JUSTICE: Wis. Man Who Killed Teen Neighbor Gets Life in Prison

 
By The Associated Press
John Henry Spooner,Patricia Larry, Darius Simmons

MILWAUKEE (AP) — A 76-year-old Milwaukee man who fatally shot his unarmed teenage neighbor was sentenced to life in prison Monday, days after telling the court he killed the boy for justice because he believed he stole his shotguns.

John Henry Spooner‘s home had been burglarized two days before the May 2012 shooting, and he suspected 13-year-old Darius Simmons as the thief. So he confronted the teen, demanded that he return the guns and then shot him in the chest in front of his mother when he denied stealing anything.

Spooner’s own home surveillance cameras captured the shooting, and prosecutors aired the footage in court.

A jury found Spooner guilty of first-degree intentional homicide last week, a conviction carrying a mandatory life sentence. The judge could have allowed for the possibility of parole after 20 years, but rejected that option, citing Spooner’s lack of remorse and desire to also kill the teen’s brother.

Spooner, who has lung cancer and other physical ailments, will spend the rest of his life in prison.

While in court for his sentencing, Spooner spoke in a frail voice that was sometimes difficult to hear and reiterated that he felt he had little choice but to take the law into his own hands.

“They had to rob the house,” he said. “Why’d they do that to me? … They pushed me over the edge, I guess. I don’t know. As far as being sorry, I don’t know if I did right or wrong.”

Judge Jeffrey Wagner replied sternly: “I can tell you, you did wrong. You took the life of a child.”

The defense had argued that the killing might have been reckless but not intentional, and said Spooner didn’t mean for the shot to be fatal.

The surveillance footage showed Spooner confronting Darius on a sidewalk, pointing a gun at the boy’s chest and firing from a few feet away. Darius turned and fled, and then collapsed and died in the street moments later as his mother cradled him in her arms.