A 14-year-old boy is in custody after being accused of fatally shooting his mother in the back of the head, following her discovery that he had stolen a tablet from one of her clients.
The teenager, identified as Havoc Leone, allegedly killed his 41-year-old mother, Theresa McIntosh, on March 7 in their home in Cheyenne, Wyoming. According to the Wyoming Tribune Eagle, Leone faces charges of felony first-degree murder and will be prosecuted as an adult.
Initially, McIntosh’s death was treated as a possible suicide. However, suspicions from law enforcement and medical professionals led to a deeper investigation. Leone reportedly confessed to authorities that he shot his mother with her own firearm after they argued about the stolen tablet, as detailed in court documents.
Documents also reveal that Leone admitted to contemplating killing his mother on several occasions in the past when she demanded he do things he resented.
The dispute erupted after Leone overheard his parents arguing about his history of stealing electronic devices, culminating in the latest theft.
In the heat of the argument, McIntosh reportedly called him “retarded” and a “thief,” remarks that deeply upset the teenager.
At around 11:30 a.m. on the morning of the shooting, McIntosh told Leone to finish his homework while she did a puzzle in his room.
The mother-son duo began quarreling over the tablet and McIntosh demanded the password which was written on a notebook that the teen retrieved and threw into the room, the 14-year-old told law enforcement.
The teen tossed the notebook on the ground and went to grab the gun hidden in his bedroom.
When his mom bent down to pick up the notebook, he allegedly shot her in the back of the head, according to court documents.
Leone’s father was playing video games in the basement and said he had heard a “pop” noise about fifteen minutes later, but believed it was the sound of a balloon popping due to wearing noise-cancelling headphones.
About an hour later, Leone’s father went to the main level of the house, where he saw the teen outside his bedroom who said he didn’t know what happened that “it just went off,” referring to the gun, The US Sun reported, citing a Laramie County Sheriff affidavit.
According to court documents, Leone’s father administered first aid to McIntosh, but she was unresponsive and called 911.
A black Taurus 9mm handgun was found near McIntosh’s body which confused Leone’s father as it was usually kept in McIntosh’s vehicle where a loaded magazine is kept in the gun, but never has a round chambered, according to court docs.
The teen initially claimed that his mom had handed him the firearm — but later said he stole it from her car after getting into a ‘big fight’ over a math grade, Oil City News reported per the court docs.
Leone’s father told cops his son knew how to treat and handle firearms — adding that he “knows not to point a firearm at someone unless he plans to shoot and kill them,” according to the Tribune.
McIntosh was taken to a regional medical center before being airlifted to UC Health in Fort Collins, Colorado where she succumbed to her injuries later that day.
Staff at the hospital said that the gunshot wound — which was behind and above McIntosh’s right ear above her neck — did not appear to be a “contact wound,” consistent with suicide attempts involving firearms and no exit wound was observed, typical with a self-inflicted gunshot, the Tribune reported.
The grieving father told law enforcement, “I don’t want to think what I think happened…I don’t even want to put it into words…and I don’t want to think that because it’s really f—ked up thing for a parent to think…”
“It’d be a lot easier to accept that she killed herself than my son tried to kill her,” he said, according to the court documents.
A $500,000 bond was set for the teen, per Oil City News.
