A 10-year-old Pennsylvania boy has been charged as an adult for killing a 90-year-old woman over the weekend.
The Scranton Times-Tribune reports that Tristan Kurilla was spending Saturday with his grandfather, Anthony Virbitsky, in Scranton, Pa. while Virbitsky worked as a caretaker for Helen Novak. According to the Times-Tribune, Kurilla beat Novak with a cane because she made him angry:
While visiting Virbitsky, Tristen went into Novak's room around 10 a.m. to ask a question. Tristen told police Novak yelled at him to leave the room.
Tristen, very mad at Novak's response, left the room and grabbed a wooden cane, police said. The boy told police Novak was sitting upright at the end of her bed when he came behind her, hooked the cane around her throat and pulled back.
I was only trying to hurt her, Tristen told police.
Tristen said he pushed the cane into Novak's throat for four to five seconds. He took the cane off her throat then punched her five times in the throat and five times in the stomach, according to police.
The boy went to his grandfather and told him Novak was bleeding from the mouth, police said. Virbitsky told police he did not find any blood when he first checked on Novak around 10:30 a.m., but the woman was breathing heavy and looked scared.
Virbitsky called 911 after finding Novak unresponsive 30 minutes later, and an autopsy showed that she died due to blunt force trauma.
The Times-Tribune explains that Kurilla was charged with homicide as an adult because state laws prevent juveniles from being charged with the crime. He faces an aggravated assault charge as well.
According to the boy's mother, he has a history of mental issues.
