A 10-year-old boy who allegedly shot his mother after she refused to buy him a virtual reality headset has asked for his bond to be lowered to $100 (£82.19).
The unnamed boy, from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, has been charged with first-degree reckless homicide after he was accused of shooting his 44-year-old mother Quiana Mann in the face on 21 November.
Prosecutors said he then used her credit card to buy an Oculus VR headset after she allegedly refused to buy it for him, before telling his grandmother he was ‘sorry’ for killing his mother and asking about the location of the package.
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Angela Cunningham, the boy’s attorney, said on Wednesday (14 December) that the bond should be lowered because that is the amount he has saved up and he has no source of income, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.
Currently the boy’s bail is set at $50,000 (£41,074) which he is unable to pay that fee.
"He told us about piggy banks with savings that he had from gifts, from birthday gifts, and scavenging through cushions through the couch that he's been able to save up,” Cunningham told the court, Fox reports.
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The boy made his first in-person appearance in court on Wednesday.
Ultimately Judge Jane Carroll considered the argument but decided not to adjust the $50,000 bail amount.
Prosecutor in the case, Paul Dedinsky, had also request the court consider imposing a travel restriction on the boy but the Judge also decided against doing so.
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The boy told police he was upset he was upset the morning of 21 November after his mother woke him up early and because she refused to buy him the headset from Amazon, the criminal complaint says.
He 'first told police that he went to her bedroom and retrieved his mother's gun. He went to the basement where she was grabbing some laundry. He originally described twirling the gun around on his finger and then it 'accidentally went off,' the complaint says.
However in a later interview with police, he 'admitted that he was not twirling the gun around when he shot his mom'.
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He apparently struggles with hearing voices in his head, according to his grandmother.
The state of Wisconsin requires that children aged as young as 10 must be charged as adults for certain serious crimes, such as homicide.
According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the boy was not restrained or placed in shackles upon the Judge’s orders. The boy is currently being held at the Vel R. Phillips Juvenile Justice Centre. He faces a maximum of 60 years in prison if convicted.
A GoFundMe page has been set up for Quiana’s funeral, with a family member saying in the description that the mother-of-four was ‘cherished and beloved by all who knew her'.
Gregory Robinson