A 14-year-old Ohio boy who spent months searching how to strangle someone admitted Monday to killing his 64-year-old neighbor and was ordered to juvenile detention until he turns 21, according to prosecutors and court records.
The teen, who was 13 at the time, pleaded guilty in Hamilton County Juvenile Court to aggravated murder, aggravated burglary and strangulation in the Feb. 2 killing of Sheila “Denise” Tenpenny at her Fairfax home, according to WCPO 9 Cincinnati. Prosecutors also said the boy researched how to defeat a police interrogation and posted about the attack afterward. (RELATED: Mayors Of Big Cities Agree Juvenile Crime Is A ‘Serious’ Problem, Poll Shows)
“[He] researched how to strangle someone, how to do it, how to find a victim,” Assistant Prosecutor Linda Scott told the court, WLWT News 5 reported.
Prosecutors said the boy entered Tenpenny’s home on Germania Street between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m., struck her and strangled her as she slept. He later posted, “this one was a fighter,” and messaged “I think I just got caught,” according to Fox 19 Now.
Investigators said Tenpenny fought back, leaving the teen’s blood throughout the house; she was found clutching his hair, and his watch was discovered under her body, evidence that helped lead to his arrest, WLWT reported.
Judge Kari Bloom reportedly ordered the teen to the Department of Youth Services until age 21 and required a victim-awareness class, completion of high school and cognitive behavioral therapy, local outlets reported. A stay-away order bars him from contacting Tenpenny’s family.
Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation Agent David Ward said the level of planning by someone so young was unprecedented in his experience. “Premeditation of the offense is chilling to me,” Ward said in court, adding he feared the teen could “learn from those mistakes” when released.
Family members told the court the murder devastated them. “What you did was not an accident, it was deliberate and it was planned,” one niece said in a statement read in court.