A 14-year-old Florida boy who killed his favourite teacher when he shot him in the head during an argument on the last day of school, was sentenced to 28 years in prison today.
Nathaniel Brazill, who was 13 when he shot teacher Mr Barry Grunow between the eyes at Lake Worth Middle School last year, was sentenced to 28 years in prison after being convicted of second-degree murder.
Judge Richard Wennet also sentenced him to serve a concurrent five-year sentence for aggravated assault for pointing the gun at another teacher.
Brazill, who was tried as an adult, faced a minimum of 25 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life. He seemed relieved, smiling slightly and nudging defence attorney Lance Richard after the judge read the sentence.
The judge said he had given some great consideration to re-integrating Brazill into the community upon his release from prison. He ordered the boy to serve two years of house arrest and five years of probation, complete an anger management course and obtain a high school equivalency degree after he is released.
The judge also barred him from having any contact with Mr Grunow's relatives, many of whom had urged the judge to lock up Brazill for life.
Brazill's family appeared relieved at the sentence, which could have seen their son spend the rest of his life behind bars. The teen-age boy, whose sentence will be reduced by 428 days already served, will be 41 before he leaves prison.
Brazill told the court on Thursday that he was very, very sorry he killed the man he called his favourite teacher.
Brazill had been sent home from school early on the last day of class, May 26th, 2000, for throwing water balloons. He went back to the school with a .25-caliber handgun taken from his grandfather's cookie tin and shot Mr Grunow when the teacher refused to allow him to speak with friends in Mr Grunow's class.
The case attracted wide attention both as an incident of school violence and because of controversy over how juveniles accused of serious crimes should be tried and punished.