Background: The home in Cheyenne, Wyo., where Theresa McIntosh was allegedly shot by her son Havoc Leone on March 7 (Google Maps). Inset: Theresa McIntosh (Facebook).
A Wyoming teenager charged with murdering his mother was reportedly motivated by being called a derogatory slur.
Havoc Leone, 14, appeared in Laramie County District Court on Monday to plead not guilty to first-degree murder. Leone is accused of fatally shooting his mother, 41-year-old Theresa McIntosh, at their family home in Cheyenne, Wyoming, on March 7. As Law&Crime previously reported, McIntosh and Leone had argued over a purportedly stolen tablet before he retrieved a gun from his closet and allegedly killed his mother.
During his arraignment on Monday, Leone's defense attorneys said their client had been enduring years of insults from his mother that came to a breaking point when she asked him if he was "r—ed."
According to courtroom reporting by Wyoming-based news outlet Cowboy State Daily, one of Leone's defense attorneys told the court that when McIntosh asked him the question, the teen replied, "Yes, Mom" before he allegedly shot her in the back of the head with her own Taurus 9 mm handgun.
Law&Crime reported that McIntosh, her common-law husband, and Leone fought that day over a tablet they accused him of stealing from one of McIntosh's work clients. When she asked him to get the tablet's password, he reportedly went into his bedroom closet to get a notebook that contained the password. At the same time, he allegedly retrieved the gun, which he had been accused of stealing from his mother's vehicle the week before.
According to court documents, Leone threw the notebook at his mother, who was doing a puzzle on the floor of the bedroom. While she was facing away from her son, he allegedly fired the fatal shot.
During Leone's arraignment, his defense lawyers argued that McIntosh had allegedly verbally abused her son "his whole childhood," often calling him "r—ed" and allegedly slapping him and pulling his hair. Leone's defense attorneys claimed McIntosh was "mentally ill."
Prosecutors painted a different picture, telling the court that Leone had been planning to kill his mother for a long time, according to interviews with detectives. He allegedly stole his mother's 9 mm handgun after he and his parents argued over his unsatisfactory grades a week prior to the alleged shooting. On the day of the alleged shooting, McIntosh reportedly also called her son a "thief" for stealing the tablet. Assistant District Attorney Kelly Strickland said, "Right before pulling the trigger on the gun, Theresa yelled at him again if he was 'r—ed.' He said, 'Yes, Mom,' and pulled the trigger."
A judge denied the defense's request to reduce Leone's bail. The teenager, who is being charged as an adult with first-degree murder, will remain in custody on $500,000 bond. His trial was scheduled for Aug. 10.