A Tennessee community has buried a girl allegedly killed by an 11-year-old boy over a puppy, and more details have emerged about the gun used in the shooting. The preteen faces first-degree murder charges in the death of MaKayla “BooBah” Dyer, 8. He fired at her from his house Saturday, killing the girl who was in her yard, Jefferson County Sheriff Bud McCoig told The Washington Post. The boy used his father’s 12-gauge shotgun, which he got from an unlocked closet, the sheriff told the paper. He is being held on a first-degree murder charge in a juvenile detention center. The center’s superintendent, Richard Bean, said the boy is the youngest held there on a murder charge in his 44-year career. Bean described him as “very tiny,” weighing about 55 pounds. He is in a regular “pod” that holds up to 16 other juveniles between ages 12 and 17.
The incident started when the boy asked to see the girl’s puppy, McCoig said. When she said no, the boy got a gun and shot her dead Saturday, according to the sheriff. The Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office will determine whether the boy should be tried as an adult. He is being detained until a hearing on October 28, his public defender, Edward Miller, told CNN affiliate WATE. He declined to comment further. “It is the most pitiful case on both sides,” Bean said.
Legal Analysis: Cases such as this are heartbreaking. Two families’ lives will be destroyed due to this tragedy.
Juvenile court is utilized to rehabilitate offenders. In cases involving murder or manslaughter, the courts have been much more strict on whether a person under the age of an adult should be charged as an adult or juvenile.
The difficulty in determining if this child is to be charged as an adult or a child is whether the child can be rehabilitated, if the shooting was in any way accidental and the level of malice in the shooting, if there was any.
In most jurisdictions, juvenile offenders must be released before the age of 18, 21 or 25. Beyond that, the person accused or found liable for a crime, must be released from custody. This will be a difficult case for all involved.
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http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/08/us/girl-killed-puppy-in-tennessee/index.html