Complaint: 10-year-old charged as adult after fatally shooting mother over VR headset

Complaint: 10-year-old charged as adult after fatally shooting mother over VR headset
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MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- A 10-year-old Milwaukee boy is being charged as an adult after allegedly fatally shooting his mother.

The child faces one count of first-degree reckless homicide.

According to a criminal complaint, officers responded to the shooting at 87th and Magnolia on Nov. 21. The incident was initially reported as an accident.

Police spoke with the child, who stated that his mother woke him at 6 a.m. He told police he went to his mother's bedroom and grabbed her gun, went to the basement where she was doing laundry, and while twirling the gun in his fingers, it "accidentally went off." After this, he went upstairs to wake his sister, who found their mother dead and dialed 911.

Detectives spoke with a family member who stated that the child has had "rage issues" all of his life and had received a "concerning diagnosis" from a therapist.

Family told detectives that after his mother's death, the child showed no remorse and never cried. He reportedly told his aunt that he was actually aiming the gun at his mother, altering the story told to police. The complaint goes on to say the child logged on to his mother's Amazon account following her death and ordered a virtual reality headset.

When addressing his grandmother, the complaint says the child stated, "I'm sorry for killing my mom," before asking if his Amazon package had arrived. 

In a later interview with authorities, the child reportedly admitted that he was not twirling the gun around when he shot his mom. He admitted that his mother would not allow him to have something from Amazon that he wanted to have. He told investigators he took his mother's keys and hid them the night before, including a key to the gun lock box. He said he retrieved the gun because he was mad at his mother for waking him up early.

He's being held on $50,000 bond.

A hearing is scheduled for Dec. 7.

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