Authorities in Texas say a 10-year-old boy has confessed to an unsolved 2022 killing, telling investigators that he shot a man he did not know while the victim slept.

Brandon O’Quinn Rasberry, 32, was shot in the head in 2022 while he slept at an RV park in Nixon, Texas, about 60 miles (97 kilometers) east of San Antonio, investigators said. He had just moved in a few days before.

The boy’s possible connection to the case was uncovered after sheriff’s deputies were contacted on April 12 of this year about a student who threatened to assault and kill another student on a school bus. They learned the boy had made previous statements that he had killed someone two years ago.

The boy was taken to a child advocacy center, where he described for interviewers details of Rasberry’s death “consistent with first-hand knowledge” of the crime, investigators said.

    • Zorg@lemmings.world
      0·
      5 months ago

      They unfortunately do, but at that age the brain is still partially goo:

      According to the National Organization of Victims of Juvenile Murderers, cognitive function develops concrete to abstract between the ages of 12 and 15. This means that a person can genuinely understand that specific behavior brings specific consequences. However, research has shown that a teenager’s brain does not resemble an adult’s fully matured brain until they reach their early 20’s. Source: Google’s summary for "has a 12 year old brain developed enpugh to understand murder

  • underwire212@lemm.ee
    0·
    5 months ago

    What do you even do for something like this? A literal child? Do you lock them up for life? Rehabilitate under close supervision and reassess? Can someone like this even be rehabilitated?

      • lustyargonian@lemm.ee
        0·
        5 months ago

        Hey hey hey that’s enough. Guns are not the problem at all. We need guns to protect us from bad men.

        /s

        • _cnt0@sh.itjust.works
          0·
          5 months ago

          Akshuly, guns really aren’t. At least most of the time. Canada has a high per capita (privately owned) gun ratio, yet next to no gun violence. Switzerland has a relatively high per capita gun ratio and lots of military guns (especially assault rifles and pistols) in peoples’ homes due to their reservist system, yet, again, next to no gun violence. Could it be, that the real problem is criminality caused by poverty and dysfunctional social systems? Also, historically, the strictest gun laws were introduced by totalitarian regimes, most of the time. In an ideal world we wouldn’t need guns at all, beyond sportive purposes. Would you say we live in an ideal world? I always wonder why especially liberal/left-leaning people (not implying/saying you are one) are so opposed to private gun ownership. Especially as a socialist/humanist I want to see as many military weapons as possible in private hands. If the AfD (NSDAP v2) comes to power in Germany I would love to have a vote made from high velocity pointy metal instead of useless paper to avert a 4th Reich or die trying.

          • lustyargonian@lemm.ee
            0·
            5 months ago

            I don’t know man, I find it hard to believe that a child can just stumble upon a gun if they weren’t that common and the discourse around it wasn’t so brain-dead.

            • _cnt0@sh.itjust.works
              0·
              5 months ago

              Such cases are pretty rare though. I’d argue two things:

              • Had applicable law been followed, this would not have happened.
              • The kid is the problem, not the gun. The kid taking the gun and shooting someone is a symptom. Something is horribly wrong with that kid, and gun control won’t fix it.