No charges for Marion teen who was accused of killing his grandmother

Jan. 9—Prosecutors will not file charges against a teenager who had been arrested and accused of killing his grandmother.

Assistant State Attorney Rich Buxman said in a two-page memorandum that the boy, who is 17 and autistic, has limited mental capacity. Buxman said the teen's statements to Marion County Sheriff's Office detectives "were contradictory, difficult to follow, and often confusing."

Buxman said that while the decision to arrest the boy was reasonable due to the initial physical evidence and his incriminating statement, an autopsy showed that prosecutors could not rely on the juvenile's statements.

"In this case, the state's primary evidence that the defendant caused the victim's death is based on his own statements," Buxman said in his report.

He added, because of the state's "inability to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that (the deceased's) death was caused by the actions of the defendant, the state is legally and ethically obligated to abandon charges against the defendant."

Prosecutors said the child will be released from a secure detention facility. Because of the boy's age, the Star-Banner has not used his or his grandmother's name to avoid identifying him.

On Dec. 20, Marion County Sheriff's Office deputies were called to an address in southwest Marion by a man who wanted to report a dead body, according to prosecutors. Deputies got to the location and found the 77-year-old woman dead on a bedroom floor.

The woman was naked but had a towel over her. She had blood beneath her head and arms. Detectives were called.

A neighbor told deputies that the woman's grandson came to his home and asked him to come and check on his grandmother. The neighbor said he went to the residence and found the victim on the floor and she was deceased.

The man said he told the boy to get a towel to cover the victim. The man said the boy told him that his grandmother had collapsed on the living room floor. The boy said he dragged his grandmother to her bedroom.

In his report, Buxman said the boy's explanation is consistent with how the woman's body was found.

A detective interviewed the child. With the boy's autism, the detective took extra precautions to explain what was happening, according to Buxman's report. During the interview, Buxman said, it was difficult to get an accurate timeline, and it appeared the teen was taking about two separate events.

The teen indicated that he broke his grandmother's neck using his hands. But the autopsy showed no signs of "significant external trauma that could have caused (the woman's) death," according to Buxman's memo.

The doctor was unable to find any evidence that the woman's neck or spine was broken.

Furthermore, Buxman said, the doctor could not find any proof that anyone had placed hands around the woman's neck or bruised her neck. There also was no proof that the victim was smothered by a pillow or if she was suffocated.

Although the woman's arms had abrasions, the doctor concluded that was "consistent with the blood located beneath her head and arm area" when she was found by deputies. The doctor said the abrasions were a result of the woman's advanced age, not trauma.

The doctor noted that the woman suffered from severe heart disease and had blocked arteries. That may have caused her death. The official cause and manner of death remain undetermined.

Contact Austin L. Miller at 867-4118, austin.miller@starbanner.com or @almillerosb

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