A 13-year-old girl has been indicted by a grand jury and will be tried as an adult. A little girl just 10 years old sobs as she’s brought into court charged with firstdegree murder. 11-year-old girl is facing charges in the shooting death of a 36-year-old man. On July 15th, 2024, a 12-year-old girl in Tennessee was charged with first-degree murder after suffocating her cousin to death.
disturbing definitely. But believe it or not, she’s not even the youngest convict on our list. So, let’s take a look at some of the youngest convicts in the world. But keep in mind that some of their names have been withheld due to their age. Five children aged between 12 and 14 have been arrested on suspicion of murder.
The prosecution has opened its case against a 15year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl accused of killing an 8-year-old grandfather in a park in Meers. It’s around 6:18 p.m. on September 1st, 2024 when 80-year-old Bim Kohley took his dog Rocky out for a walk in Franklin Park, Leershire. Now, security cameras would show Mr.
Kohley and Rocky strolling just a few yards from their home on Bramble Way to the entrance of the park. But just 3 minutes later, at 6:21 p.m., two teens and three of their friends enter the park through that same entrance. One of the boys, a 15-year-old, walks up to Mr. Kohley and started yelling and verbally attacking this old man.
The moment things get heated, three of the other teens run off, and the only one who stays was a 13-year-old girl who followed the boy closely. By 6:25 p.m., things escalated even further. The boy pulls out a balaclava from his pocket and puts it on. Just before physically attacking Mr. Kohley, the girl recorded parts of the assault on her phone, showing a moment with the boy slapping Mr.
Kohley in the face with a slider while Mr. Kohley was on his knees. Another video shows him lying on his left side on the grass while still getting attacked. Now, after doing enough damage to Mr. Kohley, both teens ran off with CCTV catching him leaving the park and heading back down Bramble Way. The boy was also seen pulling off his balaclava as they fled.
Shortly after, Mr. Kohley’s grandson arrived at the park and finds him still lying on the ground in serious pain. And soon, other family members, including Mr. Kohley’s daughter, would join him. Police and paramedics were called to the scene, and Mr. Kohley was able to tell him that he’d been punched and kicked by a boy and that the attacker had made a racist comment during the assault.
Now, he’s taken to the hospital, but tragically, he passed away the next day. Doctors said the cause of death was a neck injury that damaged his spinal cord. He’d also had three broken ribs, injuries confirmed to be caused during the attack. But by the time of his death, detectives had already started their investigation.
Police reviewed CCTV and spoke with people in the area. And not too long after, all five teens who were initially at the park were arrested. The 15-year-old, who was 14 at the time of the incident, was the last one caught after dodging police and even threatening to go on the run. He was charged the day after his arrest.
The three friends who ran off were later released with no charges as evidence showed they weren’t involved in the attack. The 13-year-old girl was also released at first, but after more digging, police charged her with manslaughter in December 2024. Several witnesses later told police that they overheard the boy bragging about the assault.
One even heard him say that he’d beaten up a guy in Franklin Park and that there was a dead guy on the floor. Investigators also found messages on the boy’s Snapchat where he admitted to attacking Mr. Kohley. He claimed he did that because Mr. Kohley had pulled a knife on a girl and hit her. Neither of which was ever proven to be true.
During the trial, the boy insisted that he only hit Mr. Kohley after the older man tried to hit him first. He also said Mr. Kohley tried to hit the girl, so he pushed him, causing him to fall and suffer the fatal injuries. Now, the girl told police that the boy had simply pushed Mr. Coley out of the way, which led him to fall.
She didn’t mention recording anything until police told her that they’d already found the videos on her phone. But either way, the jury didn’t buy their stories. So on April 8th, 2025, both teens were found guilty of manslaughter. The sentencing is set for May 20th, 2025. So the worst for them is still to come. [Music] We don’t know who they are, but we know what they have done.
Two boys who are just 12 years of age have been convicted of murdering a stranger in a park with a machete. His stab wound was so deep it almost went through his entire body. On November 13th, 2023, 19-year-old Sha Cisahe was attacked and killed by two 12-year-old boys during a confrontation at a park in Wolverampton, England.
