Boys Sentenced for Arkansas School Murders

A few hours after celebrating his 14th birthday with a cake and family all around him, Mitchell Johnson stood before 170 people in a jam-packed courtroom here Tuesday afternoon and apologized for the murder of five people.

“If I could go back and change what happened I’d do it in a minute,” the boy said in a warbly voice, publicly admitting for the first time his role in the March 24 shooting spree at Westside Middle School that left four girls and a teacher dead, 10 others wounded. “I hope anyone who’s listening to my words knows how sorry I am for what I have done.”

While Johnson pleaded guilty and apologized, his 12-year-old accomplice, Andrew Golden, pleaded not guilty by reason of incompetence. But at the close of a brief hearing that was mostly a formality, Judge Ralph Wilson swept aside Golden’s plea and found both boys delinquent, sentencing them to a $500 fine and an indefinite stay in a youth detention camp.

Wilson lamented that, under Arkansas’ juvenile code, he didn’t have the authority to do more.

The sentences provided a legal conclusion to the tragedy, but not much relief to this northeast Arkansas community of 50,000. Months after the deadliest of last year’s spate of school shootings, which placed the town at the center of a national debate on gun control and teen violence, Jonesboro’s emotional wounds remain raw, its anger high, as families of the victims attested Tuesday in open court.

Mitchell Wright--husband of 32-year-old English teacher Shannon Wright, who died shielding children from the gunfire--aimed his anger directly at the defendants, trying to explain in a parental tone what they’d wrought.

“You robbed [my 3-year-old son] of the one thing all children need, and that’s a loving mother,” Wright said, adding that he dreaded one day telling his son that those who took Shannon’s life would soon be free.

He told the boys that he’d lost more than his wife, but also his “best friend,” a devoted life mate with whom he’d planned to have another child, buy a house, travel. He said Shannon had wanted to stay home and be a full-time mom, but decided to spend one last year at Westside because she felt an obligation to the students--all the students, including Johnson and Golden.

While Wright spoke, the boys maintained dramatically different expressions. Johnson appeared deeply moved. Golden, who could barely be seen by most people in the courtroom because of his slight frame and stature, remained stoic, as he has since the day of the shootings.

Everyone in town knew that the boys could only be held until they turn 18, because they were younger than 14 when they committed the crime. So Tuesday’s hearing was almost without suspense.

But some were hoping the boys would speak and perhaps tell why. Why did they don camouflage outfits and pull the school’s fire alarm, then hide in a patch of woods off the playground and gun down their teachers and classmates like targets at a shooting range?

Besides Shannon Wright, killed were Natalie Brooks, 11, Paige Herring, 12, Stephanie Johnson, 12, and Britthney Varner, 11.

Neither boy explained why. Golden declined to say anything in his own behalf and Johnson merely apologized to all those affected, saying he thought “no one would actually be hurt” because he and Golden planned to shoot over the heads of their classmates.

The hearing began in the morning with a review of the evidence, which was grim and overwhelming. Prosecutors called eight witnesses, including law enforcement officers who found the boys minutes after the shooting near a stolen van and a small arsenal of still-smoking semiautomatic rifles and handguns, which they had stolen from Johnson’s grandfather.

Lawyers for the two boys didn’t cross-examine a single witness. The only resistance offered by the defense came when Val Price, who represented Golden, objected that his client was unable to understand the crime or punishment. The judge quashed the objection, and disregarded Golden’s plea.

Jonesboro residents echo the judge’s impatience. They say their sleepy farm town will never be the same. But their state may never be the same either, which gives some solace.

Under Arkansas law, the boys could be held an extra three years if there were a proper jail to house them. So, Gov. Mike Huckabee has vowed to build one, or outfit an existing one to meet legal requirements.

Also in the wake of Jonesboro, state legislators have said they will consider lowering the age at which criminals can be punished as adults, perhaps to 10, and changing the law to let juveniles be remanded to the adult prison system when they turn 21.

Earlier this summer, the Legislature heard powerful testimony from Jonesboro families, who said a short stint in a youth services camp for five murders is no justice.

After the hearing, Johnson’s father, Scott, stood outside the Craighead County Courthouse and took a less-conciliatory tone than his son had. He blasted authorities for sending the boy to a youth camp that he said is notorious for poor conditions and mistreatment of prisoners.

Tom Furth, a lawyer defending Scott Johnson against lawsuits filed by victims’ families, said part of the blame for the tragedy must be placed with school officials.

“If you’re going to look at culpability, you have to throw in Westside School District,” he said, suggesting that teachers and administrators ignored the boys’ violent threats the day before the shooting. Furth also took issue with a statement made by Mitchell Wright, who told reporters that Mitchell Johnson had singled out his wife. “I can promise you unequivocally,” Furth said, “that is not true. [Shannon Wright] was one teacher he particularly liked.”

Asked if he had a theory about why the boys did what they did, Furth said Mitchell Johnson was abused and sexually molested from the time he was 6 years old. He said the boy was angry and troubled, and that the shooting was his way of “lashing out.”

Just after the shooting, Furth said, Mitchell Johnson told him during one of their first jailhouse conferences: “Nobody listened. But now they have to listen.”

Surveying the sea of reporters, cameras and satellite trucks outside the courthouse, Furth said: “You know what? He’s right. We’re all here.”