A Milwaukee man knew exactly what he was doing when he accused his teenage neighbor of burglary and then fired a bullet into the boy's chest, jurors decided Friday. The verdict essentially guarantees that 76-year-old John Henry Spooner will die behind bars.
The same jury decided two days earlier that Spooner was guilty of first-degree intentional homicide in the death of 13-year-old Darius Simmons in May 2012. The trial then shifted into a second phase in which jurors were asked to determine whether Spooner was mentally ill at the moment he pulled the trigger.
It took the jury less than 30 minutes to agree he was sane and in control of his actions at the time of the shooting.
The boy's mother, Patricia Larry, declined to speak with reporters after the trial but thanked God, the prosecutor and the community. Her son had died in her arms.
"Justice was served," she said.
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