I think Boston radio host Howie Carr would say that “he was just turning his life around...”
Yes. Good.
That rationalization might also be used.
It’s also possible, depending upon how much irrefutable evidence is found by investigators that he will be forced to admit the act, in which case his defenders can always play the race/bullied card by claiming that the white racist teacher was picking on him and discriminating against him, because he wasn’t making ‘A’s in her class, and he just couldn’t take it any more, and he “just snapped”, and there are actually TWO victims here... etc, etc, etc [retch]