10-Year-Old Boy Charged As An Adult After Fatally Shooting Mother Over Virtual Reality Headset

A 10-year-old boy in Milwaukee, Wisconsin is being charged as an adult after he admitted to fatally shooting his mother, 44-year-old Quiana Mann, on Nov. 21.

WTMJ News reported that Mann was shot in her eye at close range around 7 a.m. inside her home on 87th and Hemlock by her son. He first told the authorities that he’d shot her accidentally by twirling the gun around his finger.

After the shooting occurred, Mann’s son woke up his 26-year-old sister, Brianna Moore, to tell her what happened, and she dialed 911.

Because of his age, he was originally allowed to stay with the family. However, the family called the Milwaukee Police Department the following day to advise them of some serious concerns they had regarding the shooting.

Moore discovered that he’d used his mother’s credit card the day after her death to buy an Oculus Virtual Reality Headset he purchased online.

An aunt also told the authorities that he showed no remorse after his mother’s death and said he admitted to “aiming the gun at his mother” before apologizing and asking if his headset had been delivered.

Moore also told detectives that her brother has rage issues and hears voices from five imaginary people. Another family member recalled the child swinging a puppy by its tail as a four-year-old. After he was given a “concerning diagnosis” by a therapist, Mann placed cameras inside the home to monitor her son, but they were unplugged by someone two weeks before the shooting.

His grandmother, Lueritha Mann, confirmed the boy hears voices and told The Daily Beast that her grandson has “psychiatric disturbances.”

“He’s always said that he hears voices,” she said. “There’s two little girls inside his head telling him to do things. And he has an imaginary friend that will tell him to do really bad things.”

According to the police, the child removed the gun from Mann’s locked gun safe after stealing the keys. During a second interview, he allegedly said that he’d gotten the gun because he was angry Mann had woken him up 30 minutes early and wouldn’t let him buy the virtual reality headset.

The police arrested the 10-year-old boy and charged him with first-degree reckless homicide. He is currently housed in a juvenile detention facility and faces up to 60 years in prison if he is found guilty.

His grandmother said Mann would not want her son charged as an adult. “She would want us to do everything that we could to help him,” she said.