10-Year-Old Charged as Adult After Allegedly Killing Mother Over VR Headset

A 10-year-old boy in Milwaukee has been charged as an adult in connection with the fatal shooting of his mother.

Per a report from local outlet WISN-TV, the child—whose name is not being made public due to being a minor—is alleged to have fatally shot his mother, Quiana Mann, after she declined to purchase a virtual reality headset for him on Amazon.

In an initial statement on the shooting, which took place around 6:50 a.m. local time on Nov. 21, the Milwaukee Police Department described the incident as an accident.

“A 10-year-old child was playing with a firearm when it discharged subsequently striking the victim,” police said at the time. “The victim, a 44-year-old Milwaukee woman, sustained fatal injuries. No arrests were made at this time.”

The subsequent revealing of new information, however, changed that assessment. Per reports, the family of the 10-year-old later notified authorities of concerns they had about the shooting, as well as about the child himself. His sister, for example, pointed to past “rage issues,” as well as an unspecified “concerning diagnosis” preceding the shooting.

Police are then reported to have questioned the child again, at which point he’s alleged to have admitted that his mother wouldn’t allow him to purchase something on Amazon. He’s also alleged to have admitted to obtaining his mother’s gun lock keys on the night before the shooting.

“His mother walked in front of him when he tried to shoot the wall to ‘scare her,’ whereupon he admitted that he shot her in the face when she was approximately three feet away from him,” investigators said.

The day after the shooting, the child is said to have ordered the headset using his mother’s account. He has now been charged with first-degree reckless homicide, per a criminal complaint viewed by Complex.

In an interview with the Daily Beast, shared Friday, the child’s grandmother opened up about the tragedy and pointed to her grandson’s “mental illness” as a sign that he needs help.

“[His mother] would want us to do everything that we could to help him,” the child’s grandmother, Lueritha Mann, told the outlet.