10-year-old boy charged as adult for shooting and killing mother over virtual reality headset

[Nevilledog]

https://www.wisn.com/article/wisconsin-boy-charged-shooting-killing-mom-vr-headset/42110537

MILWAUKEE —
According to the criminal complaint, on Nov. 21, a 10-year-old boy is accused of shooting and killing his 44-year-old mother, Quiana Mann, because she woke him up early and would not buy him a virtual reality headset.

WISN 12 News is not naming the child because of his age.

Initially, Milwaukee police ruled the shooting -- near 87th and Hemlock streets -- accidental, saying the boy was playing with the gun and it went off. Due to his age, they let the boy stay with his family.

The next morning, the boy's family contacted the police with serious concerns.

The boy's 26-year-old sister told police her brother has had "rage issues" all his life and that he had been seeing a therapist who gave him a "concerning diagnosis."

*snip*

[SoCalDavidS]

1. Another Well Regulated Militia Member

I'm sure he'll have no problem getting a gun legally in a few years when he turns 18.

Thankfully he only killed his mother, and didn't take the gun to school and kill a bunch of innocents.

I love how the day after he shot his mother dead, he went onto her Amazon account and ordered that headset. Life goes on.

[Treefrog]

29. Well, he is a black kid.

Militias seem to appeal more to the white kids, or so it seems.

[Laffy Kat]

2. How the hell can you charge a 10-year-old as an adult?

This country is so messed up.

[whathehell]

11. How the hell can a 10 year old murder his own mother?

It seems there's lots of "messed up" to go around.

[obamanut2012]

14. No society should charge a child like an adult

Come on.

[whathehell]

32. I guess I'm just finding it hard to understand

why people here seem more upset with the idea of the boy being charged as an adult, than they do with the apparently premeditated murder of his own mother.

[XorXor]

35. For me, it's because he's only 10 years old

Something went wrong here and I have a hard time blaming a child for it. A child who isn't at fault for the way his brain is wired. We also don't know what environment he grew up in. Perhaps his mother was a great mother who did her best, but couldn't get him the help he needed. It's also possible that he grew up in a toxic environment that caused or made worse the issues that he already had. But either way, at ten years old he had no way of getting the help himself. He didn't have enough time for his brain to mature and maybe help him manage his emotions.

It's tragic that his mother was killed. It's tragic that this kid is likely never going to have a normal life. However, he is still just a kid and I think we owe it to him to try to salvage him if possible. Maybe that's not possible and he has be put into a psychiatric facility for his entire life, but I think we owe him some compassion and a real effort to figure out what went wrong and if it's correctable.

Also, however awful this situation is, it could have been much worse. Imagine if he took that gun to school instead of killing his mother.

[JI7]

3. Where did he get the gun from ?

[oioioi]

4. "Prosecutors said he told them the night before he got his mother's set of keys for the gun lock."

[XorXor]

5. Not so sure I can get behind the idea of charging a 10 year old as an adult

Based on the info the in the article, the kid seems to have had issues with violent behavior in the past. The mother should have had enough to sense to not have a deadly weapon in the home. At the very least she should have been far more careful with the keys to the lockbox. No doubt the troubled kid could have used knives or something else, but those are often far less damaging in the hands of a child.

This kid didn't wire his brain the way it it's wired. I'm not saying he should be released and let to roam free, but putting him into the prison system is not the answer.

[GoodRaisin]

15. I know I can't. 10 years old is not an adult.

[TexasBushwhacker]

30. They put them into a juvenile facility until they are 18

then they serve the remainder of their sentence in an adult prison.. They are eligible for parole.

[XorXor]

33. I understand that aspect of it

but they are still putting a 10 year old into the system during some critical points in his development. This kid obviously has some emotional issues which are not his fault. Seems like putting him in a place where they maybe try to help him deal with those would be better. And if that proves to be something that is not possible, then maybe he needs to stay in such a facility for how ever long it takes for him to be considered safe.

[TexasBushwhacker]

38. There is more counseling and education available for juvenile offenders

You might want to read about the Eric Smith case. He murdered a young boy when he was 13 and ended up serving 27 years.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Smith_(murderer)

[Coventina]

6. He needs to be housed away from the pubic the rest of his life.

He is clearly a danger to any other human being who makes him frustrated.

Some people are just wired that way, and he seems to be one of them.

