He Chose to Take the Safety Off

When most 14-year-old boys are home working on homework eager to finish so they can play video games, the boy in this true crime was cruising around town with a loaded AR-15 at the ready.

The unsuspecting 32-year-old realtor and mother of a five-year-old rolled up behind the car with the 14-year-old passenger. The two boys in the car thought the mother bumped their fender when she stopped at the red light.

This is a guess, but I’d say 99% of the people who get into a minor fender bender exchange insurance information or agree the damage is minor and go about their merry way. It happened to me recently in a big box store parking lot. We agreed the rub mark was insignificant.

What happens when someone shoots a person through the windshield and in the face at short range with 15-20 rounds from an assault rifle? There wasn’t much left of the woman’s head. She died at the hospital. Meanwhile, the boys in the car fled the scene.

A day after the young woman’s murder, an officer saw the boys at a fast-food restaurant where someone was shooting at the restaurant. Because the officer knew of the criminals, he responded to the call. Again, they fled the scene, and the officer was in pursuit. They crashed the car, and the officer arrested both.

The 20-year-old driver of the vehicle involved in the fender bender that resulted in the mother's murder went to trial. He agreed to a plea deal, but the judge rejected it. The jury found him guilty of several felonies. The judge sentenced him to 35 years in prison with 14 years of parole after his release.

Originally, the young man’s case went to the juvenile system and later moved to the adult court. A jury found him guilty of first-degree murder. For the murder, the judge sentenced him to 40-years in prison and an additional eight years for the attempted murder of the driver who was in the car behind the victim.

** Because the shooter was 14 when he committed the crime, even though the case went to the adult court system, after he serves 23 years, if he’s earned his GED, he can apply for release.

At the sentencing, the victim’s sister said,

“Not only did he have a gun in his possession. He chose to get out of the vehicle. He chose to take the safety off. He chose to pull the trigger and shoot into my sister’s windshield.”

The young man who the jury found guilty of the shooting claims he is innocent and plans to appeal the verdict.

Source: State District Attorney, CBS News, Law & Crime, NBC 9 News

All data and information provided is for information and research purposes only and not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, or individual. Criminal cases may have been appealed or verdicts overturned since I researched the case. All information is provided on an as-is basis.