A 10-year-old Wisconsin boy has been charged as an adult with first-degree reckless homicide after he fatally shot his mother, telling police he was upset she wouldn’t let him buy a virtual reality headset on Amazon.
The shooting took place at 6:50 a.m. Nov. 21 in the 7400 block of North 87th Street in Milwaukee.
Boy Placed the Order a Day Later from Dead Mother’s Account
Just a day later, the boy went on to buy an Oculus Virtual Reality Headset on his dead mother’s Amazon account and even asked his grandmother whether his package had arrived, according to the criminal complaint.
His 44-year-old mother, identified by WTMJ of Milwaukee as Quiana Mann, was shot at close range. The bullet entered her right eye and exited the back of her head through her skull, the criminal complaint said.
Boy Initially told Investigators the Gun ‘Accidentally Went Off’
The boy initially told investigators that his mom woke him up at 6 a.m. and that he retrieved her gun from her bedroom and went to the basement where she was doing laundry, the complaint said. As he was twirling the gun around his finger, it “accidentally went off,” the complaint said.
After he killed his mother, he went to the second story bedroom to awaken his 26-year-old sister, who discovered their mother was dead and called 911, according to the complaint.
But in later interviews with police, the boy admitted he was not twirling the gun around when he shot his mom, the complaint said.
He admitted that “his mother would not allow him to have something from Amazon that he wanted to have,” it said. And he admitted that he retrieved the gun because he was mad at her for waking him up at 6 a.m. when he usually sleeps until 6:30 a.m. and admitted getting his mother’s keys to her gun lockbox the night before, according to the complaint.
He went to the basement and took up a shooting stance, the complaint said. He said his mother walked in front of him when he tried to shoot the wall to “scare her,” and he admitted that he “shot her in the face when she was approximately three feet away,” the complaint said.
He then put the gun in the living room closet and woke up his sister, it said.
The complaint said the boy “admitted to knowing that guns are dangerous and can kill people.”
Boy Had ‘Rage Issues,’ Showed No Remorse After Killing Mother
His sister told police that the boy had “rage issues” all his life and “becomes very angry and acts out,” the complaint said. The boy told investigators that “he has 5 different imaginary people that talk to him.”
A therapist who had been meeting with the boy gave him a “concerning diagnosis,” the sister said per the complaint. No further details on the diagnosis were detailed.
The mother had also placed cameras in the home to watch him. Two weeks ago, before the shooting, the sister learned from her mother that someone had unplugged the cameras, the complaint said.
Police also interviewed other family members, including an aunt of the boy who told police he “never cried and showed no remorse” about his mother’s death.
The morning after the shooting, on Nov. 22, the boy logged on to his mother’s Amazon account and ordered an Oculus Virtual Reality Headset, his sister told investigators.The same morning, his aunt took him to his grandmother’s house to meet with Child Protective Services workers.
The affidavit said that when he arrived, he saw his grandmother crying and “stated without any empathy or compassion: ‘I’m really sorry for what happened. I’m sorry for killing my mom.'” After he apologized for killing his mother, “he then asked if his Amazon package arrived.”
The boy made his initial court appearance Friday, and a cash bond of $50,000 was set, online court records show. His next status hearing is set for Wednesday. If he is convicted, he faces a maximum of 60 years in prison. NBC News has asked the boy’s lawyer for comment
