Do you remember the case of the 11 yr old Wisconsin boy who gunned down his 44 yr old Mother over a VR headset?
We debated on whether the boy should be tried as an adult considering his mental state.
Looks like the judge has decided that he will stand trial as an adult according to the DailyMail.
Quiana Mann, 44, was shot and killed at their home in Milwaukee in November 2022.
Her son, who was 10 years old at the time, and has since been charged as an adult with first-degree intentional homicide.
Prosecutors say the boy shot Mann after she refused to buy the boy a $500 Oculus VR headset, and then used her credit card and Amazon account to buy the device.
The boy told investigators that he pointed the gun at his mother and intended to shoot the wall to ‘scare her,’ but that she had walked in front of him as he fired.
The boy is being held on a $50,000 cash bail at the Vel R. Phillips Juvenile Justice Center. A preliminary hearing will be held September 5.
Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Jane Carroll listened to hours of testimony from two psychologists who examined the boy, who is now 11, before finding him competent to understand court proceedings.
While the psychologists disagreed on the boy’s ability to understand courtroom proceedings, the judge said that because he had not been given a ‘major mental diagnosis’ and because he demonstrated an ability to learn, she found him competent to proceed, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
‘He knew his case was in adult court, he knew that his case was a felony, he knew that there were two types of cases — felonies and misdemeanors, he knew it was serious.’ Milwaukee County prosecutor Sara Waldschmidt said in court.
The case has received some pushback from activists who called for the boy to be moved to juvenile court.
State law in Wisconsin requires children as young as 10 to be charged as adults for some serious crimes, such as homicide.
Family members who spoke out after the shooting said the boy seemed more preoccupied with his gadgets than facing murder charges.
The boy’s aunt Rhonda Reid told WTMJ-TV in December that when she talks to him in custody, he claims not to remember the shooting and quickly shifts the conversation to his favorite topic.
‘When he calls, he’s just like, “Make sure all my tablets and laptop and everything of mine is properly packaged,”‘ Reid said at the time.
Meanwhile, the boy’s grandmother Lueritha Mann said she can’t bring herself to speak to him, telling the outlet: ‘I hope I do one day, but right now no. He took something very precious from me.’
‘I can’t believe he did it,’ the grandmother said, adding, ‘he needs to pay for what he’s done.’
Reid said that her nephew had been attending therapy for more than a year for mood and conduct disorders, and part of his treatment plan included limiting access to electronic devices.
She said the boy ‘was upset about these devices being taken away’.
The child who, according to family members has ‘rage issues’ and hears imaginary people, has been charged with first-degree reckless homicide and will be tried as an adult.
Wisconsin state law dictates that children as young as 10 will be charged as adults for serious crimes, such as murder. He faces up to 60 years in prison if convicted.
The fact that the boy will be tried as an adult has created some headaches for Carroll, as she noted that all the usual factors when deciding bail conditions ‘don’t make a lot of sense when applied to a 10-year-old.’
She pointed out that the boy has no home of his own, no job, no real assets, no way of attending court by himself or a prior criminal history.
He initially told police that the shooting was an accident.
He claimed Mann had walked in front of him while he was aiming at a wall to ‘scare her’, and he accidentally shot her in the head, according to criminal charges obtained by the Journal Sentinel.
He later said in a second interview, however, that he intentionally aimed at his mother before shooting her at their home on 87th Street near Hemlock at around 7am on November 21.
After the shooting, he put the gun in the closet and told his older sister Brianna Moore, 26, that their mother, who worked in behavioral health, was dead, the complaint read. Moore then called 911.
The boy’s aunt said that when she collected him, he retrieved a set of house keys that contained a key to the gun’s lockbox. When his aunt asked about the shooting, the boy said he pointed the gun at his mom and that she told him to put it down.
The boy’s aunt and sister said he never cried or showed remorse and had also physically attacked his seven-year-old cousin the same day.
The boy’s family said he has ‘concerning’ mental health issues, and has exhibited disturbing behavior in the past.
When he was four, the boy allegedly swung the family’s puppy around by its tail, the complaint says.
Six months ago, the family told police, he filled a balloon with a flammable liquid and set it on fire, causing an explosion that burned furniture and the carpet.
When asked why he did it, the boy allegedly said: ‘Two sisters told him to do it.’
The boy told his family he hears five imaginary people talking to him, who he said are two sisters, an old woman, and two ‘mean’ men.
A sister also said in the complaint that her brother has had ‘rage issues’ all his life and becomes ‘very angry and acts out.’
