A shocking case out of Wyoming has left a community stunned after a 14-year-old boy was charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of his mother, according to multiple reports.
Authorities say deputies with the Laramie County Sheriff’s Office responded to a home on the 2300 block of Pine Avenue on Saturday, March 7, after receiving a report of a woman with a gunshot wound to the head.
When first responders arrived, they found 41-year-old Theresa McIntosh unconscious but still breathing. Investigators said she had a visible gunshot wound to the back of her head.
McIntosh was rushed to Cheyenne Regional Medical Center before being airlifted to UC Health in Fort Collins, Colorado. Despite doctors’ efforts, she later died from her injuries.
The 14-year-old boy was taken into custody at the scene. According to reports, he initially told investigators that his mother had died by suicide.
But medical staff reportedly noticed something that raised immediate concerns. Doctors said the wound did not appear to be a “contact wound,” which is typically seen in firearm suicides, according to court documents cited by local news outlets.
At the time of the shooting, the only other people inside the home were McIntosh’s common-law husband and the teenage suspect.
Investigators later uncovered details about what may have led to the deadly confrontation.
According to court documents, McIntosh had been working on a puzzle in her son’s bedroom earlier that day. The two had reportedly gotten into an argument after she accused him of stealing a tablet from a client of her house-cleaning business.
During the argument, the boy allegedly told police his mother called him names, including “thief.”
Authorities also claim the teen had taken the gun used in the shooting about a week earlier after another heated dispute with his mother over a poor math grade.
In an affidavit, Deputy Miles DePrimo wrote that the boy admitted he was angry shortly before the shooting.
“He was angry right before he shot McIntosh and couldn’t tell her how much he hated her because she doesn’t understand him,” the deputy wrote in the document.
Investigators also claim the teen told them he had previously thought about killing his mother when she forced him to do things he didn’t want to do.
The case remains under investigation as the shocking details continue to emerge.