A 13-year-old boy who prosecutors say was playing with toy trucks and planes right before he shot and killed his parents was sentenced to seven years in juvenile detention on Wednesday after pleading guilty to murder.
The boy was 12 in March, when prosecutors say he shot Marilyn and Charles Long with a .357 Magnum revolver in Burlington, a small farming community east of Denver.
He also pleaded guilty to attempt to commit first-degree murder and three counts of assault for attacking two of his younger siblings.
He could have faced decades in prison if he had been tried and convicted an adult.
The light sentence angered some relatives, but District Attorney Bob Watson said state law forced him to choose between what he saw as an unacceptably light juvenile sentence and an unnecessarily harsh lifetime sentence.
Watson told a judge there was no explanation for the slayings and showed photographs of the family’s backyard, where he said the boy had been playing with toy trucks and planes minutes before the shootings.
He said tests showed that he was immature.
“If you’re looking for an adult explanation for why this kid went from playing in dirt to commit murder, you’ll never get one. This lies in the mind of a very immature 12-year-old,” Watson said.
Charles Long’s brother, Wally Long, said he was never in favor of a plea agreement.
“My desire for a longer sentence was never about hatred or anger, but out of a sense of justice,” he said.
Marilyn Long, 50, home-schooled her kids and ran the children’s ministry at the Evangelical Free Church.
Charles Long, 51, served as a church elder and was a snack delivery driver.
The boy, who has not been identified because he is a juvenile, was a greeter at the church and helped other children memorize Bible verses.
Court documents allege the boy stabbed and shot his nine-year-old brother and hurt his five-year-old sister with a knife.
Both recovered from their wounds.
Gaza is rapidly running out of its limited fuel supply and stocks of food staples might become tight, officials said, after Israel blocked the entry of fuel and goods into the war-shattered territory, citing fighting with Iran. The Israeli military closed all Gaza border crossings on Saturday after announcing airstrikes on Iran carried out jointly with the US. Israeli authorities late on Monday night said that they would reopen the Kerem Shalom crossing from Israel to Gaza yesterday, for “gradual entry of humanitarian aid” into the strip, without saying how much. Israeli authorities previously said the crossings could not be operated safely during
Hungarian authorities temporarily detained seven Ukrainian citizens and seized two armored cars carrying tens of millions of euros in cash across Hungary on suspicion of money laundering, officials said on Friday. The Ukrainians were released on Friday, following their detention on Thursday, but Hungarian officials held onto the cash, prompting Ukraine to accuse Hungary’s Russia-friendly government of illegally seizing the money. “We will not tolerate this state banditism,” Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha said. The seven detained Ukrainians were employees of the Ukrainian state-owned Oschadbank, who were traveling in the two armored cars that were carrying the money between Austria and
Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani on Friday after dissolving the Kosovar parliament said a snap election should be held as soon as possible to avoid another prolonged political crisis in the Balkan country at a time of global turmoil. Osmani said it is important for Kosovo to wrap up the upcoming election process and form functional institutions for political stability as the war rages in the Middle East. “Precisely because the geopolitical situation is that complex, it is important to finish this electoral process which is coming up,” she said. “It is very hard now to imagine what will happen next.” Kosovo, which declared
Counting was under way in Nepal yesterday, after a high-stakes parliamentary election to reshape the country’s leadership following protests last year that toppled the government. Key figures vying for power include former Nepalese prime minister K. P. Sharma Oli, rapper-turned-mayor Balendra Shah, who is bidding for the youth vote, and newly elected Nepali Congress party leader Gagan Thapa. In Kathmandu’s tea shops and city squares, people were glued to their phones, checking results as early trends flashed up — suggesting Shah’s centrist Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) was ahead. Nepalese Election Commission spokesman Prakash Nyupane said the counting was ongoing “in a peaceful manner”
RSS