Grandma of boy, 10, who shot mom says he suffers psychiatric illness

‘There’s two little girls in his head telling him to do things’: Grandmother of boy, 10, charged as an adult for shooting dead his mother says he suffers from severe psychiatric illness – and started torturing his puppy from the age of four

  • Lueritha Mann said the 10-year-old boy, who has not been publicly named, hears imaginary voices who tell him to do ‘bad things’ and has trouble sleeping 
  • ‘He’s always said that he hears voices,’ she said. ‘He said that his thoughts and everything starts generating at five or six in the morning’ 
  • The 10-year-old boy allegedly killed his mom, Quiana Mann, 44, of Milwaukee, on November 21 inside their home after she refused to buy him a $500 VR headset
  • He was originally let go by police after saying he was twirling the gun around his finger when it went off. He later admitted to cops he shot her in close range 
  • He was arrested for first-degree reckless homicide and will be tried as an adult. He is currently being housed in a juvenile facility on $50,000 bond 
  • The boy is expected to appear in court on December 7 and could face up to 60 years in prison if convicted as an adult

The grandmother of a Milwaukee boy, who allegedly shot and killed his mother at close range over a $500 VR headset, said he suffers from severe psychiatric illness. 

Lueritha Mann said the 10-year-old boy, who has not been publicly named, hears imaginary voices who tell him to do ‘bad things’ and has trouble sleeping. 

She also said he had a hard time understanding emotions and reactions and had exhibited concerning behavior for years, including swinging a puppy by its tail, despite the animal’s cries of pain, at the age of four. 

The boy, who is accused of killing his mother, Quiana Mann, 44, of Milwaukee, on November 21, hears five imaginary people, including two girls, an older woman, and two ‘mean’ men. 

Lueritha said the ‘two little girls in his head tell him to do things’ and that the voices are the loudest in the early morning. 

‘He’s always said that he hears voices,’ she told the Daily Beast. ‘He said that his thoughts and everything starts generating at five or six in the morning. Sometimes four o’clock.

‘He has an imaginary friend that will tell him to do really bad things.’ 

The ‘rage[-filled]’ child killed Quiana between 6 and 7am and is said to not have expressed remorse for the slaughter.

Lueritha Mann said the 10-year-old boy, who has not been publicly named, hears imaginary voices who tell him to do ‘bad things’ and has trouble sleeping

‘He’s always said that he hears voices,’ the grandmother (pictured) said. ‘He said that his thoughts and everything starts generating at five or six in the morning. Sometimes four o’clock. ‘He has an imaginary friend that will tell him to do really bad things’

Quiana Mann, 44, of Milwaukee, (pictured) was allegedly shot and killed by her 10-year-son  on November 21. The boy allegedly killed his mother because she wouldn’t buy him a $500 VR headset

He was originally released by police, who deemed the killing an accident, after telling them he was twirling the gun around his finger when it went off. However, a day later, a family member called authorities again to report the boy had admitted to aiming the weapon at his mother. 

He has since been arrested and charged with first-degree reckless homicide, and is being held in a juvenile facility on a $50,000 bail. He is also being tried as an adult. 

Wisconsin law requires children as young as 10 to be charged as adults for certain serious crimes, though the boy’s attorneys can seek to move the case to juvenile court. 

The boy’s family said he has ‘concerning’ mental health issues, and has exhibited disturbing behavior in the past due to the voices. 

When he was four, the boy allegedly swung the family’s puppy around by its tail, the criminal complaint says. Six months ago, the family told police, the boy filled a balloon with a flammable liquid and set it on fire, causing an explosion that burned furniture and the carpet. 

When asked why he did it, the boy said the ‘two sisters told him to do it.’ 

In addition to getting a concussion two years ago, which Lueritha said ‘made him worse,’ the boy’s mental health has been ‘spiraling’ and he often doesn’t pick up on other’s emotions and reactions. 

‘He didn’t pick up on a lot of things. He talks intelligently, but he doesn’t understand a lot of things. And he would cry a lot,’ the grandmother told the Daily Beast. 

Quiana had been taking her son to a therapist and was getting daily reports from his school, but no matter how many people were helping, she struggled to stabilize him, the grandmother said. 

