10-year-old Wisconsin boy fatally shot mother for not buying video game

A 10-year-old boy in Milwaukee, Wisconsin has been charged as an adult after fatally shooting his mother. According to AP News, prosecutors argued that on Nov. 21, the child killed the woman after she refused to buy him a virtual reality headset.

In an article published yesterday (Nov. 30), AP News stated that Wisconsin law allows children as young as 10 years old to face charges as an adult for crimes that are serious enough. Because he is a minor, his identity has been withheld. The outlet noted that the boy’s lawyers can request the case be moved to juvenile court. For now, the suspect is in a detention center for children under 18 years old. Angela Cunningham is one of the attorneys representing him. “This is an absolute family tragedy,” she said regarding the situation. “I don’t think anybody would deny or disagree with that… The adult system is absolutely ill-equipped to address the needs of a 10-year-old child,” she added.

Local Wisconsin news station WISN-TV 12 identified the victim as 44-year-old Quiana Mann. Records allege the child was upset because his mother woke him up early before refusing to buy him the video game on the morning of the shooting, which occurred just before 7 a.m. At first, police believed Mann’s death was accidental, however, members of the child’s family soon raised concerns. The boy claimed he was playing with the gun and it went off, but his aunt went to authorities with troubling details. The child’s aunt told officials he had the keys to his mother’s lockbox which contained the gun. He also told the aunt that he pointed the gun at his mom. The child allegedly showed no remorse during his confession to his family.

The morning after he gunned his mother down, the young boy logged into her Amazon account and ordered the Oculus Virtual Reality Headset that she previously told him she would not purchase. He also physically attacked his 7-year-old cousin that same day while staying with relatives. WISN-TV 12 added that the child’s 26-year-old sister told police her brother had “rage issues” all his life and that he was seeing a therapist who gave him a “concerning diagnosis.” At 4 years old, the boy grabbed a dog by the tail and swung it around until it whimpered in pain. Six months ago, he filled a balloon with a flammable liquid and set it on fire, which caused an explosion in their Wisconsin home.

Because of his behavioral history and the therapist’s input, Mann installed cameras in the family home. Those cameras were recently unplugged. Upon hearing the family’s claims, Wisconsin police interviewed the boy again. That time, he admitted to aiming the gun at his mother to “scare her.” He added that he was also annoyed because she woke him up at 6 a.m. instead of 6:30 a.m.