Now, the case was pretty shocking, not because of its brutal nature, but because of how young these attackers were. In fact, they become the youngest people in the UK to be ever convicted of a murder since the infamous killing of James Bulgar in 1993. And disturbingly, they’re also the youngest to ever be convicted of using a knife to kill.
But that leaves a big question. What could possibly drive a 12-year-old to want someone dead? Now for context, Sean Cisahhee had moved to the UK from his home in Anguila, a British overseas territory, just 6 months before his death. He was in the country to receive medical treatment and had been staying in Birmingham in the West Midlands.
As for the two boys, one of them had reportedly been influenced by older youths in the community, young men who encouraged him to carry knives. That same boy had even bought the machete used in the attack for £40 just 2 months earlier. At the time of the murder, both boys are 12 years old and under UK law, specifically section 45 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act of 1999.
The media was banned from publishing their names. The trial judge, Mrs. Justice Tipples decided not to lift that restriction, ruling that protecting their welfare was more important than the public’s right to know. So in the court and media, the boys were only known by their initials, BGI and CMBB. Now on the day of the attack, Cisahhei had traveled from Birmingham to Wolverampton with two friends.
And at one point he and his friend were strolling through Stow lawn playing fields near the Stow Heath area, but that’s where they encountered the two boys. Now during the trial, one of the boys claimed that Cisahhei and this other man approached them and a female friend while they were sitting on the bench.
He said Cisahhei attacked him first, putting one of the boys in a headlock and trying to run away before tripping. That’s when one of the boys allegedly stabbed Cisahi with a machete. The second boy tried to distance himself from the violence, claiming he wasn’t anywhere near the scene when the stabbing happened. But Cisahi’s friend tells a very different story.
Now, according to him, they were just hanging out drinking Red Bull and chatting about Christmas plans when these two boys suddenly attacked. Now, one of the boys barged into Cisahi. And when he and his friend tried to run, Cisahi tripped. That’s when one of the boys pulls out the machete and starts stabbing. Cisahi’s friend ran later telling the court, “I was running for my life.
I couldn’t stay there and watch.” This poor guy was stabbed multiple times in the back, legs, and even his skull. The assault was so savage, one of the wounds came dangerously close to piercing straight through his body. They hit his skull so hard that a piece of bone fragment was found. Now, during the trial, both boys pointed fingers at each other, trying to shift the blame, but the jury’s not buying it, and they’re both guilty of murder.
September 27th, 2024. They’re both handed to detention at his majesty’s pleasure, which is the youth version of a life sentence. Now, they’ll serve at least 8 years and 6 months in a young offender institution before being eligible for release. Originally, sentencing guidelines would have set the minimum term at 13 years, but the judge reduced it, taking into account their age and difficult backgrounds.
If the parole board ever decides they’re safe to be released, they’ll remain on license for the rest of their lives, which means they’ll be watching them and they could be recalled to custody at any time. Now, there is a 14-year-old who has stabbed two teachers and a pupil during a knife attack in a school playground. Two teachers and a teenage pupil were taken to hospital with stab wounds.
Their injuries are not life-threatening. A teenage girl has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and currently remains in police custody. On April 24th, 2024, something terrifying happened at Iskll Definan, a school in Ammonford, Carmoththeshshire, a 13-year-old girl brought her dad’s fishing multi-tool knife to school and stabbed two teachers and another student.
She later faced the consequences of her actions, but her motive behind this act, man, is just as disturbing as the act itself. At the time, this girl was struggling badly with both bullying and her mental health. She’d been transferred to this school to escape bullying at her old one. But as you know now, things wouldn’t get any better.
Classmates reportedly had kicked, punched, and slapped her multiple times a week, making her live in constant fear and anxiety. She starts selfharming and often keeps to herself, spending time drawing and writing out her dark thoughts, including her urge to hurt others. And back at home, her life was just as sad.
