Kai Kelly, who was 13 when he committed the crime in April, admitted to the first-degree murder of his father, Joseph Kelly, and to attempted criminal extortion, according to a statement issued by Bruce Brown, Eagle County District Attorney.
Investigators say the teen shot his 50-year-old father twice in the head, when the man was scheduled to meet with a sheriff's deputy investigating a graffiti case involving the teen.
They uncovered the murder after the elder Kelly missed several days of work. His coworkers became suspicious and contacted the police.
Police went to the Kellys’ home and found the dead man with two gunshot wounds fired from a.22-caliber rifle.
Under a plea deal reached with prosecutors, the boy will serve seven years in juvenile detention for the murder and three years in adult prison for the extortion charge.
Authorities did not indicate a motive for the killing, but police said the boy was under investigation for vandalizing a recreation center.
The District Attorney called the sentence an “unusual dual-commitment approach.”
“This difficult balance is hoped to result in the best chance for rehabilitation of this very young man,” he said. “Placing sole emphasis on either treatment or punishment just wouldn’t have been a good plan.”
