Two boys accused of killing their father after years of physical abuse pleaded "no contest" Tuesday to a reduced charge of first-degree manslaughter and received deferred sentencing.
Prosecutors and attorneys for Herman Dutton, 15, and his brother Druie Dutton, 12, explained to reporters after a closed-door juvenile proceeding in district court that sentencing was deferred until April 7, 1996.If the boys stay out of trouble with the law during that time period, they will not be adjudicated as juvenile delinquents. They will remain under foster care until such time as one of their relatives is granted custody.
The boys were originally charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder in the July 12 shooting death of their father, Lonnie Dutton, 39, at nearby Rush Springs, about 40 miles southwest of Oklahoma City.
Family members said the boys shot their father after their sister told them he had molested her.
Herman, the older brother, held a deer rifle to his father's head while his younger brother pulled the trigger, they later told relatives. The children had experienced years of abuse at the hands of their father, they said.
Deferred sentencing will allow the boys to remain in therapeutic foster care as wards of the state rather then being locked up in a detention facility.