Bel Air Teen Who Killed Dad Gets New Mom

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Robert Richardson III, the Bel Air teen convicted in the 2012 murder of his father, has a new mother.

Eileen Siple officially adopted Richardson Wednesday at a courthouse in Harford County, according to WJZ, which reported his biological mother died when he was 10.

Richardson is serving an 18-year sentence in Hagerstown after pleading guilty to first-degree murder in the death of his father.

Being in prison for three years is ”the safest he’s ever felt,” Siple told WJZ, alleging there was physical abuse to the point that Richardson “really believed that his father would kill him one day.”

Instead, 58-year-old Robert Richardson Jr. died from a gunshot wound to the back of the head on Jan. 9, 2012, according to the state’s attorney. Richardson, who admitted to shooting his father in their Moores Mill Road home, was 16 at the time.

• Robert Richardson III Pleads Guilty to Shooting Father

Siple took an interest in the case because her daughter went to school with the teen, she said during a 2013 Senate hearing about the treatment of juveniles in the criminal justice system. Both Hannah Siple and Robert Richardson III attended C. Milton Wright.

In fact, her daughter started a Facebook page in support of Richardson, who “was the person that the other students at school went to when they needed help or advice,” Siple testified.

Continued Siple: “He is a nice kid, who faced horrible circumstances, but he is someone who can still be helped and rehabilitated. In fact, he wants nothing more than help and rehabilitation.”

Siple has a room in her home ready for Richardson when he gets out, according to ABC 2 News, which reports she is working to get his conviction overturned.

Photo Credit: Free Robert Richardson III/Facebook.

• Teen Charged as Adult in Father’s Murder
• Facebook Page Supports Robert Richardson III
• Bail Hearing Set for Teen Charged with Murder
• Teen Charged with Murder Had Run Away from Home Before
• Richardson Indicted on First-Degree Murder Charges