- 15-year-old sentenced to prison for killing classmates
After a fatal gunshot to the head of a classmate at a school in Lower Franconia, a 15-year-old was sentenced to eight years and six months in a juvenile detention center for murder. The Regional Court of Würzburg found that the teenager had murdered the 14-year-old in Lohr am Main in September 2023, taking advantage of his helplessness, a court spokeswoman said.
The defendant confessed to the crime at the beginning of the main hearing. However, he stated that the shot was not intentional. In his final statement, the 15-year-old apologized to the bereaved and expressed his deep regret.
The victim was very popular. The two boys attended the same middle school in the small town in the Spessart. They had known each other since elementary school but were neither friends nor enemies. The deceased was a very well-liked person.
The motive was not ultimately clarified. "The chamber can only speculate about the motivation," the spokeswoman said. Whether jealousy played a role is unclear.
Waffendeal or violence influences?
Before the main hearing, the public prosecutor's office assumed that the teenager had admired serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer and acted out of a lust for murder. Dahmer had committed one of the most gruesome murder series in the USA. There is a Netflix series about him. The public prosecutor's office did not maintain this accusation due to the main hearing, according to the court spokeswoman. However, the chamber assumed in the verdict that the defendant had dealt with such topics, according to the spokeswoman. The weapon belonged to a 66-year-old who lived in the same house as the defendant.
On the other hand, the defense said after the verdict that there could be several possible motives and scenarios. It could also have been an escalated conflict. The two young people had arranged to meet on the day of the crime, according to the court spokeswoman. According to the defendant, it was about a weapons deal, his defense said. "We see the weapons deal variant as more likely," they said. The chamber did not follow this version in its verdict but considered it refuted, according to the court spokeswoman.
The large juvenile chamber followed the opinion of the public prosecutor's office and the co-plaintiff. They considered the murder feature of treachery to be fulfilled, as the shot came from behind. However, the lawyer for the defendant had pleaded for manslaughter.
The verdict is not yet final. The maximum sentence for murder in juvenile court is ten years. The public prosecutor's office had demanded eight years and nine months in juvenile detention for murder in its plea.
The parents of the deceased boy were co-plaintiffs in the proceedings. They largely agreed with the public prosecutor's office in their plea.
The defense, on the other hand, requested a six-year juvenile sentence for manslaughter.
As the defendant is a minor, the trial took place behind closed doors. A preventive detention, as considered by the public prosecutor's office, was not ordered.
The parents of the victim expressed their support for the eight-year sentence, aligning with the public prosecutor's office's recommendation. The defense, however, had argued for a six-year sentence for manslaughter, believing the act to be less intentional.
In light of the incident, the Office of the Prosecutor decided to investigate any potential influence of violent themes, given the defendant's interest in serial killers like Jeffrey Dahmer.
