Thomas "tristan" Potts To Be Tried As An Adult In The Murder Of His Sister

[CbabyRKO]

A judge has ruled a 14-year-old boy who is accused of shooting his 12-year-old sister dead at their rural Missouri home should be tried as an adult.

Jasper County prosecuting attorney Dean Dankelson said the second-degree murder, armed criminal action and first-degree attempted arson charges filed against Thomas 'Tristan' Potts are identical to the juvenile charges he faced previously.

[…]

Potts was 13 in October when Teresa Potts was killed. Dankelson said the brother and sister had been adopted out of foster care. He said he wasn't aware of any other foster children living in the home.

The boy's attorneys, Wes Barnum and Keith Pennick, didn't immediately return a phone message from The Associated Press seeking comment. Dankelson said the teen's arraignment could be as early as Thursday morning.

The new charges were filed one day after a juvenile hearing ended with a judge ruling that the teen could be tried as an adult. The Joplin Globe reports that responding deputies found the girl mortally wounded.

She had gunshot wounds to her temple and right shoulder, Chris Carriger, a detective with the Jasper County Sheriff's Department, testified at the hearing.

Potts fled into some woods after the shooting and turned up later near a shop building behind the house, close to where investigators eventually recovered two handguns. Carriger said the teen tested positive for gunshot residue on his hands.

The detective said that when he entered the house, he found the home in 'messy disarray,' with black gunpowder strewn throughout the rooms and about 500 rounds of .22-caliber bullets in two skillets in the kitchen.

Carriger testified that the investigation turned up three lists that bore the fingerprints of Tristan Potts, including one titled 'Supplies for Georgia.' Investigators later learned that the boy had been in contact on Facebook with a female in Georgia. Items on the to-do-lists, including a gun and food, were found near the home's front door.

If convicted as an adult, Tristan could receive both treatment and training through a special program until he turns 21. He then could be transferred to an adult prison if the court determines he should remain in custody, said Belinda Elliston, attorney for the Jasper County juvenile office. She said he would have to be released when he turns 18 if he is tried as a juvenile.

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[Keepalowprofile]

Pretty scary kid. I hope the system can help him understand that its just not right to plan and murder anyone.

 

[lithiumgirl]

If convicted as an adult, Tristan could receive both treatment and training through a special program until he turns 21.

Excellent...When you consider foster care kid and we made it. I wouldn't support a third or fourth chance...but I would support a second one, i hope he makes the most of it.

 

[mynameiskat]

Wonder if she was trying to stop him from leaving so he shot her.

 

[cubby]

I wanna know how a 13 yo kid got ahold of 500 rounds of ammo. Who got it for him. That person would be in court right beside him.

 

[Satanica]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crim...5-years-for-sisters-shooting-death/ar-BByYi4W

JASPER, Mo. — A southwestern Missouri teenager has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for fatally shooting his 12-year-old sister when he was 13.

Tristan Potts, now 15, was sentenced Monday in Joplin for second-degree murder, armed criminal action and attempted first-degree arson, The Joplin Globe (http://bit.ly/2ncOK36 ) reports. Tristan, who was certified to stand trial as an adult, pleaded guilty to the charges in December.

His sister, Teresa Potts, was suffering from gunshot wounds to her temple and right shoulder when officers responded in October 2015 to their adoptive parents' home near Jasper. Authorities say the siblings were adopted out of foster care.
[....]
The teen was believed to have been preparing to set the family's home on fire and run off to Georgia. The detective said he found the home in "messy disarray," with black gunpowder strewn throughout the rooms and about 500 rounds of .22-caliber bullets in two skillets in the kitchen.

Carriger also testified that the investigation turned up three lists that bore the fingerprints of Tristan Potts, including one titled "Supplies for Georgia." Investigators later learned that the boy had been in contact on Facebook with a female in Georgia. Items on the to-do-lists, including a gun and food, were found near the home's front door.

As part of the sentence, a judge assigned Potts to a program in which a juvenile and adult sentence is simultaneously imposed, with the adult sentence suspended while the inmate undergoes treatment and vocational training. When he turns 21, the court determines whether he should remain in custody.