Pensacola teen charged with mother's 2022 murder pleads no contest to manslaughter

A 19-year-old Pensacola man has pleaded not contest to manslaughter a year after being charged with his mother's murder.

David Allan Ohlson was originally charged with second-degree murder after fatally shooting his mother with a shotgun on April 8, 2022, but his plea was to the lesser-included offense of manslaughter with a weapon.

"The court is going to request a pre-sentence investigation, and that allows me to find out more about you," Escambia Circuit Judge John Simon told Ohlson. "Then we'll conduct a sentencing hearing at a later date."

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What did David Ohlson do on April 8, 2022?

Escambia County Sheriff's deputies responded to the Ohlson's home around 1 a.m. April 8, 2022, after Ohlson's father, Aaron, said his son "accidentally" shot his mother Adriana.

Deputies found a Adriana inside the residence with a shotgun wound to her abdomen. She was transported to a local hospital where she later died in surgery.

That night, Aaron told deputies he received a call from the Adriana at about 12:30 p.m. and she told him that Ohlson was "acting out," a report stated. The father was unable to recall her exact words but did remember her mentioning something about a shotgun being involved in the situation.

When he got there, the father walked in the front door and saw Adriana standing in the living room and his son sitting cross-legged on the floor.

"The father stated he then observed David Allan Ohlson raise a shotgun and point it at him and then at (Adriana)," the report stated. "The father stated he began moving toward Ohlson when Ohlson pulled the trigger of the shotgun."

The father said his son dropped the weapon immediately after the blast struck the woman, and he took the weapon, secured it in his truck and called 911.

What sentence could David Ohlson receive?

According to Florida Statutes, Ohlson's faced up to life in prison for his original murder charge. Now, that he has pleaded to manslaughter with a weapon, he only faces a maximum of 30 years.

The minimum sentence Simon can levy Ohlson with is 124.5 months, according to Ohlson's sentencing score sheet, which is just under 10.5 years in prison.

Simon set Ohlson's sentencing for June 28.

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Why did David Ohlson kill his mother Adriana?

Ohlson told deputies after the incident that "his life fell apart about three weeks ago when his parents separated," in 2022 and that recently his mother had lost "empathy" for him, and he believed she was going to leave.

He told investigators they had argued earlier that day when she got home, and he thought she was "very cold" toward him. Ohlson said he got angry and decided to retrieve the shotgun from a safe in the house and put it in his car with the intention of killing a friend of his mother's.

However, Ohlson said he couldn't go through with it and he didn't even leave the driveway, so he brought the gun back in the house and pointed it at his mother and himself as they were "arguing." He also told deputies that the situation had calmed down before his dad arrived and he had unloaded the shotgun, but when his dad got there, he loaded a round in the chamber, raised the shotgun, pointed it at his mother and pulled the trigger.

"David Allan Ohlson also made a statement that he had no right to shoot his mother over words," the report stated. "David Allan Ohlson said during the interview, that of all the people he planned to shoot he did not expect his mother to be one of them."

Why did David Ohlson intend to rely on the insanity defense?

Ohlson's attorney, Sharon Wilson, filed a notice with the court on May 11, 2022, that her client plans to rely on insanity defense.

Court records show that Ohlson attorney pursued the insanity plea due to the teen's "diagnosed psychotic disorder with hallucinations and delusions," a mood disorder, severely impaired mental processes, adjustment disorder and reduced cognitive, emotional and personality disorders.

The News Journal reached out to Wilson for comment on why Ohlson took a plea to manslaughter rather than move forward with his insanity defense, but Wilson declined to comment. She said more would come out during his hearing on June 28.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Adriana Ohlson son, David, takes plea deal for killing her in 2022