AMERSFOORT – A 17-year-old boy from Amersfoort has been demanded by the court in Utrecht for fifteen months of juvenile detention, of which five months conditional, for accidentally shooting his 15-year-old nephew A. in jail for six months because she and her son did not tell the emergency services that the boy had been shot. The court will rule on April 26.
The mother is accused of leaving the victim in a helpless condition, while according to the OM she did know that her nephew had been hit by a bullet. Mother and son did call emergency services when the boy became ‘unwell’, but they did not say that he had been shot.
The then 16-year-old Y. played with his cousin in his bedroom on April 28 last year. They knew there was a gun in the house and found it in the attic. Y. stated that he took the gun from his cousin and then it went off by accident.
Blood thinners
The mother says she heard the victim’s scream, but not that any shots were fired, while she was in the room next to Y.’s. Her nephew complained of abdominal pain, so she called 911. The emergency services did not know that a shot had been fired. They thought the boy had heart problems and gave him blood thinners. They wouldn’t have done that if they’d known the boy had a bullet in his body. The boy died in hospital. “She has withheld crucial information,” said the Public Prosecution Service.
The emergency services did not see the wound because the bullet entered his body through a buttock fold. It was only later that a bullet was found in the victim’s abdomen. The iliac artery was punctured, causing the boy to bleed to death. Several neighbors say they heard the bang and a scream in the house. From tapped telephone conversations, it appears that the mother did indeed see the gunshot wound. The firearm is then hidden.
After the emergency services have left, Y. is said to have hidden the firearm in a bag in the forest. It will never be found again. The mother goes to her sister’s house, where, according to a statement from her sister, she allegedly punched herself in the face and shouted, “I’m the one to blame, I’m the one to blame.” K. said today that she never said that.
Victim’s body exhumed
On April 30, A. is buried. Until that moment, a non-natural death has been ruled out, but in the following week, previous scans of A.’s body will be examined again. A hole is found in the right buttock fold. The officer thinks of a knife stab or a sharp object that A. may have sat on, but both scenarios prove unconvincing. The officer then decides to exhume the body of A. on May 8, in order to perform an autopsy on the body again. He is then buried again that same day.
From that section, a gunshot channel is found near his right buttock, which can be traced to a lot higher in his body. There a bullet is found, which has pierced a pelvic artery on the way. That led to a lot of blood loss. And taking blood thinners didn’t help.
They should get the highest possible punishment and I never want to see them again
The Public Prosecution Service believes that it is virtually impossible that K. did not hear the shot, with which she withheld crucial information to keep A. alive. Those involved in the more than a thousand pages file state that a “favorable chance of survival” could be expected with timely and adequate action. K. would have failed to do that and that is why the officer finds her guilty of culpable homicide.
After the death of their cousin, K.’s family mourned with A.’s family for ten days, but according to the victim statements, none of them spoke about what had actually happened. “All this time they have kept that secret,” said A.’s parents via Victim Support. “It’s hard to forgive the fact that you don’t tell your own family the truth. Our trust has been abused.”
“They should receive the highest possible punishment and I never want to see them again,” said one of the brothers of the deceased boy. Today, through a speaker from Victim Support, he addressed his cousins and aunt, who were involved in the shooting.
Life upside down
The victim’s mother, father and three brothers say their lives have been turned upside down by what happened. They no longer eat together and have trouble trusting people. School performance deteriorates and several brothers suffer from aggressive feelings.
An older brother will face court tomorrow. He was not at home at the time of the incident, but the weapon is believed to be his. He is also suspected of possessing and preparing to deal more than a gram of heroin, and he is said to be involved in the theft of his cousin’s belongings, just like Y..
In addition to the six-month unconditional prison sentence, the public prosecutor would like to comply with the request for a five-year location and contact ban for K’s family. The five surviving relatives should also all receive compensation of 10,000 euros per person, and reimburse the funeral expenses. The verdicts against the suspects are on April 26.