Testimony starts in DeSoto boy's trial
Posted on 05/15/2002 4:28:37 AM PDT by MeekOneGOP
Testimony starts in DeSoto boy's trial
Prosecutor: He waited hour to call 911, cleaned house after shooting
05/15/2002
A 13-year-old DeSoto boy accused of killing his best friend waited an hour to call police while he cleaned the house and moved the body, a prosecutor said Tuesday.
During the hour that passed on March 5, the boy cleaned the carpet, kitchen and bathroom, Dallas County prosecutor Stephanie Schair said on the first day of testimony in the boy's trial on juvenile murder charges. He also moved Jonathan Hogan's body to the garage, where paramedics found him lying on a clear plastic sheet, she said.
"What you will hear in this case is not boys playing with guns and an accident," Ms. Schair said. "The evidence will show you this was no accident."
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If a jury finds the boy responsible for his friend's slaying, he faces up to 40 years in prison for a murder charge and up to 20 years for a manslaughter charge. The boy would be sent to a juvenile facility and at age 18 could be released or transferred to an adult prison.
Testimony showed that the shooting occurred about 1 p.m. A call to 911 was placed an hour later.
The boy's fingerprints also were found on the .25-caliber handgun's instructions, which Ms. Schair told the jury is proof he intended to fire the weapon. Jonathan's fingerprints were not found on the weapon or instructions, she said.
Police have said the gun was pressed up against Jonathan's skin for at least one of the shots. He was shot once in the forehead and once in the chest.
Firefighter Darren Pena, a paramedic for almost 17 years, and several police officers testified that the boy seemed "indifferent" when they arrived at the house. The boy did not appear to have blood on him, he said.
Mr. Pena testified that Jonathan was lying in an "odd position." There was little blood on the plastic sheet, the paramedic said.
DeSoto police Officer Nick Bristow testified that he found the gun used to shoot Jonathan on the sink counter. The slide was pulled back and locked. A bloody rag was in the sink, he said.
A search warrant return shows police confiscated a vacuum cleaner bag, a drain trap from the bathroom, a bottle of Resolve carpet cleaner, a red scrub brush and a piece of carpet that appeared to have been cleaned.
Jonathan's father, Izear Hogan, 67, testified Tuesday that he didn't like his son playing with the boy.
"They were friends, I thought," said Mr. Hogan, who began weeping when Ms. Schair showed him school pictures of Jonathan. "When [the boy] was smaller, he was OK. But as he got older, I didn't care for Jonathan to talk to him. ... He would be so vulgar on the phone."
Mr. Hogan, a school crossing guard, said he had forbidden his son from going to the boy's house because his mother would leave them unsupervised.
The boy, who is not being identified because of his age, sat next to his mother during Tuesday's testimony. Dressed in a long-sleeved green shirt, a black vest and black dress pants, he showed no emotion except during Mr. Hogan's testimony. He put his right hand to his face when Mr. Hogan began to cry.
Mr. Hogan has filed a civil suit against the boy's mother, alleging that she left the loaded weapon on a bedside table where it was accessible to children. In the lawsuit, the shooting is called an accident.
In a response, the mother, who was not home at the time of the shooting, denied the allegations.
Testimony is to continue Wednesday.
E-mail jemily@dallasnews.com
Previous FR Articles on this story.........
Trial starts today in death of DeSoto
boy - 13 year old charged with murder
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/682683/posts
Mom to be investigated in shooting/DeSoto
13-year-old accidentally shoots friend
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/641988/posts
Obviously a suicide. Can we get Robert Fisk and Ken Starr to investigate?
America's Fifth Column ... watch PBS documentary JIHAD! In America
Download 8 Mb zip file here (60 minute video)
Yep... That rules out any "accidental kid-play bullsh!t bullsh!t" as far as I'm concerned...
Thanks for the ping, bro... I've been busy as a French whore in bootcamp this week, next two weeks'll be worse... Oh well, maybe I'll get out to the poolhall this evening and get myself spiritually fortified... ;)
I'll drink to THAT!
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