Her dad was raising her alone after her mom left. And according to him, he noticed she was kind of depressed and maybe idol. He believed that the school didn’t take the bullying seriously and her behavior kept getting out of control. In September 2023, staff found a knife in her bag, so she gets suspended for a week.
And after that, her bags are searched daily. But then she started hiding a multi-tool knife in her pocket of her cargo pants. She also had a tense relationship with assistant headteer Fiona Elias. After her suspension, she felt targeted and treated unfairly, even calling Miss Elias frogface in her notebooks. Now, on the morning of the attack, Miss Elias wouldn’t let her into the school hall, which really set things off.
The girl was already in a bad mood, on her period, and said later that she felt like Miss Elias just wasn’t listening. So during midm morning break, the girl approaches Miss Elias who was talking with another teacher, Liz Hopkin, outside near the hall. CCTV captures her with a hood up arguing about not being allowed inside.
Witnesses said that her eyes looked sinister and before anyone could deescalate the situation, she pulls out that knife and yelled, “I’m going to kill you.” Stabbing Miss Elias in the arms and thumb. Miss Hopkins stepped in to stop her. The girl drops the knife, picks it back up, and stabs Miss Hopkin in the neck, back, chest, and leg.
Two male teachers see this and rush in, trying to calm her down, but now she ran off and had stabbed another student in the chest and leg. That student reportedly had slapped her months earlier, and the tension between them never got resolved. The school’s rugby coach, Daryl Campbell, had finally managed to restrain her in a classroom, putting her in a headlock and taking that knife away until police arrived.
A student had captured part of this chaos on their phone and what could be seen was a lot of and I mean a lot of blood on the ground with students screaming in panic. Poor Miss Hopkin had to be airlifted to the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff with serious injuries. Miss Elias and the student were taken to a nearby hospital because they weren’t as fatal.
Now the whole thing was just so crazy. The school had to be shut down temporarily and switch over to remote learning while police investigated. As for this girl, she was detained and charged with three counts of attempted murder. During her interrogation, she tells investigators that she didn’t mean to kill anyone, although she made some weird comments, like asking if the victims were dead and saying, “That’s one way to be a celebrity.
” Now, during her trial, she shows up to court in a white blouse and a black waist coat, taking notes beside her legal team. She’d already plead guilty to three counts of wounding with intent and carrying a knife, but she denied trying to kill anyone. Still, the juryy’s not buying this. After seeing the footage and hearing her post attack comments, they found her guilty on all three counts of attempted murder.
Her lawyer said that she was just a sad, struggling teen, not someone who wanted to kill. But the prosecutor argued that there’s a big difference between dark thoughts and violent actions. This 14-year-old girl was sentenced to 15 years in detention, and she’ll probably serve at least half the sentence in custody.
[Music] Fore! Foreign! Foreign! That was Ayam Al Salame, a Palestinian boy from the Raz Alamu neighborhood in East Jerusalem, who’s now officially the youngest ever person to be imprisoned by Israel at just 14 years old. But his story began nearly 2 years earlier in January 2023. Ayam was only 12 when he
was arrested alongside his older brother Ahmed and their cousins Mustafa Moatas and Muhammad. The group was accused of throwing stones at Israeli settlers, a charge frequently used against poor Palestinian children in occupied territories. Now, according to Israeli human rights group B to Slim, the boys were treated harshly during their interrogation.
They were allegedly hit, humiliated, and questioned for hours without an adult present. They weren’t given water or allowed to use the bathroom, and they were pressured to sign confessions in Hebrew, a language they don’t understand. Their father, Noah Fal Salame, had to pay a $1,400 bail for each boy late at night, only for police to drag Ahmed back to the station shortly afterward, where he was made to sign more papers.
Then on May 24th, 2023, Israeli forces raided the Salame home again. Ayam Ahmed and their cousins are all taken back into custody. This time, Ayam was placed under house arrest for 14 months. That meant he couldn’t go to school. see his friends or even play football, which he loved. One adult, usually his mom, had to be with him at all times, which put a real strain on the whole family.
