Boy Who Shot Neo-Nazi Father Sentenced to 10 Years in Juvie

He admitted to killing his father at age ten

  • Share
  • Read Later

A 13-year old boy who killed his Neo-Nazi father when he was just ten years old was sentenced Thursday to ten years in a California juvenile facility.

Joseph Hall was convicted of second-degree murder in January after he admitted to shooting his father point-blank in the head while he slept in 2011, NBC news reports. Hall’s father, local Neo-Nazi leader Jeff Hall, was planning to get a divorce from his stepmother, and Hall told police he shot his father because he didn’t want to have to decide which parent to live with.

The boy’s defense team had hoped he would be sent to a residential treatment center, but prosecutors pushed for him to be placed in the state’s juvenile justice system. Hall would be the youngest person at the detention center where he will likely be placed, and prosecutors acknowledge he will likely be among the most violent offenders.

The boy apparently grew up in an abusive environment and has behavior and learning issues. A letter from the boy’s grandmother pleaded for leniency, saying that Hall’s sisters miss their dad, and “the only way his death can make sense is if (the boy) gets the help he so desperately needs.”

[NBC]