Quiana Mann, 44, was allegedly shot in the face and killed by her 10-year-old son, who was mad at her for refusing to buy him a $500 VR headset.
Prosecutors said Quiana Mann, 44, was shot in the face by her son, who went on to use her credit card to purchase an Oculus VR headset before telling his grandma he was ‘sorry’ for killing his mother and asking where his package was.
The boy’s defense attorney has asked a Milwaukee court to lower his bail from $50,000 to just $100, the amount saved up in his piggybank.
‘We have spoken to him about his ability to post anything,’ Cunningham, the boy’s defense attorney told the court.
‘He told us about piggy banks with savings that he had from gifts, from birthday gifts. And scavenging through cushions in the couch that he’s been able to save up.’
Judge Jane Carroll denied the request and imposed a travel restriction on the minor that will go into effect if he manages to post bail.
Family members reported that the child has ‘rage issues’ and hears imaginary people.
The 10-year-old boyhas been charged with first-degree reckless homicide and will be tried as an adult since Wisconsin state law says that children as young as 10 will be charged as adults for serious crimes, such as murder.
He now faces up to 60 years in prison if convicted.
The fact that the boy will be tried as an adult has created some headaches for Carroll as she noted that all the usual factors when deciding bail conditions ‘don’t make a lot of sense when applied to a 10-year-old.’
She pointed out that the boy has no home of his own, not job, no real assets, no way of attending court by himself or a prior criminal history.
Carroll also rejected prosecutors request that the boy be released to the custody of a family member if he does post bail.
The judge sided with the defense attorney, noting that such a condition wouldn’t be required for an adult. The boy is currently being held in juvenile detention.
The boy initially told police that the shooting was an accident. He claimed Mann had walked in front of him while aiming at a wall to ‘scare her’, and he accidentally shot her in the head.
However, he later said in a second interview, however, that he intentionally aimed at his mother before shooting her at their home on 87th Street near Hemlock at around 7am on November 21.
After the shooting, he put the gun in the closet and told his older sister Brianna Moore, 26, that mother, who worked in behavioral health, was dead, the complaint read.
Moore then called 911. The boy was allowed to stay with family, and an initial release from police said the shooting was caused by a child ‘playing’ with a gun.
A day later, concerned relatives called the police.
The boy’s aunt said that when she collected the boy, he retrieved a set of house keys that contained a key to the gun’s lockbox. When his aunt asked about the shooting, the boy said he pointed the gun at his mom and that she told him to put it down.
The boy’s aunt and sister said he never cried or showed remorse and had also physically attacked his seven-year-old cousin the same day.
The boy’s family said he has ‘concerning’ mental health issues, and has exhibited disturbing behavior in the past. When he was four, the boy allegedly swung the family’s puppy around by its tail, the complaint says.
Six months ago, the family told police, the boy filled a balloon with a flammable liquid and set it on fire, causing an explosion that burned furniture and the carpet.
The boy is one of Mann’s four children: Brianna, TJ, Brandon, and Noah. It is unclear which boy shot her.
