Teen waives jury trial in Cold Spring killings: (Log in info)
In an unusual turn of events for these kinds of cases, John Jason McLaughlin has waived his right to jury trial for the second-degree murder charge in the death of Aaron Rollins. The article doesn’t give too much information outside of that, but I’m assuming that he will still face a jury in the charge of first-degree murder in the death of Seth Bartell. In case you forgot from yesterday…
McLaughlin allegedly shot Bartell in a basement hallway in front of other students, wounding him superficially in the chest, then fired a second shot that missed Bartell but hit Rollins in the neck. Bartell fled up some stairs. McLaughlin pursued Bartell into the gym and shot him in the forehead, prosecutors say.
The defense is trotting out the usual…
Attorney Dan Eller has said McLaughlin only intended to wound Bartell, who he thought had been teasing him, and that Rollins was not his intended target.
Again, not a valid reason to shoot an unarmed person in the chest, chase him up a flight of stairs and shoot him in the head. If he was just trying to wound him, he wouldn’t have shot him through his skull.
And the myth continues to perpetuate.
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