‘We tried helping her with him,’ Lueritha told the Daily Beast. ‘All of us, everybody that knows her, even her church people. We all tried helping her with him because we knew he had a mental illness.

‘I don’t know if he was ever really happy. Unless, you know, he was getting something.’ 

The VR headset wasn’t the first time the child had used his mother’s credit cards and accounts to purchase things for himself.  

Quiana (left) has been taking her mentally challenged son to a therapist and was receiving daily reports from the school about his behavior, but was unable to stabilize him, his grandmother (right) said

 His sister, Brianna Moore, 26, also said in the complaint that her brother has had ‘rage issues’ all his life and becomes ‘very angry and acts out.’ 

Quiana also set up cameras around the home, but the cameras had been unplugged during the shooting, according to WISN. It is unclear who disabled the cameras.  

The child, who calls his grandmother every day at 6pm, is now hoping to come back home and told Lueritha that he wants to write a letter to the judge to ‘put some type of monitor on him, some electrode on him so he could come home.’ 

‘If he did, if he had bad thoughts or got ready to do anything bad that it would, it would shock him or electrocute him or something,’ Lueritha explained the child’s thinking to the Daily Beast. 

He has asked his family to come home to decorate for Christmas – something his mother also prioritized to help with his psychiatric problems. 

Lueritha also said she doesn’t believe her daughter would want the child to be tried as an adult and the family plans to do ‘everything’ to help him.        

Originally, the 10-year-old boy had been released back into the custody of his family after his initial interview with police over his mother death. 

Police had originally ruled the shooting an accident after the boy told them the weapon went off while he was twirling it around his finger in the laundry room, where his mother was. 

However, his aunt contacted police a day later to say the boy had told her he had pointed the gun directly at his mother after retrieving it from the lockbox, which he accessed via a key on her keyring. 

Quiana was doing laundry when she was shot between 6 and 7am 

 Quiana (pictured) is a mother of four: Brianna, 26, TJ, Brandon, and Noah. It is unclear which boy shot her 

In a second interview with police, the boy admitted to standing in a shooting stance and aiming at his mother. He said he tried shooting a wall to ‘scare her’ when she walked in front of him and he shot her, the complaint says.

Quiana was shot from three feet away, which was evident in the way her face stippled, ‘indicating that the gun was fired at the victim at close range,’ the complaint noted. 

He told police he got the gun from the lockbox that morning because his mother woke him up early – at 6am instead of 6.30am – and because she wouldn’t let him buy the headset on Amazon.

The boy’s aunt, Sharhonda Reid, and his sister also said he never cried or showed remorse and had also physically attacked his seven-year-old cousin the same day.

The child had apologized to his grandma for ‘killing my mom,’ but she claimed this was said in an unremorseful tone. 

Police originally ruled the shooting, which took place at their home (pictured), an accident after the boy told them he was twirling the gun around his finger when it fired. However, a day later, his aunt called police to say he admitted to aiming the gun at Quiana, which he confirmed to authorities in a second interview

The boy wanted an Oculus Virtual Reality Headset – which ranges from $130 to nearly $500 on Amazon. He went onto his mother’s account the day after the shooting and bought the headset and then allegedly unremorsefully told his grandmother that he was ‘sorry for killing my mom’ and then asked where his package was 

In addition, the day after her death, the boy went on his mother’s Amazon and purchased the Oculus VR headset – before later asking his grandmother where his package was. 

The boy’s lawyer, Angela Cunningham, called the shooting an ‘absolute family tragedy’ and said she didn’t think anybody would deny or disagree with that.’

However, she did not think the adult system would be ‘equipped to address the needs of a 10-year-old child.’

It is unclear if she plans to petition to move the case to juvenile court. 

The boy is expected to appear in court on December 7 and is being held on a $50,000 bond. 

He could face up to 60 years in prison if convicted as an adult. 

His mother’s funeral is set for Friday and according to a GoFundMe, she will be remembered as ‘compassionate, loving, and kind.’

‘Quiana was cherished and beloved by all who knew her; her smile alone could light a room.’

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