Now, while Ayam was stuck at home, his brother Akmed was sent to prison for 4 months. He was later released in November 2023 during that ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel, where 240 Palestinian women and children were exchanged for 110 Israeli hostages. But then in September 2024, Ayam’s case went back to court.
He was officially sentenced to one year in prison for that original stonethrowing accusation from 2023. The timelined up with a new Israeli law passing that November, which for the first time allowed kids under 14 to be imprisoned for certain crimes. Critics say this law is aimed mostly at poor Palestinian children.
But regardless, the court gave its final approval on November 27th, 2024, and Ayam had only 11 days to resume his sentence. Before he did, though, his father tried appealing the case, stating how prison facilities in that area are usually known for overcrowding, poor hygiene, lack of medical care, and physical and psychological abuse.
Ayam wasn’t allowed to bring any personal items with him. No clothes, shoes, nothing. Right now, he’s serving time, and all his family can do is hope that he’s okay. A 9-year-old girl, 6-year-old girl, and a 7-year-old girl now confirmed, all died as a result of that stabbing attack. It’s like a nightmare. The biggest horrific thing you could ever witness in your life.
Now, not every kid on this list today is a murderer or mentally ill. Some have just found themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time. and certainly doing the wrong things. On July 29th, 2024, a horrifying knife attack occurred at a Taylor Swift themed dance class in Southport, England, claiming the lives of three girls, Baby King, Alice the Silva Agiar, and Elsie do Stanome.
The murders allegedly committed by a man named Axel Ruda Cabana sparked nationwide grief, but things quickly escalated from mourning to Maym. The very next day, misinformation would spread online, claiming that the attacker, Axel, was a Muslim asylum seeker who had come to the UK by boat. That rumor ignited a riot outside a mosque in Southport, where a crowd of a thousand people would gather.
Tensions exploded and within minutes, rioters clashed with police as bricks flew through the air and fires were set all around the vicinity. The chaos spread across other parts of the country with far-right extremists targeting hotels that housed asylum seekers. But amid all this chaos were two 12-year-old boys. One of them from Southport was caught on CCTV throwing stones at cops during the disorder before fleeing the scene on a bicycle.
The footage was released to the public and when his mother saw it, she recognized him and brought him to the authorities. The boy handed himself into police, and it soon became clear that he’d been involved in much more than just one incident. Police footage shows him kicking a bus, handing a rock to another youth outside a holiday in housing asylum seekers on July 31st, and on August 3rd, kicking the window of a vape shop and throwing a missile at a police van during a separate riot in the city center.
Now, he was also identified by a school police officer who recognized him as a pupil when he was seen on the video throwing two objects at officers as they try to control the crowd, August 12th, 2024. He pleaded guilty to violent disorder and was sentenced at Liverpool Youth Court on September 2nd. The judge in this case described it as appalling and also pointed out that despite being just 12 years old, the boy had already developed problems with alcohol, which she called extremely concerning.
But considering his age, he was given a 12-month referral order and received a 3-month curfew from 9:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. daily, while his father was given a 6-month parenting order and ordered to pay £200 in compensation to the Southport Mosque. Meanwhile, the other 12-year-old boy, who’s just a few months older, was also brought before the courts, this time in Manchester.
And like the Southport boy, he too had no prior convictions. He plead guilty to two counts of violent disorder after participating in that riot and being part of a mob that would storm a Sainsbury supermarket on August 3rd, 2024. He was seen on camera knocking over shelves and kicking the front window of that supermarket.
But subsequently, the boy was sentenced at Manchester Youth Court on September 11th, 2024 to a 12-month intensive referral order. His mother, who’d been in aa during the original hearing date, which had to be adjourned, was ordered to pay £300 in compensation to each of the four victims who gave statements to the court.
A 12-year-old girl is accused of smothering and killing her 8-year-old cousin over an iPhone. No words can describe it. It’s unimaginable. On July 15th, 2024 in Hanbolt, Tennessee, a shocking tragedy unfolded. A 12-year-old girl was charged with first-degree murder and tampering with evidence after suffocating her cousin, Deira Hollingsworth, while she slept.
