Judge rules 11-year-old charged with killing his mother is competent to stand trial as adult

By Daniela Prizont-Cado

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    WAUWATOSA, Wisconsin (WDJT) — The competency hearing for an 11-year-old boy charged with killing his own mother resumed Wednesday, July 26.

The judge says the boy is competent to stand trial as an adult.

It’s a controversial case and decision that has made national headlines. The state argued the psychologist’s report shows the boy knows the basics of court proceedings and can retain information.

His attorneys, however, and the psychologist they brought to testify, argued he does not fully understand concepts nor consequences.

“We’re just pointing out that we’re talking about an 11-year-old child who is being tasked with making decisions about things that will affect the rest of his life,” said Angela Cunningham, the boy’s attorney.

“From state’s perspective, Dr. Kavanaugh seems to believe that a level of competence needed, a level of understanding of court proceedings needed is much higher than what typically we see,” said Sara Waldschmidt, assistant district attorney. “He knew his case was in adult court, he knew that his case was a felony, he knew that there were two types of cases — felonies and misdemeanors, he knew it was serious.”

A preliminary hearing is set for September.

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