[Laffy Kat]

26. Matricide is incredibly rare, making up 1% of murders.

And there's usually a history of abuse in the family. Not saying there's no such thing as being born a psychopath, but they're usually made into killers, not born that way. Even so, locking a 10-year-old up for life seems just as cruel as the death penalty, IMO.

[patphil]

7. A 10 year old with "rage issues" is mentally ill.

Although it appears he did kill his mother, he is not an adult and should not be tried as one.
He needs to be removed from society for his own good and the good of everyone else.

[GPV]

12. Agreed.

[lostnfound]

27. I can't believe none would think otherwise. "Facing 60 years???" Adults FAILED.

What’s next, a 5 year old with rage issues sentenced for life?

Most moronic society ever.. okay that is an exaggeration, but not by much.

[elocs]

8. Wisconsin, it figures. This is where the 2 girls who were 12 at the time of the assault

were charged with attempted murder in the Slenderman case here back in 2014. Both girls had been diagnosed with a mental illness.

[secondwind]

9. His virtual reality is now a jail cell.

[progressoid]

10. As an adult?

What good will that do?

[GPV]

13. Make some people feel better. Certainly won't address the root cause of the issue.

[Dorian Gray]

16. The article

doesn't say what the diagnosis is, but I suspect he has Oppositional Defiant Disorder. (In older parlance, people would have called him a sociopath, though the diagnosis is more complicated.)

I have a friend whose child has this diagnosis. Very little understanding of rules and not getting what the kid wants. Very little compassion for others. Constant therapy trying to develop those skills.

In the case I know, there are fights with siblings that lead to physical hitting/biting/etc. But never attempted murder.

It's a complicated and difficult psychological condition and takes a lifetime of behavioral therapy to create life skills.

I don't approve of this kid being charged as an adult, but he needs serious therapeutic intervention and he is a danger to society if he kills his own mother.

[KarenS]

17. unbelievable,,,

what kind of people make a decision to charge a 10 yo as an adult?
Srsly, they should not be allowed to decide when to cut the grass.

Obviously this boy needs help and not put back into society.

[Jim__]

18. If a 10 year old is charged and convicted as an adult, does he then get sentenced to the ...

... penitentiary? That sounds like a crime in itself.

[XanaDUer2]

19. Imagine having to put cameras up

In your own home? I wonder if the mother was living in fear. Chilling

[HipChick]

21. At 4yr's old, would "swing puppy around by it's tail until it whined and howled in pain"..

he has had "rage issues" all of his life and "five different imaginary people that talk to him."
Antisocial personality traits at 4 yrs..

More going on here, and clinicians failed to diagnose

https://www.tmj4.com/news/local-news/10-year-old-upset-over-vr-headset-fatally-shoots-mother-charged-as-an-adult

[littlewolf]

23. the only reason I can think of for charging him as adult is

at age 18 (or 21 depending on the state)
they have to release him no matter if he is
no longer a threat or not ... adult not so much
they can house him in a JV facility where hopefully
he can get treatments to help him ...
that is the only reason I can think of.

[Vinca]

25. I don't think a 10 year old should be charged as an adult, but if the family is afraid of him maybe

he should be committed to a psychiatric facility that can deal with little kids. Bottom line, if the gun hadn't been there he wouldn't have shot and killed her.

[Oneironaut]

28. Houses with young children shouldn't have guns in them. Ever.

I don’t care how much they’re “taught to respect the gun” by their parents. A 10 year old doesn’t have the emotional maturity to be near weapons.

[Stinky The Clown]

31. TEN . . . YEARS . . . OLD . . . IS . . . A . . . CHILD

If he can't be set on a better course, perhaps commit him at age 21. But to charge a 10 year old as an adult is barbaric.

[Sky Jewels]

34. This is obscene. He's a mentally ill child.

Why are they "charging" him with anything? He needs to be in a health facility.

[RANDYWILDMAN]

36. Mental health care stripped of funding since the 80's by Reagan

so, we the taxpayers, will pay for this boy to grow up in prison, lovely

We still have a gun problem in this country and it's screaming from the top of it's lungs for a fix !!

[Xolodno]

37. Having guns in a house with children while...

...in a society that glorifies gun culture and has far too little resources in mental health.

What could go wrong?

[Demsrule86]

39. No 10 year old should be tried for any crime as an adult.