Jurors Weigh Murder Case Against Fla. Teen

Jurors began deliberations Monday in the first-degree murder trial of a 14-year-old boy accused of gunning down his English teacher in a fit of rage last year.

Nathaniel Brazill was charged as an adult and could be sentenced to life in prison without parole if convicted. The jury also may consider lesser charges, including second-degree murder or manslaughter.

During closing arguments, prosecutor Marc Shiner said Brazill intentionally killed Barry Grunow, 35, on May 26 after the teacher rejected the boy’s request to speak with two girls in his class.

Shiner said Brazill admitted he got a gun from home, returned to school with it in his pocket, took it out and pulled the slide to load a bullet in the gun’s chamber.

The teenager even admitted he pulled the trigger, Shiner said.

“He told you he did every single thing intentionally in this case up until the moment of truth when he pulled the trigger,” Shiner said.

The defense has argued that the shooting was an accident.

“He didn’t intend to harm Mr. Grunow; that’s ludicrous. And he certainly didn’t intend to kill him,” said defense attorney Robert Udell, calling it an act of manslaughter.

Brazill was 13 when he shot Grunow in the doorway of the teacher’s classroom at Lake Worth Middle School. The boy had earlier been sent home for throwing a water balloon but returned in hopes of speaking to the girls in Grunow’s class.

Shiner said Brazill felt in control with the gun, which the teen had stolen from his grandfather’s house a week earlier. “I’m going to show those girls that I’m a big man and maybe they should go out with me,” Shiner said, depicting what he said was the boy’s attitude. “I’m Nate Brazill. I have a gun.”

He added: “When Mr. Grunow said, ‘No,’ everything came to a tumultuous end for this defendant.”

Brazill testified that the gun went off unintentionally. He conceded that he got mad when Grunow didn’t take him seriously, but he said he pulled the hammer back on the .25-caliber pistol only to scare the teacher. He also said he thought the gun’s safety was on.

The trial has prompted protests. Amnesty International and others say sentencing someone so young to life in prison without a chance for parole violates international law.

The trial is the second in Florida in recent months to be scrutinized by rights groups. In March, Lionel Tate, 14, was sentenced to life in prison for the beating death of a 6-year-old friend.