On the morning of November 21, a 10-year-old boy allegedly shot and killed his mother in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. New evidence has since emerged suggesting he might have done it on purpose because she would not buy him a virtual reality headset.
At first, the boy stated he got the gun from his mother's bedroom and went to the basement where she was doing laundry. It's alleged he fired the gun while he was twirling it in his hands. A release issued by police at the time contained a reminder to "keep firearms secured with a gunlock and out of the reach of children".
Police allowed the boy to stay with family because of his age; however, a day later, relatives called the police.
The boy's aunt stated the minor told her he had hidden a set of house keys, including the one which opened the lock box with a handgun. When his aunt questioned him about the shooting, the boy said he pointed the gun at his mom, who then said to him, “Why do you have that? Put that down.”
The relative also learned the boy had logged onto his mother's Amazon account and ordered an Oculus Virtual Reality Headset on November 22. Incidentally, that same morning, the boy physically attacked his 7-year-old cousin and had to be pulled off the child. His aunt then drove the boy to his grandmother's house to meet with child welfare workers.
"I’m really sorry for what happened. I’m sorry for killing my mom,” the boy is alleged to have said when the aunt returned. He then asked if his Amazon package had arrived.
After this information been revealed, Milwaukee police interviewed the boy again. He told detectives he aimed the gun at his mom with two hands while in a shooting stance. He attempted to shoot a wall to “scare her” but she walked in front of him and he shot her.
The boy told police he got the gun from the lock box that morning because his mother woke him up 30 minutes earlier than usual — at 6 a.m. — and because she wouldn’t let him buy something on Amazon.
“This is an absolute family tragedy,” said Angela Cunningham, one of the boy’s attorneys. “I don’t think anybody would deny or disagree with that ... The adult system is absolutely ill-equipped to address the needs of a 10-year-old child.”
The boy has been charged as an adult with first-degree reckless homicide and is in juvenile detention. State law declares that children as young as 10 to be charged as adults for certain crimes. However, it is also possible to move the case to juvenile court.
The boy's aunt told police he had a history of disturbing behavior, including swinging the family's puppy by the tail until it howled in pain (the boy was 4 at that time) and filling a balloon with a flammable liquid and setting it on fire at home more recently.
When he was asked why he would do something like that, he said his "two sisters told him to do it," according to relatives' recollection of the situation. When he was questioned further, the boy said he hears five different, imaginary people talking to him: two sisters, one older woman, one man and a second man who the boy described as "mean."