CHEYENNE — An attorney for a Cheyenne teen charged as an adult with first-degree murder for allegedly shooting his mother in the head wants his case moved to juvenile court, claiming the boy was emotionally abused, secluded, and had a “dysfunctional” relationship with her.
In an 11-page motion filed with the Laramie County District Court on Tuesday, Emily Williams, a public defender representing Havoc Leone, asks the court for a hearing to argue that his case be transferred to juvenile court.
“It is undisputed that the charge is a violent felony against another person, specifically his mother,” she wrote in the motion. “However, the community’s safety is not protected by continuing to prosecute Defendant as an adult rather than transferring his case to juvenile court.”
Williams argues that Leone, who was 14 on March 6 when his 41-year-old mother Theresa McIntosh was shot and killed in his bedroom of their home, would benefit more from the extra attention and treatment he would receive from the juvenile system.
Alleged Abuse
She also said he needs that help because of an abusive and challenging upbringing that has left him less mature than other teens his age.
Leone “is not sophisticated or mature, even for his tender age,” the motion says. “He is an only child that had been homeschooled for nearly six years prior to the alleged incident.
“Defendant did not have many friends, if any, due to the decedent’s seclusion of Defendant from other kids and family members. As an example, she would not allow him to attend school or see his maternal aunt.”
Since Leone’s arrest, the aunt has been visiting him in the Laramie County Detention Center weekly and he has been interacting with other youths, “which is (a) new experience” for him, the motion says.
Williams also references other ways his mother allegedly alienated and emotionally abused Leone.
As a result, he “had a dysfunctional, but too close, relationship with the decedent,” Williams wrote. “He was introduced to pornography when very young within his household and has struggled with pornography addiction for a few years.”
His mother also reportedly “had severe mental health struggles” and problems with substance abuse. With his father away for stretches of time as a truck driver, Leone was left home alone with an abusive and addicted mother.
McIntosh “verbally and physically abused Defendant, and the full extent of this abuse will be explored in depth by a professional,” the motion says.
A message left for Williams wasn’t returned by publication; however, that abuse was brought up during Leon’s March 18 preliminary hearing.
She had reportedly called him “retarded” and a “thief” when they argued before the shooting, said defense attorney Jonathan Foreman.
“If I called you ‘retarded,’ would you believe it?” Foreman asked Laramie County Sheriff’s Office Detective Miles DePrimo, who testified about the details of the case, which included Leone admitting to hating his mother and shooting her.
DePrimo answered, “No.”
“Would a child who had been hearing that his whole childhood start to question that?” Foreman followed up.
“Maybe,” the detective answered.
“Ms. McIntosh, who was mentally ill … regularly called him ‘retarded,’ pulled his hair” and slapped him, said Foreman.
DA: Adult Charge ‘Appropriate’
Despite the arguments of abuse and his age — 14 is the cutoff in Wyoming to be charged as an adult — Laramie County District Attorney Sylvia Hackl said her office believes the adult charge is appropriate and will oppose Williams’ motion.
“Yes, we knew about the motion and yes, we will oppose his transfer to juvenile court,” she told Cowboy State Daily. “But, we have to wait and see what the defense produces (at a hearing on the motion).”
Hackl said she thought it appropriate to charge Leone as an adult when the crime happened in early March, and still does.
“He shot his mother in the head with a gun he stole from her car,” she said. “We thought the charges as an adult were appropriate. This motion to transfer is not a surprise.
“We consider every case on its own merits, and to say that this one is tragic and unusual, it is. It’s both tragic and unusual.”
Rehabilitate
If the goal of the justice system is to rehabilitate alleged offenders, then juvenile court is by far the best place for Leone, Williams argues in her motion.
“Defendant’s likelihood of reasonable rehabilitation through services available in juvenile court is very high,” the motion says. “Juveniles are more capable of change than are adults, and their actions less likely to be evidence of ‘irretrievably depraved character’ than are the actions of adults.”
Williams also argues that Leon’s pornography addiction could be better addressed in the juvenile system than in an adult facility.
“By the time Defendant is parole eligible, he will be long past his teenage years when his brain is most malleable,” the motion says. “In fact, Defendant would (be) approaching middle age at the likely time of his release.”
What Happened
In contrast to the picture painted in Williams’ motion, Assistant District Attorney Kelly Strickland has argued that Leone was far from a victim at the time he allegedly shot his mother.
Leone had expressed a long-simmering hatred for his mother, had thoughts about killing her, and then followed through when presented with an opportunity, Strickland argued at the teen’s preliminary hearing.
Along with stealing his mother’s gun from her car a week earlier and admitting he thought about killing her then, Leone’s interviews with detectives show he had “prior thoughts” of shooting his mother but hadn’t found the right opportunity until March 6, when the argument culminated in her being shot, Strickland said.
“Right before pulling the trigger on the gun, Theresa yelled at him again if he was ‘retarded,’” Strickland said, recounting an interview Leone had with an investigator. “He said, ‘Yes mom,’ and pulled the trigger.”
The fatal confrontation was the culmination of an argument Leone had with his parents over an electronic tablet that had been stolen from a cleaning client of McIntosh’s.
After the initial argument, they all went their separate ways in their three-level home just south of Cheyenne city limits, according to an affidavit of probable cause filed in his case.
The father went into the basement, McIntosh was upstairs in Leone’s room doing a puzzle on the floor, while Leone was at the kitchen table doing homework.
At some point, Leone went up to his room where McIntosh was, and they began arguing again, the affidavit says.
A gun the teen stole from his mother’s car the week prior, a Taurus 9mm pistol, had been stashed in a boot in Leone’s closet, the detective wrote.
At one point during their argument, Leone went to the closet to retrieve a notebook that supposedly had a password to access the stolen tablet, DePrimo testified at the preliminary hearing.
Leone pulled the gun out of the boot and held it by his side to hide it from McIntosh.
With McIntosh sitting back on her knees on the floor, Leone told detectives that he tossed the notebook at her, which forced the woman to lean forward away from him, exposing the back of her head, DePrimo testified.
“As she knelt forward, he revealed the gun and shot her,” he said.
Will Be Evaluated
An Aug. 10 date for Leon’s trial to start has been vacated and pushed back to Sept. 8, court records show.
In the meantime, Leone’s defense has retained a psychologist to evaluate him throughout July, who will then “need time to write a report with her findings,” the motion says. “The report will likely be completed before or during the month of September.”
That report may bolster Williams’ argument that treatment as a juvenile benefits society more than his incarceration as an adult.
“Defendant, whether convicted as an adult or having his case resolved in juvenile court, will be released into the community with many years to live and build his life,” the motion says. “Prioritizing his treatment and development will protect the community more than any other consideration.”
Leone remains at the Laramie County Detention Center on a $500,000 bond.
If convicted of first-degree murder, Leone could face life in prison without parole or life with the possibility for parole.
Because he’s younger than 18, Leone is not eligible for the death penalty in Wyoming.
Greg Johnson can be reached at greg@cowboystatedaily.com.