Deamriia Hollingsworth was a student at Cochril Elementary in Nashville, known for making straight A’s and her vibrant personality. But she and her older cousin had been staying at their grandmother’s house, and according to family members, they’d been arguing over an iPhone even before they got there. That argument, heartbreakingly, was what led to the deadly incident.
Security footage from the camera inside a shared bathroom captured the older girl using bedding to suffocate Deia, who was sleeping on the top bunk. Afterward, the 12-year-old reportedly cleaned the victim and moved her body to another position. 2 days later, on July 17th, Humble police reviewed the video and arrested the older child.
Gibson County District Attorney Frederick Agi called the case one of the most disturbing his office has ever handled. So, you’ve seen the video? Unfortunately, I have. Did the 8-year-old wake up? Did she struggle at any point? Uh, yes, ma’am. There is a part in the video where we see her uh struggling. Now, because the girl was just shy of her 13th birthday, Attorney A said that they plan to ask the court to try her as an adult, which could lead to a longer sentence.
On the other hand, Deamria’s mother, Rihanna Smith, confirmed the girls had argued over the phone before the incident, and a relative, Tracy Boyd, shared the family’s heartbreak on Facebook, calling the situation a tragic and senseless loss. The family, devastated, had set up a GoFundMe for funeral costs, and Metro Nashville Public Schools issued a statement on July 22nd, 2024, expressing grief.
The case drew significant media attention between July 20th and 24th of 24 with public reactions on platforms like X highlighting just how shocking this whole thing was. But for some reason, no further personal information about the accused is available online. And that’s probably likely due to her age and juvenile status.
But we do hope Deia Hollingsworth gets the justice she deserves. The disturbing sight of a 10-year-old in court charged with firstdegree murder shocked the nation. October 30th, 2018, a 10-year-old girl placed in foster care at Amber’s pals and playmates child care, accidentally dropped a baby, Jackson Hunter, causing the baby to hit his head on a foottool and start crying.
In a panic, she stomps on the infant’s head, causing multiple skull fractures. And when the person in charge came around, the baby had to be airlifted to Gillette Children’s Hospital in St. Paul, Minnesota, but would die on November 1st, 2018. The 10-year-old girl was arrested on reckless homicide charges, but after an autopsy revealed that she had stomped on the baby’s head seven times.
Her charges were escalated to first-degree intentional homicide. On November 5th, 2018, the girl, then detained in juvenile custody, appeared in Chipawa County Court, where a $50,000 cash bond was set. Wisconsin law requires the case to initially be filed in adult court because she was at least 10 years old and charged with first-degree intentional homicide.
However, on March 6th, 2019, a Dunn County judge, James Peterson, ruled her incompetent to stand trial after two psychologists testified about her history of trauma and mental health issues, noting her less than optimal home environment and early life trauma. The judge ordered quarterly re-examinations with a court date set for July 3rd, 2019, and she’s placed in the custody of the Department of Human Services.
Then by September 2019, she’s held in the adult unit at the Winnebago Mental Health Institute, making her the youngest person there at age 11. But her age didn’t stop prosecutors from seeking justice. Meanwhile, her attorneys attempted to dismiss the case, arguing that her age and underdeveloped brain meant she couldn’t fully understand the consequences of her actions or even meet the criteria for disregard of human life required for the charge.
Now, they also claimed that she stomped on the baby’s head once, not repeatedly. But Judge Peterson rejected that motion, stating it was hard to believe a 10-year-old wouldn’t understand the danger of her actions. Despite this, her incompetence ruling paused the case indefinitely with the possibility of resuming it if she became competent through treatment in a stable environment.
Her mother speaking to Inside Edition in September 2019 defended her calling the death an accident and noting the girl’s mental health problems including prior intentions. There is no way that it was done in any any type of intentional way. Do you remember anything she said to you? That it was just it was an accident. And you know what? I believe my daughter.
