What happens legally when a 13 year accidentally shoots and kills her brother

[snailslime]

I'm writing a story and a key moment in my protagonist's backstory is when she was thirteen and accidentally shot her twin brother in the head during a hunting trip with their father. I was thinking about having her get sent to some sort of juvenile correction/mental health facility until she turns eighteen, but I wasn't sure if this was accurate to how United States law works regarding these types of situations. Also, would any sort of serious legal repercussions be unrealistic given this would be something that happens within the family, and if so, would it work better if the brother was instead the child of a family friend? Any info would be helpful!

Comments

[full_metal_ox]

Welcome to Dreamwidth; I hope this comm and the platform provide what you’re looking for!

To begin with, what race and socioeconomic class are we talking? That’ll have a huge impact.

[snailslime]

I'm thinking upper middle class/upper class since the protag's father is a police sergeant. which now that I'm typing it out that would probably also have a big impact on what happens lol.

[conuly]

If she's a well-off child with a cop father, why is she incarcerated for an accident? Corrections is for people who have committed crimes. Accidents are not crimes - and she's not exactly the sort of demographic that the law likes to come down heavily on.

[threeplusfire]

Given the age and circumstances, the father could be looking at charges for failure to properly supervise/secure the firearms depending on where they lived. American news (generally local rather than national) is absolutely full of stories of kids accidentally shooting their siblings and it has become more common for parents to be charged with some kind of negligence for having guns accessible. Especially depending on the type of weapon - are they hunting with regular old shotguns or rifles or did Dad send the kids out into the woods with a couple AR-15s?

If the shooting was an accident, then she would not be institutionalized by the law. Possibly she could be sent to juvenile if charges were brought/an investigation determined this was not accidental? But that's a whole different can of worms about getting railroaded by the juvenile justice system and particularly where your protagonist's race/socioeconomic class will have a huge impact. White kids often get substantially less penalties than kids of color for a lot of reasons and receive more benefit of the doubt about innocence.

Presuming this was an accident, that we're talking a middle class family - if in the aftermath of her twin's death the protagonist became extremely depressed/suicidal/out of control then it would be possible for her parents to send her to a mental health facility. She could be there awhile but probably not five years long. This is going to depend on the family's health insurance and they are stingy as hell when it comes to in patient treatment. Maybe a couple months if they're good but longer than that would be a real fight/require some serious issues.

As for the relationship to the victim - it's only going to matter for your protagonist. The law is going to be the same whether this is her brother or an unrelated child. If the father is a cop there's going to be some degree of pressure from the cops to protect each other contrasted with the pressure to do things by the book/not show favoritism or corruption of the system. That's another complex dynamic in America, the cops.

[altamira16]

This would be fine in the US. It's an accident, and no one would got to jail.

[voidampersand]

Even when there aren't legal penalties, there are lots of repercussions.

It would be a very traumatic experience. Losing a twin would hurt. Knowing it's your fault would only make it worse.

The father would also feel that he was responsible. Did he fail to properly train his children about gun safety? Did he fail to supervise them when the accident occurred? He lost a son and his daughter is probably mentally scarred for life. It's devastating.

Because there was a death, the authorities must be involved. You can pretty much guarantee that all of them will be upset about the accident, whether they admit it or not.

This reminds me of a police officer who would take his son along with him on calls. He responded to an auto accident. It was bad. Afterwards, he said he really should not have taken his son along.

[full_metal_ox]

Note that the loss of a twin—even from natural causes—is considered such a keen bereavement that there are specialized counseling and support groups for it; here’s a Reddit devoted to accounts from twin (and some further multiple) survivors, who lost their twins for numerous reasons and at numerous stages from prenatal to adulthood:

https://www.reddit.com/r/TwinlessTwins/

The father would also feel that he was responsible. Did he fail to properly train his children about gun safety? Did he fail to supervise them when the accident occurred? He lost a son and his daughter is probably mentally scarred for life. It's devastating.

That assumes that he’s a loving and responsible father, which the OP hasn’t told us as yet. If the son was the Golden Child and the daughter the Scapegoat, this could get really ugly.

Also: are these his only kids, or are there other siblings? Their support or its absence could make a lot of difference for OP’s character.

[voidampersand]

Yeah. I was presuming a functional, loving family, where it would still be devastating. But it could be worse.

[topaz_eyes]

There would likely be a police investigation to determine the circumstances surrounding the death, and to determine whether the shooting was accidental or intentional.

In which US state is the story set? As a minor, your protag could be charged with causing the death of another person whether it was intentional or not, depending on the outcome of the investigation. In some states she may be charged as an adult, so the location is important.

[fairyniamh]

She would be detained by the police while they investigate the incident. If they think she could be a danger to herself or others she would be held in a hospital and guarded by an officer. This way medical staff could assist with assessing her mental health.

Overall, they would release her to a place/person she would feel safe and cared for.

[kate_nepveu]

if you need her to be incarcerated then it needs to be not an accident or something that a number of people could agree or go along with not being an accident, I'm afraid.

[donut_donut]

yes, it would be more plausible if there were no adult witnesses around, and if the twins had been fighting recently. then there's a chance that an over-zealous prosecutor could try to argue it was intentional homicide.

[akinoame]

So like everyone said, if it's an accident, then she's not going to be put in any kind of facility.

However, there is the possibility of reckless endangerment. For instance, if she (and maybe her brother) were goofing off and not doing what they were supposed to and as a result, her gun went off and the bullet hit her brother.

This resource is based off of Indiana state law, but it does bring up a gun-related example: shooting into the air where the bullets can hit someone when they land. This will vary by state, and you'd have to do some research on how things would go for a child charge.

Check the American Bar Association, since they have a state-by-state listing of resources for free legal aid, although it looks like you probably have to have an actual case that you're looking for advice on.

There's also Justia's Ask a Lawyer, where you can post a question and Bar-licensed attorneys will answer. Just again, know what state you're setting this in. Things will vary.

[melannen]

What everyone else says about about her being incarcerated by the law. However, it's not at all uncommon for a kid to have psychological problems and/or a family to fall apart after an incident like that, and if you need her to have been imprisoned separate from her family during her teen years, the US has a whole lamentable industry of "boarding schools for troubled youth". Many of them are essentially private juvenile detention facilities where kids can be shipped off by parents who can't or don't want to deal with them. (A lot of them are also notorious for all different kids of abuse.) So that's certainly an option; an upper middle class white cop's family is exactly the sort of family that might consider than if the kid was traumatized and acting out and the marriage was falling apart. The trouble teen industry wikipedia page is a starting point if you think that might be a route to go: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troubled_teen_industry