A 12-year-old is guilty of murder according to a judge in Los Angeles. On Jan. 14, The LA Times reported that Superior Court Judge Jean P. Leonard found the young boy guilty of second degree murder. The boy could spend the next decade in a juvenile detention center.
As previously reported, the boy was only 10-years-old when he picked up a gun and killed his neo-Nazi father. The boy had been abused by his father both physically and emotionally. There was also some questions as to whether or not the boy was sexually abused as well. A judge has concluded that this abuse is what caused him to murder his own father.
The 12-year-old guilty of murder believed that what he did had to be done, according to his attorney, Matthew Hardy. The judge believes that the child knew exactly what he was doing and that he shot the gun, aimed at his dad's head, purposely trying to end his life -- and consequently to end the suffering and years of abuse he had endured.
"It’s clear that this minor knows more than the average child about guns, hate and violence. This is not a naive little boy unaware of the ways of the world," said Judge Leonard. This was one of the reasons that the boy will have to pay for his crime.
The 12-year-old who is guilty of murder will find out his fate during a disposition hearing next month.
© Effie Orfanides 2013
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