Calif. judge decides to send boy to state lockup

Category: News

Jeff Hall
By LINDA DEUTSCH

FILE – In this Oct. 22, 2010 file photo, Jeff Hall holds a neo Nazi flag while standing at Sycamore Highlands Park near his home in Riverside, Calif. Hall’s 10-year-old son is being charged with murdering his father, a 32-year-old plumber, at their Riverside home. A judge may rule on Thur. Oct. 31, 2013 on on whether the boy should be held in a state juvenile detention center for shooting to death his neo-Nazi father three years ago. He was convicted of second-degree murder. Defense attorney Punam Patel Grewal told the court that an alternative location would be more appropriate for a child who grew up in abusive home. (AP Photo/Sandy Huffaker, File)

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) — A California judge has ruled that a 13-year-old boy who was 10 when he killed his neo-Nazi father will spend at least the next seven years in a state juvenile facility.

Judge Jean R. Leonard ruled Thursday that the maximum the boy can serve would be until he is 23. He’ll be eligible for parole in seven years

The decision came after prosecutors and defense attorneys argued for months about the best placement to assure his safety and rehabilitation.

His attorneys say the boy was severely abused and has serious emotional and learning disabilities

The Riverside County boy fired a single shot into his father’s head while the man slept on a couch.

He told police he was afraid he would have to choose between living with his father or stepmother after their pending divorce.

He was convicted of second-degree murder.

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