Colorado boy, 13, sentenced for killing parents
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The boy was 12. He lived in Burlington, Colo. He had six siblings and liked Legos.
On March 1, he played for a while in a sand pit near his home. Then he shot his parents to death and attacked two of his siblings, ages 5 and 9, with a knife.
His motives remain something of a mystery.
The boy, now 13, was sentenced Wednesday in juvenile court to seven years in detention after pleading guilty to first-degree murder and other charges, the Denver Post reported. Because of his age, his name remains confidential.
Although most of the boy’s family members wanted him to face charges in the adult court system, local Dist. Atty. Bob Watson said the boy lacked the maturity to fully understand what he did.
Shortly after the slayings, the boy asked his uncle if he could attend his parents’ funeral, the Post reported.
The family’s eldest child, Jacob Long, told the paper in March that the children grew up in a “strong Christian house.” Their father, Charles Long, drove a delivery truck for Frito-Lay, while their mother, Marilyn Long, home-schooled them.
‘I have heard a few rumors that this was brought on by abuse — that is absolutely not true,’ said Jacob Long, then 25.
The boy appeared to have some developmental problems. Attorneys described him as “isolated, withdrawn and functioning at an emotional age much younger than his years,” the Post said.
During Wednesday’s proceedings, Watson displayed a photo of the sand pit where the boy had parked some toy trucks and made a bridge of scrap wood on the day of the slayings.
‘This is what he was doing in the minutes before,’ Watson said. ‘This is clearly not the actions of a mature person.’
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--Ashley Powers in Las Vegas
Twitter.com/ashleypowers