A ten-year-old Milwaukee boy is being charged as an adult for allegedly shooting his mother in the face after she refused to purchase a Virtual Reality headset for him on Amazon.
The horrific tragedy unfolded at around 7:00 a.m. on November 21 in the 7400 block of North 87th Street in Milwaukee while the mother was doing laundry, according to court documents obtained by the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.
The boy initially told investigators that he got the gun from his mother’s bedroom and was twirling it around his fingers when it accidentally went off. The boy told his 26-year-old sister, who then called 911.
One day later, the boy’s aunt called the police over “concerns” about the shooting.
According to the complaint, the aunt went over to the house to pick up the boy, and when she asked him to grab the keys, he brought them but told her that he had hidden them from his mother. The set of keys he brought to her had one for the lockbox used to store the mother’s gun.
When the aunt pressed him for more details about the shooting, the ten-year-old confessed that he pointed the gun at his mother, who replied, “Why do you have that? Put that down,” the complaint read.
The boy’s aunt and sister told police that he showed no remorse for shooting his mother. They also told Milwaukee police that the morning after she was killed, the boy logged into his mother’s Amazon account to purchase a virtual reality headset. The affidavit also said the boy allegedly attacked his seven-year-old cousin the same morning he made the purchase.
When police interviewed the boy for the second time in light of the new details, he told them he tried to “scare” her as she walked in front of him.
He further told investigators that he retrieved the gun from the lockbox because his mother woke him up at 6:00 a.m. instead of 6:30 a.m. and that he was upset because she would not purchase an item on Amazon he wanted, per the complaint.
Relatives also told police that the ten-year-old has a history of disturbing behavior.
When he was four, he allegedly would swing the family dog’s tail around until it was in pain. In a recent incident six months ago, the boy allegedly poured a flammable liquid into a balloon and ignited it in the house, causing an explosion that burned the carpet and some furniture.
The complaint also noted the boy claims to hear five imaginary voices inside his head.
The Journal-Sentinel did not reveal the identity of the ten-year-old boy due to his age. The mother was identified as Quiana Mann, 44, by WTMJ-TV.
The ten-year-old is currently being held in a juvenile detention facility but was charged in adult court with first-degree homicide. The boy’s bond was set at $50,000, and he is set to appear in court next on December 7.
Wisconsin laws require those ten years and older to be tried as adults for serious crimes such as first-degree intentional homicide, first-degree reckless homicide, and attempted first-degree intentional homicide.
“The adult system is absolutely ill-equipped to address the needs of a 10-year-old child,” said Angela Cunningham, a lawyer representing the child.
“This is an absolute family tragedy,” she added. “I don’t think anybody would deny or disagree with that.”
Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson (D) expressed his shock over the details of the case at a press conference on Wednesday, Fox 6 reported.
“Anytime there’s violence that happens in Milwaukee whether it’s committed by someone who’s 10 years old or much older than that, that gives me pause,” he said. “I don’t want to see anybody hurt or lose their lives in the city.”
You can follow Ethan Letkeman on Twitter at @EthanLetkeman.
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