A 12-year-old Calif. boy was convicted Monday of the second-degree murder of his white-supremacist father, Jeff Hall. The boy, who was 10 at the time of the murder, fatally shot his father at point-blank range with a .357 Magnum while he slept on the sofa.
Riverside County Superior Court Judge Jean Leonard believes that the boy knew what he was doing when he made the decision to kill his father. Leonard stated, “This was not a complex case. He thought about the idea and shot his father.”
The boy’s father, Jeff Hall, 32, was a regional leader of the National Socialist Movement. According to the boy’s stepmother, Hall had repeatedly physically abused the boy. Hall and the boy’s biological mother had previously divorced and accused each other of child abuse in the custody dispute.
Defense attorney Matthew Hardy argued that the boy was influence by Hall’s racist beliefs, learning that it was acceptable to kill people who were seen as threats. By shooting Hall, the boy was trying to stop the violence.
Prosecutors argued that Hall’s beliefs had nothing to do with the murder and pointed out that the boy had a history of violence as far back as kindergarten when he stabbed a teacher with a pencil.
Leonard said in her decision that Hall’s racist beliefs did affect the boy by giving him thoughts that normal kids don’t usually have. According to court documents, Hall had taken the boy on a trip to the U.S.-Mexico border and showed him how to use a gun. The day before Hall’s death, Hall had a neo-Nazi meeting at his home.
The boy showed no emotion as the verdict was read. Hardy stated, “He knew it was coming. He’s focused on trying to get it over with. Go someplace where he can get some help. He wants to be a normal kid and wants to have a normal life.”