Boy charged with murder faces plea hearing next week

~ The teen has been certified as an adult and could face life in prison if found guilty.

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- Owen Welty, who was charged with first-degree murder as a 13-year-old, faces a plea hearing next week for the 2006 killing of a Dexter man.

He has been certified as an adult and could face life in prison if found guilty.

When Welty, now 14, was arrested in connection with the fatal shooting of 64-year-old Don McCollough, he became one of the youngest people in Missouri to be tried as an adult in a murder case. McCollough was shot to death Nov. 14 on his farm near Bloomfield.

The Associated Press reported that experts have declared Welty to be schizophrenic and that he suffers from a depressive disorder with psychotic features. They said he hears demonic voices and hallucinates.

The case has long been delayed pending results of a court-ordered psychiatric exam. At a preliminary hearing this week, a judge denied a request by Welty's attorneys to drop the charges.

The delay in the court proceedings was difficult for the victim's family, said Linda McCullough, daughter-in-law of the deceased.

"We just don't know how long it's going to be," she said.

Welty and his family live on property next to McCollough's. Authorities say Welty and his father were hunting in the woods behind the properties on the day McCollough was shot. Welty told police others were also hunting in the area.

According to an AP article, Welty told authorities he shot at a turkey around 2:30 p.m. that day but missed. About 20 minutes later, Welty told police, he heard a shot, then heard McCollough, who had been working on a shed, scream "ouch." Welty said he alerted a neighbor, then went home and told his mother.

The AP also reported that Dr. Michael Zaricor, who performed the autopsy on McCollough, said the fatal bullet pierced McCollough's jaw, broke his dentures and severed his vocal cords and carotid artery, making it virtually impossible for him to have exclaimed "ouch."

The new information came as a shock to the victim's family, Linda McCullough said.

"We hadn't known what was in the autopsy report," she said.

Authorities have not disclosed a possible motive.

Staff writer Bridget DiCosmo contributed to this report.