Boy Accused of Killing Teacher Testifies

His voice steady and calm, a 14-year-old boy on trial for murder in the shooting death of his English teacher testified Tuesday that he liked the man and didn’t mean to harm him.

“He was a nice guy, a good teacher,” said Nathaniel Brazill, whose brief, matter-of-fact answers were carried live on all-news cable networks. “He made his class fun.”

Brazill was 13 when he was charged last year with firing a shot from a cheap pistol that killed Barry Grunow, 35, a few minutes before middle school let out for summer break. He returned to school after being sent home by a counselor for throwing water balloons.

Brazill could be sentenced to life in prison without parole if convicted.

Dressed in a dark sweater, collared shirt and tie, Brazill took the stand and calmly described how he arrived at Grunow’s classroom and became upset when the teacher refused to let him talk to two girls inside.

He said he took the gun out of his pocket, raised it and pulled back the hammer because he wanted Grunow to take him seriously.

“I thought about it this way: If you have a million dollars and I point the gun at you, are you going to keep the million dollars or are you going to give it to me?” Brazill said.

He said the gun fired immediately after Grunow told him to get the gun out of his face. He said the loud sound and blood scared him.

Brazill said his eyes started getting blurry and he later realized they were filling with tears.

“Ten million dollar question, why did you take the gun?” defense attorney Robert Udell asked.

“I was just carrying it,” Brazill said. “I didn’t plan on using it.”