10-Year-Old Wisconsin Boy Who Killed His Mother For Not Buying Him a VR Headset Makes Court Appearance
A 10-year-old Milwaukee, Wisconsin boy was tried in court as an adult last Wednesday for killing his mother who refused to buy him a virtual reality headset. During that hearing, Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Jane Carroll refused to lower the $50,000 bail imposed on the boy who committed matricide.
The boy's attorney, Angela Cunningham, told the judge that since his client is only 10 and had no source of income, he argued that the bail should be lowered from $50,000 to $100. However, Judge Carroll refused, even imposing travel restrictions on the boy should he be able to make bail.
Should the boy post bail, the prosecutor working on this case, Paul Dedinsky, asked Judge Carrol that he should be released to the custody of a family member. However, the judge did not impose that restriction.
According to the Associated Press, Cunningham then argued that this was unheard of, as no defendant in an adult court had ever been required to stay in the custody of a family member on pretrial release. The judge sided with Cunningham but ruled that the boy should be placed on GPS monitoring.
The young suspect kept his head down during the hearing, though the judge did order that he should not be placed in shackles or any kind of restraints like an adult defendant, even though he was tried as one. Judge Carroll also ordered the media from publishing any of the boy's personal information and image.
Wisconsin Boy Who Committed Matricide Initially Claimed Killing His Mom Was an Accident
The incident happened inside the family's home in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on November 21, 2022. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel obtained a copy of the documents of the boy's arrest.
The boy admitted that he wanted to buy a virtual reality headset from Amazon for gaming purposes. However, his mother would not allow it so he shot her.
This contradicts what the boy told police earlier, as he previously told them this was all an accident as he stated that he only wanted to scare her and was aiming at a wall. He claimed that his mother walked in front of where he was aiming, therefore killing her. He then told his sister that his mother was dead.
According to police, the boy also admitted that he got the gun from the lockbox that morning. He also admitted to officers that he understood guns can kill people.
The boy was also reportedly angry at his mother for waking him up early and for refusing to buy him the VR headset. He is currently being held in the county's juvenile detention facility.
Wisconsin Law and Why He Is Being Tried as an Adult
While he is still 10, Wisconsin law requires children as young as him to be charged and tried as adults if they commit serious crimes. This includes murder, which the boy allegedly did. Even so, the boy's attorney did try to move the case to juvenile court.
NBC News pointed out that if sentenced, the Wisconsin boy could face a maximum of 60 years in prison.
This article is owned by Latin Post.
Written by: Rick Martin
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