10-Year-Old Kills Mother After She Woke Him Up Early, Refused To Buy VR Headset: Complaint

MILWAUKEE, WI — A 10-year-old boy from Milwaukee is accused of killing his mother after she refused to buy him a toy he wanted and woke him up earlier than usual, according to authorities.

The child is charged as an adult with first-degree reckless homicide and faces up to 60 years in prison for the fatal shooting of his 44-year-old mother at close range, the criminal complaint for the case said.

The incident occurred Nov. 21 at the family home in the 7400 block of North 87th Street, according to authorities, who said a bullet struck the woman’s right eye, traveled through her brain and exited out the back of her skull.

The child originally said he had been twirling the gun on his finger when it “accidentally went off,” at which point he woke up his sister, who called 911, according to the complaint. He later admitted to authorities that his mother would not let him have something he wanted from Amazon and he was angry that she woke him up at 6 a.m. rather than 6:30 a.m., according to the complaint, so he tried to shoot a wall to “scare her,” but she walked in front of him when he fired. The boy told his aunt he was aiming at his mother, authorities said.

After her death, the child logged on to his mother’s Amazon account and ordered a virtual reality headset, the complaint said. When brought to his grandmother’s home to meet with Child Protective Services, he said, “without any empathy or compassion” that he was “sorry for killing my mom” and then asked if his Amazon package had arrived, according to authorities.

The boy had “rage issues” all his life, the complaint said, and was known to steal his mother’s credit cards and order things online. He had recently set furniture on fire, and, at age 4, swung a puppy by its tail until the animal cried out in pain, according to authorities.

The child had also said in the past that “he has 5 different imaginary people that talk to him,” according to the complaint.

He was initially allowed to remain with family after the shooting, but relatives contacted police the following morning, when he attacked a 7-year-old cousin, authorities said.

As of Friday, the boy was being held in secure detention, according to court records, which said his next hearing is set for Wednesday.