DeSoto killer, 13, to serve sentence at youth facility
Posted on 05/22/2002 2:34:50 AM PDT by MeekOneGOP
DeSoto killer, 13, to serve sentence at youth facility
Teen could remain in custody until age 21
05/22/2002
A state district judge, calling the actions of a 13-year-old who killed his best friend "cold, calculated and deliberate," ordered the boy Tuesday to serve time at the Texas Youth Commission.
The sentence carries a penalty of 180 days to two years, but once in custody, the DeSoto youth could remain until age 21.
Defense attorney Ray Jackson, who asked state District Judge Cheryl Lee Shannon for probation, expects his client to serve a year for the March 5 shooting death of Jonathan Hogan, also 13.
Mr. Jackson said the judge's decision was "what we expected."
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A Dallas County jury last week found the boy responsible for criminally negligent homicide, rejecting charges of murder and manslaughter.
Jonathan's family members, who expressed outrage about the jury's decision, said Tuesday they hoped the boy would spend as long as possible at the commission.
"I wish he could spend the rest of his life in jail," said Jonathan's father, Izear Hogan, 67. "That's what I wish. He's trying to get out and go home. My son can't."
Mr. Hogan testified that he didn't like Jonathan playing with the boy because they were left unsupervised and he had worried that there was a gun in the house.
Dr. Desiree Kilcrease-Fleming, a psychologist who evaluated the boy, and probation officer David Breard told the judge the child needed a highly structured environment and intensive counseling that would be better provided by the state.
Prosecutors argued that the shooting could not have been an accident because Jonathan was shot twice.
Medical examiners could not determine which of the shots one to the forehead and one to the chest was fired first. Each should have been fatal, they said.
Testimony also showed that the boy had moved Jonathan's body into the garage and tried to clean up blood in the house. Paramedics found the body lying on cardboard and a clear plastic sheet.
Defense attorneys say the boy fired the second shot into Jonathan's head in a panicked attempt to make it appear that someone else committed the shooting, but he finally realized he had to call 911.
They also said the boy regarded his friendship with Jonathan so highly that he couldn't bear for people to know he shot him. Defense attorneys told the jury that the second shot to the head and moving the body were done out of the irrational belief that the boy could clean up the accident.
The boys skipped classes at DeSoto East Junior High on the day of the shooting and spent the day playing basketball and video games.
Defense attorneys also said the violent video games they played gave the boy the idea to get the gun from the spare bedroom. His palm print was found on the .25-caliber handgun's instructions.
The boy's mother, who could face criminal charges for allowing her son access to a weapon, has declined to comment.
Mr. Hogan filed a wrongful-death suit against the boy's mother in civil court.
E-mail jemily@dallasnews.com
WFAA-TV Video:
Bill Brown reports
http://www.wfaa.com/popups/05-02/21wfaa020521_am_desoto.html
IMHO 180 days to 2 years is not enough punishment.
however that is all the law calls for.
so making him stay there until he is 21 years old is wrong.
not because he doesn't deserve to be in prison, but because his sentence is
180 days to 2 years, not 8 years.
An argument , er, discussion, huh? LOL!
Somehow, I think that this report is lacking in detail or perhaps even just flat
WRONG! I happen to agree with you. Two years just doesn't seem like the right number.....
Oh, btw does it see to you that FR is REALLY SLOW today? I'm NOT having any
trouble with anything else on the Internet, except for FR........
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