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12-Year-Old Boy Found Guilty of Murdering His Neo-Nazi Dad
In a closely-watched and controversial trial, the verdict is in: A 12-year-old Riverside boy has been found guilty of second-degree murder in the shooting death of his father.
The unidentified defendant was 10 years old when he fatally shot his father, 32-year-old plumber and Southwestern regional director of the neo-Nazi National Socialist Movement, Jeff Hall, as the man slept on the couch in the family home.
"As Judge Jean P. Leonard read her decision, the sandy-haired boy sat attentively with his attorney, but showed no emotion. He wore a button-down shirt, with shackles around his ankles," notes the Riverside Press-Enterprise.
The boy "suffered neglect and abuse," in his childhood, and a psychologist's report indicated he "had a long history of violence and grew up in a home with poor role models," including the victim, and the boy's mother, a drug addict. The youngster had been taken along frequently by his father to Neo-Nazi rallies and gatherings, and was exposed from an early age to guns and violence.
Court documents indicated the boy, the eldest of five, said he was "tired of his dad hitting him and his mom."
However, Leonard indicated "there was no doubt the boy knew that what he was doing was wrong," according to the Press-Enterprise, when it came to pulling the trigger and fatally shooting his father.
The boy was tried as a juvenile. What will become of the pre-teen following the verdict will be determined next month, but depends upon a variety of factors:
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The boy will be sentenced Feb. 15 at a disposition hearing based on a probation report which will weigh his violent behavior and a series of psychological reports. The judge could order the boy held in a juvenile detention facility or specialized group home until he's 23.
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