A 14-year-old boy was acquitted in the schoolyard shooting of a reputed class bully who lost a lung and suffered a stroke as a result.
Defense attorney Ken Keeling told jurors his client acted in self-defense when he shot Quinn Ash-worth, 15, in the chest. If the youth had not shot him, "somebody else would have done it," Keeling said.Keeling said Ashworth prompt-ed the May 14 shooting at Huntsville Junior High School by attacking the 14-year-old, who wasn't identified, two days in a row, breaking the youth's nose with his head moments before the shooting.
The defendant began to walk away, then pulled a pistol and fired one shot, witnesses testified. The youth said he was so stunned by the blow to his head he didn't recall pulling the gun.
District Attorney David Weeks said he would consider charging the juvenile with carrying a weapon onto school grounds.
"Heaven help us next year," Weeks said after Friday's verdict. "This verdict says it's OK for 14-year-olds to settle their differences with a gun."