The family had tried to get her help, they say, but because of her young age, they were turned away. That eventually led her to being placed in that daycare’s foster care home. And as of the time we’re recording this, there’s no public update on her trial, nor where she is now. Our best guess, her records have likely been sealed due to her age. But here’s the big twist.
Under Wisconsin law, kids as young as 10 can be tried as adults for homicide. So, if she is found guilty down the line, she could face the full sentence. Yet, when will that happen? If it ever happens, we honestly do not know. Now, while most of these teen offenders haven’t gotten super long prison sentences, one case easily stands out, and that’s the case of a 16-year-old who got a solid 13 years behind bars for what he did to a classmate.
The teenager, now 17, was only 16 when he attacked that classmate back in July 2024. Apparently, they’d both been drinking on school grounds somewhere in Beach, England. Nothing too unusual for a summer night until things take a dark turn. At some point, the teenager in question left to walk a friend home. And when he returned, he found his victim completely blacked out from drinking.
Now, instead of helping him out, the teen made a 21-minute phone call to a girl. and what he said during that call sent shivers down her spine. He tells her that the boy’s life was in her hands and then threatened to slit his throat. The girl, terrified, calls police. Officers rushed to the scene and find the unconscious boy hidden in a hedge, badly injured, making it clear that this wasn’t just a drunken accident.
Detectives use 7 months to prove his guilt by wrapping forensics and phone data to piece together what must have happened. One of their most chilling discoveries would be a bloodstained palm print on the suspect’s bedroom wall, and it matched that of the victim. In court, officials shared that the suspect had a troubling history.
He’d been referred to mental health services before, had experienced psychotic episodes and memory blackouts, and had even assaulted a friend in the past without remembering it. His attorneys tried playing the insanity card. However, a jury still found him guilty, and because of his age, he couldn’t be sentenced to life. But he was handed 11 years in youth detention plus a 2-year extension, bringing his total to 13 years behind bars.
An 11year-old girl is tonight charged with murder. She’s accused of shooting a man back on November 14th. She’s charged with firstdegree murder. In November 2023, a shocking case comes out of Iberia Parish, Louisiana, when this 11-year-old girl is arrested and charged with first-degree murder for the death of 36-year-old Cameron Bedsole.
He’s found dead on November 14th on Jasper Road in New Iberia with multiple gunshot wounds. The young girl who used to live in Iberia Parish was arrested 2 weeks later on November 28th. Officers from Lefor Parish acted on a warrant from Iberia Parish and take her into custody. She’s taken to the Lafayette Juvie Detention Center and faces several serious charges.
First-degree murder, being an accessory to murder after the fact, and obstruction of justice. Now, the fact that someone so young had been arrested for such a violent crime grabbed national attention. People were in shock, but little did they know that the worst was yet to come. Just over a week later, on December 5th, the case takes another unexpected turn when police in Houston, arrested the girl’s 15-year-old brother, also originally from Iberia Parish.
Now, he’s charged with firstdegree murder as well. And that same day, their mother, 40-year-old Sabrina Washington, is arrested and charged with two counts of accessory after the fact. She’s booked into the Iberia Parish Jail with bonds set at $400,000. while a 15-year-old boy was taken to Jackson Parish Juvie Detention Center.
Not long after the arrest, the 11-year-old girl’s legal team steps in. Attorneys Ryan Bolio and Ron Haley agreed to represent her for free after being contacted by her family. From the beginning, they said that she was innocent and had been used as a pawn to get her brother to surrender. In interviews with local media, the lawyers said they believed police thought the 15-year-old was the real shooter, but since he ran away, they arrested his younger sister, who was there when it happened. The defense also said that
their mother, Sabrina Washington, was actually in Lafayette Parish at the time of the shooting, pushing back against rumors that she was directly involved. Community leaders of the African-American Catholic congregation were especially upset about the idea of locking up an 11-year-old child. I mean, who wouldn’t? But after spending more than a 100 days locked up, her first-degree murder charge and accessory charge are dropped.
