Boy kills mother. The murder weapon = a gun he got for his 11th birthday.

[alp227]

Wow. A friend posted on Facebook a story about the trial of Noah Crooks, a 14-year-old boy from Osage, Iowa (a small town about halfway in the 200 miles between Minneapolis and Des Moines) charged with killing his mother:

A 14 year old Osage, Iowa boy is on trial for shooting and killing his mother, Gretchen Crooks, last March. The jury in the case recently heard the 911 call where Noah Crooks described to a dispatcher how he shot his mother after she took away his copy of Call of Duty saying, “Something just came over me.”

The jury also heard how the 14 year old attempted to rape his 37 year old mother but couldn’t do it saying, “I feel crazy and I know I’m not. I think I have some form of ADD…I tried to rape her. I tried to rape her but I couldn’t do it…Who tries to rape their own mom? My life is down the drain now.”

When police arrived on the scene, Gretchen Crooks’ body was found stretched out on a couch with her pajama top undone and was naked from the waist down. Deputies seized the murder weapon, a .22 caliber rifle which was given to the boy by his mother when he was 11 years old.

This article by PixelAttack blog notes that this is the first murder in Osage since 1898 and that a child psychiatrist hired by Crooks's defense will testify that the boy has intermittent explosive disorder.

However, PixelAttack cites the tabloid (and right wing) Daily Mail, so here are some non tabloid local sources:

Des Moines Register from today: "Father thought 13-year-old son's text that 'I killed Mom' was a joke"
Mason City Globe Gazette, 5/2: "Jury listens to 911 tape during testimony in Crooks case"

Seems his dad is cold hearted and negligent too, according to DM Register story:

William Crooks, 41, testified in Wright County District Court in Clarion about receiving a text from his son, Noah Crooks, on the night of March 24, 2012, that read, “Dad this is Noah. I killed Mom accidentally. I regret it. Come home now please.”

William Crooks, who was away that night from the family’s rural home in Osage, said he thought Noah was joking, so he replied, “OK. Just throw her in the grove. We’ll take care of her later.”

William Crooks said his wife was the disciplinarian of the family, which led to some fights between his wife and son. He said Noah had a loving but sometimes stormy relationship with his mother.

“They’d have their issues but then the next minute they’d play games together,” he said.

Williams Crooks said his son once told him he wanted to kill his mother, but he didn’t take it seriously.

“I guess I didn’t take it as a threat at the time,” he said.

Given that a psychiatrist is going to testify that Noah has a mental condition, I wonder: how long did Noah's parents know about that condition, and if so how was his mother able to buy him a gun? Between this and the Sandy Hook shooting (in which the shooter stole his mother's legally bought gun), how is the current background check system letting cases like this happen?

[darkangel218]

1. No 11 year old boy should own a gun.

I'm a strong supporter of our second amendment, but guns shouldnt be given to children! That freaking simple! Wait until you're officially an adult to own and handle a gun!!!!!

Jebus christ!!

[Honeycombe8]

8. Depends. It's common amongst country folk.

But people really familiar with guns know that you can't hand a child a rifle and let him keep it, with bullets, and be totally responsible for it and with it all the time. He would get to use it on occasions, with adults present.

Nowadays there seem to be a lot of gun nuts who are just buying guns without using their common sense.

And especially, if you notice your kid has mental issues, no way he should have access to weapons.

Country people have common sense. But using guns was and is a way of life, and young boys go hunting for small game. It's not unusual and is generally very safe. Adults supervise when a kid is 11. 14 would be old enough to go out in the woods on his own to practice shooting, maybe. Maybe.

In this case, with or w/o a gun, this kid had mental issues and would've killed his mother, anyway, is what I think.

[Hoyt]

2. Gotta introduce youngsters into gun culture early on, or they might grow up Un-American or something

[Politicalboi]

3. Background checks should include children

If your child has a "known" mental illness, you should NEVER be able to own a gun in your home, unless you have a gun safe and has 2 locks.

[Crunchy Frog]

4. Mother uses son as suicide instrument.

Son takes legal rap for consequences of parents choices.

[kestrel91316]

5. Awesome! Let's give immature, irresponsible minors even MOAR GUNZ!!!!!

[Jeneral2885]

6. Would the bill have stopped this murder

Have background checks ever gone so far as to ask parents if they allowed young children to have access to guns

[brentspeak]

7. Classmates knew Noah Crooks as a budding psychopath

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/father-teen-thought-killed-mom-text-joke-article-1.1335244

School friends testified about the teenager's sometimes violent and aggressive behavior. One boy said Noah Crooks would occasionally stab his classmates with pencils, and that he threatened to kill other students as well as his mother.

A proper gun background check absolutely would have saved Gretchen Crooks' life. The horrible irony is that dad William Crooks is a concealed carry type and opposes background check legislation.

[Brickbat]

9. I was driving through Osage a few days after this happened.

Such a tragic story. I hope he gets the help he clearly needs.