Judge to decide fate of child accused in shooting

MARTINSVILLE, IND — An 11-year-old boy didn’t realize he was handling a loaded handgun when it fired the shot that killed his 6-year-old brother at their central Indiana home, his defense attorney said in opening statements at his murder trial.

That account differs from what the boy told a police dispatcher in a 911 tape played in court, in which he said the younger boy had shot himself.

Testimony began Tuesday before a Morgan County judge who will determine whether the boy is guilty of murder and reckless homicide charges in the June 30 shooting of Andrew Frye. The boy, who has a different last name than his brother, is being tried as a juvenile, but still could face several years in detention if he’s convicted.

Defense attorney John Boren didn’t dispute that the boy — who turned 12 last month — fired the deadly shot, but insisted that he didn’t mean to hurt his younger brother. Frye died after being shot in the head with a .22-caliber gun.

“What we have here is a tragedy. It’s an accident,” Boren said. “There was no intent for this to happen.”

Boren said he would have a gun safety expert testify about how difficult it is for adults to know for certain whether a handgun is loaded, much less a child.

“He was surprised when that weapon went off in his hands and hit his brother,” Boren said.

In the 911 tape played in court, the boy sounded breathless and panicked, saying that he was in the living room of their home near Martinsville when he heard a loud pop and found his wounded brother in a bedroom. He said that he had put the gun back where it belonged in his parent’s bedroom.

“I don’t know how he got the bullets in there,” the boy said during the call.

The boys’ mother is charged with neglect for leaving the gun where the children had access to it.

County Prosecutor Steve Sonnega said the boy pointed the gun at his brother, trying to scare him into cleaning up a bedroom. Sonnega said the older boy was angry over being punished and that his actions were deliberate.

“At the bare minimum it was a reckless act,” Sonnega said.