In return, the girl admits in court to obstruction of justice. She admitted to getting in the way of the investigation and according to prosecutors gave a statement that pointed to her 15-year-old brother as the shooter. Now, although the murder related charges are gone, the obstruction charge stayed. So on May 8th, 2024, she’s sentenced to 7 years in juvie detention.
Some say her sentence should have been reduced, especially after charging her wrongfully for murder. But hey, right now, the girl remains in juvie, serving her time, while the rest of the case continues. [Music] A family demanding legislative change after a 10-year-old allegedly confesses to killing one of their loved ones. On January 18th, 2022, a 7-year-old boy takes a pistol from his grandfather’s truck, walks into a nearby RV, and shoots a sleeping man he didn’t even know.
This poor man was Brandon O’Quinn Raspberry. And this heartbreaking story only came to light much later through a shocking confession from the boy himself who’s now 10 years old. Sounds surreal, right? Well, according to the Gonzalez County Sheriff’s Office, it’s very real. Now, they shared the child’s confession in April 2024 as an update on Raspberry’s murder case.
But before his murder, 32-year-old Raspberry had just moved into his RV at Lazy J RV Park in Nixon, Texas, about an hour east of San Antonio. He worked over at a poultry plant called Homes Foods and was last seen on January 16th. When he didn’t show up for work for 2 days, his supervisor asked HR to check on him. So, the park owner goes to Raspberry’s unit, knocked several times, and eventually goes inside.
And this is where he finds Raspberry dead from a gunshot wound to the head. He’d only lived in that park for 4 days. The Gonzalez County Sheriff’s Office then teams up with Texas Rangers and begins a full murder investigation. They collected Spence shell casings from a 9mm handgun and sent everything to the state crime lab in Austin.
They checked geoloccation data from Raspberry’s phone and others in the area, but came up empty. Subsequently, an autopsy confirmed that Raspberry had been shot once in the head and had two minor graze wounds on his hands. No other injuries were found, and the cause of death was ruled a homicide. Yet, for more than 2 years, there were no solid leads.
Investigators just couldn’t figure out who did it or why. Even after a cash reward through the Greater Gonzalez County Crimes Stoppers, there still were no new tips. Police would scour phone records, question neighbors, and followed every lead they could. But the case went cold. That is until April 2024 when everything changed.
A local school principal calls police to report something disturbing. A 10-year-old student had threatened another classmate and then made a chilling confession. The boy claimed that he had killed someone 2 years earlier. Now, he’s called in for questioning. And during that interrogation, the boy describes exactly what happened.
He said he was visiting his grandfather who lived at that same RV park as Raspberry. Then he spotted Raspberry walking around and also saw him sleeping inside his RV later in the day. So he grabbed a gun from his grandfather’s truck, entered the RV, and shot Raspberry in the head. And as he left, he fired another shot into the couch.
Police eventually find the gun at a local pawn shop sold by the boy’s grandfather. Ballistics would confirm that it’s the same gun used in the murder. But the most disturbing part of this case would be that the boy didn’t know Raspberry. He wasn’t angry and Raspberry had never done anything to him. It was completely senseless. And even worse for the victim’s families is that according to Texas law, a child has to be at least 10 years old to be held criminally responsible for a crime.
Other states vary, like Florida allows charges at seven. Maryland starts at 13 and most states make exceptions for serious violent crimes. The boy was just one week shy of turning eight at the time of the shooting. So legally, he couldn’t be charged for Raspberry’s murder. And Raspberry’s family was devastated about that.
Not only heartbroken, but now furious that someone so young could commit such a vile and evil act and then just walk away without any consequences. Now, authorities did charge him with making a terroristic threat involving the recent incident at his school. So, after confessing, the boy’s placed on a 72-hour emergency hold and sent off to a psychiatric hospital in San Antonio for evaluation.
He’s now being held in a juvie detention on that terroristic threat charge related to the school incident. But you know what? Raspberry’s family believes this simply is not enough. I want this law changed because kids nowadays, they know how to use guns. Hey.
