A 15-year-old boy may spend the next six years of his life in a juvenile secure care facility after admitting he shot his stepbrother with a gun he thought was unloaded — and the slain boy’s mother still can’t understand why the shooter won’t serve more time.
While sentencing guidelines recommended the teenager spend three to six months in custody for admitting to manslaughter, a second-degree felony, Third District Juvenile Court Judge Susan Eisenman handed down a different disposition on Thursday.
She ordered the boy to secure care — the juvenile equivalent of prison time — and is letting the youth parole board determine how long he will be there.