Hearing Held for Boy Facing Trial as Adult

A 10-year-old Monroe County boy accused of homicide was angry the day he took his father’s rifle and fatally shot a 7-year-old girl, according to testimony during a preliminary hearing Friday.

Claude Carr, the father of the dead girl, testified he saw Cameron Kocher leave a neighbor’s house in a fit of anger the day Jessica Ann Carr was shot.

“He appeared to be very angry, very upset,” Carr said.

The neighbor, Richard Ratti, in whose yard Jessica was shot, testified Cameron went home upset because Ratti would not allow the children to play video games. Ratti said he told the children they couldn’t play because they had left a room messy.

Prosecutors alleged that Cameron went home and loaded his father’s .35-caliber rifle. They said Cameron pointed the gun out his parents’ upstairs window and shot Jessica as she rode on the back of a snowmobile in the Rattis’ yard below.

Several witnesses testified Friday in Monroe County Court to determine whether there is enough evidence to send the case to trial. The hearing, which will resume Tuesday, is expected last several days.

Last month, Judge Ronald Vican ruled that Cameron, who was 9 years old at the time of the shooting, should face trial in criminal court, rather than juvenile court, because the adult court is better equipped to deal with the serious charge of criminal homicide.

At the beginning of Friday’s hearing, Cameron was also charged with two counts of aggravated assault in connection with Jessica’s death, and with recklessly endangering the life of Shannon Ratti, 13, who was driving the snowmobile.

Cameron sat between his parents in the front row of the jury assembly room being used as a courtroom. As in other hearings, Cameron showed no emotion throughout the hearing.