Jan. 26 (UPI) — A 13-year-old boy who shot dead his 11-year-old brother with his grandfather’s rifle in Ohio was sentenced to juvenile detention until he is 21 years old.
Last April, investigators said Elijah Lishing stole a .357 Magnum from his grandparents’ home by dismantling part of a locked cabinet in Streetsboro, 25 miles southeast of Cleveland. He shot his brother, Caleb, in the back while in bed, which investigators described as a “premeditated act.”
On Friday, Portage County Juvenile Court Judge Robert Berger said officials will re-evaluate his case when he turns 21.
Berger that the boy had made huge strides while he was held in the Portage-Geauga Juvenile Detention Center in Shalersville since his arrest.
The boys were adopted by Martin and Dena Lishing as babies after being taken from a young mother who struggled with addiction.
Dena focused all of her energy on a premature Caleb who had critical medical needs, a doctor told the court.
Elijah suffers from reactive attachment disorder and never formed emotional bonds with his parents or his brother, a doctor said. He tried to commit suicide twice, and has received intensive counseling and mental health services.
“This is just a young guy who has been in a secure facility for over eight months and tells us that it’s the happiest and safest that he’s felt in his entire life, and I think that’s very telling, your honor,” Elijah’s guardian ad litem, Aaron Heavner, told Berger last week.
