A 14-year-old teenager in Cheyenne, Wyoming, has been arrested and faces first-degree murder charges after authorities alleged he shot his mother following a domestic dispute.
According to court records and information from the Wyoming Tribune Eagle, the suspect, Havoc Leone, is accused of shooting his mother, 41-year-old Theresa McIntosh, at their home on March 7. Initially, the incident was being treated as a suicide; however, medical personnel and police noticed unusual signs regarding the wound and expanded the investigation.
The teenager later admitted to police that he used his mother's gun to shoot her after an argument regarding a tablet, a tragic event similar to a previous case of children shooting over electronic devices.
According to investigation documents, the argument occurred around 11:30 a.m. The mother had asked her son to finish his schoolwork while she worked on a crossword puzzle in the room. The two continued to argue about the tablet and the device's password.
As the mother leaned down to pick up a password notebook that had fallen on the floor, the teenager allegedly used a gun to shoot her in the back of the head.
The boy's father was playing video games in the basement at the time and heard a loud bang, but because he was wearing noise-canceling headphones, he did not realize it was a serious shooting incident. About an hour later, he went upstairs and discovered his wife critically injured.
The father performed first aid and called 911. The victim was taken to a regional medical center and then airlifted to UCHealth hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado, where she passed away the same day.
According to hospital reports, the wound was inconsistent with a self-inflicted shot. The bullet struck behind the victim's right ear, and there were no characteristic signs of a self-inflicted wound.
Police stated the teenager had a history of taking other people's electronic devices. Investigative documents also noted he had mentioned thinking about harming his mother in the past when asked to do things he did not want to do.
According to the father, his son understood firearm safety rules well.
The teenager is currently being prosecuted as an adult on charges of first-degree murder. The court has set bail at $500,000.
The investigation into the case is ongoing.
