A Wyoming teenager, aged 14 and known by the name Havoc, is facing adult charges for first-degree murder. Prosecutors allege he fatally shot his mother during an intense argument at their rural home.
Identified as Havoc Leone, the young boy is accused of using a handgun he had secretly taken from his mother’s car days before the incident. Prosecutors say he fired the weapon while his mother was bent over, working on a jigsaw puzzle in his bedroom.
The victim, Theresa McIntosh, who worked as a massage therapist, was flown to a Colorado hospital. Sadly, she succumbed to her injuries there.
In a sworn statement by Deputy Miles DePrimo of the Laramie County Sheriff’s Office, the teenager initially attempted to convince investigators that McIntosh had committed suicide.
However, during further questioning, prosecutors claim that he eventually admitted to shooting her after an argument escalated, during which she allegedly insulted him with a derogatory term.
According to the probable cause affidavit written by DePrimo, Leone expressed to investigators that he was angry at his mother and had difficulty conveying the depth of his hatred towards her.
‘He was angry right before he shot McIntosh and couldn’t tell her how much he hated her because she doesn’t understand him,’ DePrimo wrote of the teen’s statements.
‘He was mad McIntosh was calling him names’.
Havoc Leone, 14, has been charged as an adult with first-degree murder in Laramie County, Wyoming. Prosecutors allege Leone shot his mother, Theresa McIntosh (pictured) in the head
The shooting happened inside the family’s home, pictured, in Laramie County, located just south of the Cheyenne city limits in the south-west corner of the Mountain West state
The deputy also wrote that Leone admitted he had previously imagined murdering his mother during arguments.
‘Leone has thought about killing McIntosh in the past, specifically when she would make him do things he didn’t want to do,’ DePrimo wrote in the affidavit.
Investigators said the confrontation that ended in violence began about an hour and a half before the shooting.
According to the affidavit, Leone had taken an electronic tablet from a home where his mother worked cleaning houses.
McIntosh and her common-law husband, who is also Leone’s father, confronted him about the device.
During the argument, prosecutors say McIntosh accused the teen of stealing and called him names, including the ‘r-word’.
The affidavit says Leone told deputies he became upset by the accusations and questioned whether the insult was true.
At first, the boy told investigators a very different version of events. According to the affidavit, he initially suggested there had been a struggle over the weapon and that the gun might have gone off accidentally.
‘Havoc had been home at the time of the shooting, and after an initial interview stated there was a struggle over a firearm, and he may have accidentally pulled the trigger on the firearm, but was not sure,’ DePrimo wrote.
But as the investigation continued, prosecutors say Leone described a far more deliberate sequence of events.
Investigators learned the weapon used in the shooting was a black Taurus 9mm handgun that belonged to McIntosh and was normally kept in her vehicle.
According to the affidavit, Leone admitted he had secretly taken the gun from the glove compartment roughly a week earlier and hid it inside a boot in his bedroom closet.
Staff at The Garden Salon and Spa, where Theresa McIntosh worked as a massage therapist, posted a heartfelt message mourning her loss
Havoc, 14, initially told deputies there had been a struggle over the firearm and that it may have gone off accidentally. But he later told investigators he shot his mother, Theresa McIntosh (pictured above) while she was bent over in his bedroom
‘He had stolen the gun out of McIntosh’s vehicle’s glovebox compartment approximately one week prior, but wasn’t sure exactly when he took it,’ the affidavit states.
The document says he took the firearm following another argument that began after he received a ‘D’ grade in math.
On the day of the shooting, prosecutors said McIntosh asked her son for the password to the tablet he had taken. Leone told investigators the password was written in a notebook stored in his closet.
When he went to retrieve the notebook, he also grabbed the handgun he had hidden there.
‘He retrieved the firearm from his boot … and positioned it down by his side,’ DePrimo wrote in the affidavit.
The deputy wrote that Leone then tossed the notebook toward his mother while keeping the gun concealed.
As McIntosh bent down, still arguing with him, prosecutors say the teen raised the weapon.
According to the affidavit, Leone told investigators he ‘shot her in the back of the head, holding the firearm with both hands.’
Leone’s father was also in the home when the shooting occurred but had gone to the basement after the earlier argument.
The affidavit says he had put on noise-suppressing headphones and was playing video games when he heard what sounded like a faint popping noise.
‘While still gaming, (the father) heard a ‘pop,’ which he initially thought may have been a balloon popping,’ the document states.
McIntosh was taken to Cheyenne Regional Medical Center and then airlifted to UCHealth in Fort Collins, Colorado, where she later died from her injuries
Staff at The Garden Salon and Spa in Cheyenne described Theresa McIntosh as ‘a great light’ whose loss has deeply shaken their workplace
Because the sound carried through his headphones, he went upstairs to investigate.
According to the affidavit, he found his son standing outside the bedroom looking panicked. When he asked what had happened, the teen allegedly replied: ‘I don’t know, it just went off.’
The father immediately called 911.
When he entered the bedroom, investigators say he found McIntosh lying unresponsive on the floor.
‘(She) was unresponsive with blood and ‘brains’ all over the place,’ the father told investigators, according to the affidavit.
He said he tried to stop the bleeding by pressing a towel against her head.
The gun was lying on the floor nearby – something that confused him because he believed the weapon was normally kept in his wife’s car.
Investigators also noted that the firearm’s safety was engaged and that the wound pattern did not match a suicide scenario.
During questioning by detectives, the father told investigators he struggled to process what the evidence appeared to suggest.
‘I don’t want to think what I think happened,’ he said, according to the affidavit. ‘I don’t even want to put it into words. I don’t want to think that because it’s a really f***ed up thing for a parent to think.’
Staff at the salon where McIntosh worked affectionately recalled her ‘wild hair’ as part of her vibrant personality
‘I understand, but I don’t want to f***ing say it,’ he continued. ‘Yes, I understand that it’s a possibility, but I really hope it’s not. It’d be a lot easier to accept that she killed herself than my son tried to kill her.’
Emergency responders transported McIntosh to Cheyenne Regional Medical Center before she was airlifted to UCHealth in Fort Collins, Colorado.
Authorities say she later died from her injuries the same day.
As the investigation unfolded, colleagues and friends began sharing tributes to McIntosh online, remembering her as a vibrant presence in the Cheyenne community.
Staff at The Garden Salon and Spa, where she worked as a massage therapist, posted a heartfelt message mourning her loss.
‘The world lost a great light this past weekend. Our Massage Therapist & friend, Theresa McIntosh,’ the business wrote in a public tribute.
‘Theresa was a dedicated mother & Jane of all trades. She was incredibly intelligent and well read. She was fiercely loyal to the small businesses that she loved.’
The post went on to describe her love of animals, books, music and helping others, adding that she had ‘a knack for cleaning and leaving spaces better than she found them.’
‘She was a gift to this world & we are so grateful to have had the time with her that we got. It wasn’t nearly enough,’ the salon wrote, adding that it would help connect grieving friends with support resources.
Leone is now facing a charge of first-degree murder and is being prosecuted as an adult.
Court records show a preliminary hearing has been scheduled for Wednesday March 18 in Laramie County Circuit Court.
