A 16-year-old who pleaded guilty last month to planning a Columbine-style attack at a northern Indiana high school told a judge Tuesday that he never intended to carry out the plot.
I could never harm a human being, he said, reading from a statement he wrote. Taking a life is something I could never do.
St. Joseph Probate Court Judge Peter Nemeth ordered the South Bend teenager placed in the custody of the state juvenile correctional system for an undetermined time. The Department of Correction will decide when he can be released on probation. There is no minimum stay, and he could remain in state custody until he turns 21.
The teen pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to commit murder for plotting to attack Penn High School near Mishawaka on Sept. 11. Authorities say the teenager exchanged e-mails with an Ohio man in April discussing simultaneous mass murders at Penn High and another location investigators haven't identified.
I'm very sorry for the anxiety I caused Penn High School and the community and I'm sorry to all my friends who were shocked by this, he said. All I can say is I'm not the same boy I was back in April. The experience has taught me a lot about myself.
Deputy prosecutor Eric Tamashasky said he hopes the teen was telling the truth when he said he didn't plan to carry out the attack.
But in a world with Columbine and Virginia Tech and NIU (Northern Illinois University), law enforcement can't look at those things and say, 'My bad' is good enough, he said.
In addition to reading his statement in court on Tuesday, the teenager also gave Nemeth a separate note. From the questions Nemeth asked, it appeared the teen said in the note that what he wrote in his e-mails was just harmless words.
You are indicating that it was harmless talking, unfortunately sometimes talking ... Nemeth said.
Can cause other people to act, the teenager said.
Exactly, Nemeth said.
Tamashasky said the teen went beyond just talk when he researched how to make propane tank bombs.
The teenager said he doesn't even know the name of the Ohio man with whom he exchanged e-mails. Lee Billi, 33, of Lakewood, Ohio, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of conspiracy to commit murder, 38 counts of pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor and one count of possessing criminal tools.
Outside court, the teenager's mother apologized, saying she understands the concerns her son's actions caused.
I thank God every day I wake up that nobody was hurt, that people were not killed, including my son, she said.
She said she hopes her son will learn from his mistakes.
I think he can go on and learn from his mistake and come out a stronger person, and maybe a better person, she said. It's what we can hope for.
