Boys Guilty In School Shooting
On his 14th birthday, Mitchell Johnson pleaded guilty, and 12-year-old Andrew Golden was found guilty after trying to enter an innocent plea, for the shooting deaths of four girls and a teacher at their Jonesboro , Ark., middle school. The ruling came Tuesday morning and the pair will be sentenced Tuesday afternoon.
Johnson admitted firing shots in the attack that killed the five last March. A lawyer for Golden said the boy took part but was insane at the time and not mentally competent to understand Tuesday's hearing. Both boys were charged with five counts of murder and 10 counts of battery.
Juvenile Court Judge Ralph Wilson Jr. rejected Golden's argument and found him guilty after a two-hour trial.
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More than 100 of the victims' relatives and school staff had reserved spots to watch the boys' hearing, which is the equivalent of an adult trial.
There was little question that the boys did it. Even their families did not deny that. But there has been a firestorm of controversy over the sentences the boys could receive.
Arkansas law says children under the age of 14 who commit murder can be held only until their 18th birthday.
"That's putting a value on human life according to the age of the person who killed you," says Mitchell Wright, whose wife was killed. "If an adult would have killed my wife and these four girls, then their lives are important. But now, since someone under a certain age did this, there's nothing we can do about it. These two boys need to stay in jail for the rest of their lives."
Golden's attorney, Val Price, claimed that the boy should have been allowed to claim insanity at the time of the hearing and didn't understand the purpose of Tuesday's hearing. Details of how Price backed up his contention were not disclosed in open court.
"My client today does not understand the nature of the proceedings," Price told the court. "The evidence put on by the state was overwhelming evidence."
Wilson had previously rejected Price's request to let Golden claim incompetence. The judge's rulings were made under a gag order and had not been previously disclosed.