Ohio boy, 13, charged with 'premeditated' killing of 11-year-old brother

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press


The 13-year-old is accused of aggravated murder. Police are not saying what prompted the killing.
by Associated Press / Apr. 24.2018 / 7:32 PM ET

STREETSBORO, Ohio — Authorities say a 13-year-old boy has fatally shot his 11-year-old brother in suburban Cleveland, and police are describing the shooting as an apparent "premeditated act."

Streetsboro police say officers were called to a home around 9:30 p.m. Monday. The 11-year-old died at a hospital.

Police say the 13-year-old has been charged with aggravated murder in Portage County Juvenile Court. Police say the gun used in the slaying was stolen from his grandfather's home.

Police have not said what prompted the teen to shoot his brother.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/ohio-boy-13-charged-premeditated-killing-11-year-old-brother-n868851

[rusty quoin]

1. OMG

[arithia]

2. lots more to the story from a great local paper

https://www.ohio.com/akron/news/local/streetsboro-boy-accused-of-shooting-killing-11-year-old-brother

"STREETSBORO: On Thursday, police drove a 13-year-old boy to a mental health clinic after the boy said he wanted to hurt himself.

Four days later, police arrested the same boy, not for harming himself, but for allegedly shooting and killing his 11-year-old brother, Caleb Lishing."

Allegations of child abuse from the father who ended up with custody, a record of the boy masturbating on the school bus, his step mother dragging him to the cops because he was "unruly".

Sounds like a sick kid from an abusive home. Kids over the age of 14 in this state can be tried as adults. Tragic on a number of levels

[Judi Lynn]

5. Thank you for the article. It had a lot more information, sad as it is. What a rotten shame.

That kid had to be pretty far gone by the time this happened.

Oblivious people around him at home, clearly.

Relatives kept guns maybe to protect their loved ones from being harmed by outsiders. Hmmmm.

Thanks, Arithia.

[Cal Carpenter]

9. Grandfather locked up guns, but 13-year-old used tools to take apart, reassemble cabinet, police say

Clever kid, too bad he seemed unable to use that cleverness as a force of good...

https://www.ohio.com/akron/news/fratricide-grandfather-locked-up-guns-but-13-year-old-used-tools-to-take-apart-reassemble-cabinet-police-say

Grandfather locked up guns, but 13-year-old used tools to take apart, reassemble cabinet, police say

STREETSBORO: The man seemed to do almost everything right to keep his guns out of the wrong hands.

He locked them inside a wood and glass cabinet and hid the key at someone else’s house, far from his own grandchildren or anyone else who might come snooping around.

That had been the arrangement for years, police said. And no one suspected any of the guns missing until Monday night when Streetsboro police found the man’s .357 Magnum at the home where two of his grandsons lived.

---snip----

When the 13-year-old couldn’t find the key to his grandfather’s gun cabinet, he used a screwdriver, pliers or whatever other tools he needed to dismantle part of the bottom part of the wooden cabinet and take the gun, Wain said.

Afterward, the boy put the cabinet back together so no one suspected anything was amiss, she said.

[Stallion]

3. I'd Charge Whoever Gave a 13 Year old with Mental/Behaviorial Problems a gun

[Jedi Guy]

4. He stole it from his grandfather.

It's stated in the excerpt above. Without knowing how the gun was secured (if indeed it was secured at all) it's impossible to say whether charges against gramps are warranted.

If it was in a shoebox in the closet, then he should be charged. If it was locked up and the kid stole keys or some such, then it's harder to justify charges, in my opinion.

Another factor is whether or not gramps knew about the kid's mental issues. If he did and didn't take further steps to secure the gun, I don't think charges are unreasonable.

Sad situation all the way around, but as we know, it's hardly unheard of in today's America.

[robbob]

7. It says in a related article:

The guns were stored in a locked cabinet. The boy used tools to take the cabinet apart and put it back together.

[Jedi Guy]

8. Then I can't hold the grandfather responsible here.

If the kid was determined enough to completely disassemble the cabinet, I imagine he'd have been determined enough to steal the key to a gun safe or something similar. It's not as if the gun was just left on the coffee table.

The fact that the kid put the cabinet back together is going to be viewed as premeditation, since he clearly intended to conceal the theft.

[lunasun]

6. The babysitter found the victim . She did not even know what happened to him

http://www.cleveland19.com/story/38024480/police-11-year-old-boy-fatally-shot-by-13-year-old-brother-with-stolen-gun
"Something terrible has happened... I'm babysitting two kids" Hartman told the 911 call taker.

Hartman stated she had last seen Caleb when he went to bed at 8:30 p.m.

Around 9:30 p.m., Hartman heard a "pop."

She then ran into Caleb's 13-year-old brother who asked what the sound was.

Hartman told police she didn't believe there were any weapons in the home.