Hearing next week for boy accused of Bloomfield murder

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. (AP) -- More than nine months after his arrest, a 14-year-old boy diagnosed with serious mental illness will face a plea hearing next week in the killing of a neighbor in rural southeast Missouri.

Owen Welty was 13 when he was charged in November with first-degree murder in the death of 64-year-old Don McCollough, making him one of the youngest people in the state to be tried as an adult in a murder case. McCollough was shot to death Nov. 14 on his farm near Bloomfield.

Welty could face up to life in prison if convicted. Because of his young age, he is not eligible for the death penalty.

Experts have said Welty is schizophrenic and 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.

"This boy's lost nine months of his life with no evidence tying him to this crime," Welty's attorney, Jim McClellan said. "There is not a single piece of physical evidence."

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.

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.

But Dr. Michael Zaricor, who performed the autopsy on McCollough, said the fatal bullet pierced McCollough's jaw, broke his dentures and severed his vocal chords and carotid artery, making it virtually impossible for him to say "ouch."

Trevor Pulley, a detective with the Stoddard County Major Case Squad, said he retrieved a rifle from the boy's home with one spent shell, though the bullet fragment found on McCollough's body could not be conclusively tied to Welty's rifle. Pulley also said a computer at the home contained two chat logs in which the boy mentioned the incident, but did not confess to the crime.

Authorities have not disclosed a possible motive.

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Information from: Dexter Daily Statesman, http://www.dailystatesman.