Campbell Co., VA - In Campbell County, prosecutors painted a disturbing picture of a 14-year-old boy and got exactly the sentence they'd asked for. That boy pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter last month for killing 11-year-old Andrew Lambert after hunting near his home in Brookneal.

The judge says it may have been an accident, but it happened because of that boy's reckless disregard for human life and that deserves punishment, she said. In juvenile cases, that punishment isn't as clear cut as it would be for an adult.
Officially, the boy has been committed to the Department of Juvenile Justice. What that means is: he'll be held by the state for an undetermined amount of time.

He'll go through periodic reviews, and when they decide he's ready to be released, he'll be let go.  He cannot be kept beyond his twenty-first birthday. During the sentencing phase Friday, prosecutors pointed to a history of poor behavior.

They say the boy was written up 17-times in one school year, and recently served a 10-day suspension for bullying and harassment.
He was also taken in recently for trespassing and petty larceny for his role in a home break-in. His defense attorney asked a judge to consider his behavior since Andrew Lambert's death.

"He has certainly, according to the evidence, done everything everybody has asked of him since this happened, and has been of exemplary behavior since then," Defense Attorney Joseph Sanzone said.

Friday’s sentence can still be appealed.

 

Stay with ABC-13 for the latest.

 

 

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