokklMaster@lemmy.world
        7·
        2 years ago

        I think it’s more often an involuntary manslaughter charge due to the gross negligence of allowing a child access to a gun. But sometimes it can be counted as murder even if it was unintentional if you were doing something so reckless and stupid you should have realized it would likely result in someone’s death. There’s an argument to be made that keeping a gun somewhere a child could access it would count.

    • hill@kbin.social
      214·
      2 years ago

      So by your logic and reasoning this poor woman apparently committed suicide(?)!

      Yes he’s a kid but he also resides in a state where anyone committing this crime is tried as an adult - that doesn’t mean that he’ll go to an adult prison if the outcome is prison time. If you read anything about it you’ll know he’s a straight-up psychopath and needs serious mental help!

      • creamed_eels@toast.ooo
        91·
        2 years ago

        If you read anything about it you’ll know he’s a straight-up psychopath and needs serious mental help

        Source? Because the above article didn’t contain any of that info.

      • zaph@sh.itjust.works
        4·
        2 years ago

        If you read anything about it you’ll know he’s a straight-up psychopath and needs serious mental help!

        So he needs help and not to be tried as an adult making decisions with a clear mind. I love it when people disagree with themselves in 3 sentences or less.

      • HubertManne@kbin.social
        1·
        2 years ago

        I think the OP was under the impression the child would not be charged but the parent would if they had shot anyone else. In that circumstance he made it would not really be suicide as much as an accident I think. Like accidentally shooting yourself due to negligence in handling the firearm but here the negligence is allowing access to a child.

  • downpunxx@kbin.social
    195·
    2 years ago

    The 10 year old got a hold of a loaded gun, presumably owned by his criminally neglectful parents, who were responsible for it’s secured storage. Oh well, so sad, too bad, glad it happened to them, and not a school full of children.

    • nova_ad_vitum@lemmy.ca
      1·
      2 years ago

      This is obvious fucked up, but what’s the point of child sentencing at all if they can try an 11 year old as an adult? This is her obviously not an adult.

          • LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.world
            1·
            2 years ago

            Charged as an adult, but put in a juvenile detention center because they acknowledge he’s not an adult. He was 10 when it happened, likely hadn’t even started puberty. Anyone asking to charge him as an adult is without a doubt a fucking moron. They should all be fired, shunned, and never allowed to hold a position of authority again.

                • Gadg8eer@lemm.ee
                  1·
                  3 days ago

                  He’s 10, and even though psychopaths can start that early, psychopaths can’t feel or fake regret. Are you going to send an 11 year old to prison over a boy recklessly grabbing a gun owned by his parents? Even as an adult, that’s manslaughter but not murder. Even if he could potentially be a sociopath (who can fake empathy), what proof do you have that’s the case? Are you willing to send a 11 year old to prison for life on the coin flip he might be a sociopath? Are you willing to do so if it was your son?

                  This is something that should be watched very closely. If he can be deported or imprisoned, you can.