Tess Damm was sixteen years old when she murdered her mother. According to court documents Tess Damm and her boyfriend Bryan Grove planned the murder of the victim. Bryan Grove would fatally stab multiple times in her neck causing her death. This teen killer would ultimately plead guilty to second degree murder and sentenced to twenty three years in prison. Tess Damm was granted parole in 2018
Tess Damm Other News
Tess Damm is up for parole for the first time since she was incarcerated as a 16-year-old for her role in the murder of her mother in Lafayette in 2007.
Tess Damm, now 26, has applied for discretionary parole after serving nearly 10 years of her 23-year prison sentence for directing her then-boyfriend to stab Linda Damm to death at the family’s home.
On Wednesday, Tess Damm will be interviewed by one member of Colorado’s parole board, and that member then will recommend either deferring Damm’s application for a specified time or releasing her to discretionary — as opposed to mandatory — parole.
“The person I am now at the age of 25 is drastically different,” Damm wrote to the parole board last April. “The past 10 years, thanks to the various treatment opportunities I was afforded, have opened my eyes to the person I used to be. I am able to see my thought process that led to my crime and I know that I will never find myself back at that place.”
Boulder County District Attorney Stan Garnett, who became chief prosecutor two years after the murder, said his office has not taken a position supporting or opposing Damm’s release.
“Prosecutors are not notified by the Department of Corrections when a defendant has an upcoming parole hearing, and the Tess Damm case is no different,” Garnett said Monday. “The DA’s office typically only considers writing a letter objecting to the possible parole of a defendant if requested by a victim or victim’s family, and we have not been asked to do so in this case.”
In her letter to the parole board, Tess Damm said that her first goals in community placement would be to find a job, manage her finances and get involved with a church.
“It is difficult to articulate the extent of my remorse for the choices I made that cost my mother her life, but the continual contact I have with my aunt, my mother’s sister, has above all taught me the beauty and healing that comes with forgiveness,” Tess Damm wrote. “I cannot go back and undo what was done, but I can have a successful life from here and bring honor to my mother through the choices and decisions I make every day for the rest of my life.”
According to an acceptance letter from Reintegration Ministries, a residential program in Denver formerly known as Inside/Out, Tess Damm would be responsible for monthly rent, participation in group and individual sessions, and weekly classes based on the Bible.
Because she was a teenager at the time of incarceration, Tess Damm would have access to help with basic life skills “that not every client requires” and assistance from one-on-one life coaching, mentorship and group counseling, according to the letter.
In February 2007, Bryan Grove stabbed Linda Damm 18 times in the neck at her Lafayette home. Grove, who was 17 at the time, was Tess Damm’s boyfriend. Police said Tess Damm plotted to kill her mother because of abuse and neglect.
The couple’s friends Jared Smith, then 16, and Jared Guy, then 18, accepted plea deals for their roles in covering up the homicide after it took place.
A year after the killing, Tess Damm pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 23 years in prison, with the first five years to be served at a juvenile facility.
She is currently housed at the Denver Women’s Correctional Facility.
Grove was charged with first-degree murder in the killing. He also pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in 2008 and was sentenced to 40 years in prison.
He is currently at the Arkansas Valley Correctional Facility, and will become eligible for parole in 2033, when he will be 44.
Tess Damm Videos
Tess Damm Release
Tess Damm was released on parole after serving more than a decade in prison for directing her then-boyfriend to murder her mother in Lafayette in 2007.
Colorado Department of Corrections spokeswoman Annie Skinner said Damm was released on parole in April 2019.
In a letter to the parole board in 2018, Damm noted she was only a teen at the time of the murder.
“The person I am now at the age of 25 is drastically different,” Damm wrote to the parole board in 2018. “The past 10 years, thanks to the various treatment opportunities I was afforded, have opened my eyes to the person I used to be. I am able to see my thought process that led to my crime and I know that I will never find myself back at that place.”
In February 2007, Bryan Grove stabbed Linda Damm 18 times in the neck at her Lafayette home. Grove, who was 17 at the time, was Tess Damm’s boyfriend. Police said Tess Damm plotted to kill her mother because of abuse and neglect.
A year after the killing, Tess Damm pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 23 years in prison, with the first five years served at a juvenile facility.
Grove was charged with first-degree murder in the killing. He also pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in 2008 and was sentenced to 40 years in prison.
He is currently at the Arkansas Valley Correctional Facility in Ordway, and will become eligible for parole in 2033, when he will be 44.
The couple’s friends Jared Smith, then 16, and Jared Guy, then 18, accepted plea deals for their roles in covering up the homicide after it took place
Jesus Campos Jr was a fifteen year old from Texas who would sexually assault and murder a teen girl and then post the attack online. According to court documents Jesus Campos and the victim Karen Perez were at an abandoned building with a number of other teens. However the others would leave and that was the last time anyone saw Karen Perez alive.
Jesus Campos would sexually assault, which he would film, and murder the fifteen year old and then took photos of her body and sent it to friends. None of his friends would tell police. Three days after the murder Jesus Campos would confess to his father who would turn him in. This teen killer would be sentenced to life in prison without parole
Jesus Campos 2023 Information
SID Number: 50411857
TDCJ Number: 02231464
Name: CAMPOS,JESUS FRANCISCO JR
Race: H
Gender: M
DOB: 2000-10-03
Maximum Sentence Date: LIFE WITHOUT PAROLE
Current Facility: STILES
Projected Release Date: LIFE WITHOUT PAROLE
Parole Eligibility Date: LIFE WITHOUT PAROLE
Jesus Campos Other News
A South Houston teenager convicted of raping and murdering his girlfriend was sentenced this week to life in prison.
Jesus Campos Jr., 18, was convicted for the May 2016 murder of 15-year-old Karen Perez.
Perez was found dead underneath the kitchen sink in an empty apartment at an abandoned complex at Avenue N and 16th Street, next to South Houston High School.
Perez was missing for three days before Campos told his father, “She is not alive.” Campos’ father took the teen to Houston Police to confess, but Campos denied knowing where his girlfriend was. Campos told police he saw Perez at a taqueria the day before.
Another teen came forward after Perez’s disappearance and contacted Texas EquuSearch. The teen said he was part of a group with Perez and Campos that went to the abandoned apartment complex after being at the taqueria. That teen told officials he and two others went back to school but left Campos and Perez alone in the apartment.
Perez’s body was discovered hours after the teen’s tip.
In a search of Campos’ phone, investigators found images and a recording of Perez being sexually assaulted and strangled. In the recording, investigators say Perez is heard crying and begging Campos not to kill her, saying, “I don’t want to die, Jesus.”
In addition to the recording, jurors also saw graphic images Campos shared of Perez after killing her, and the teens with them refused to turn him in. One said in a text message, “bros before hoes.”
Campos was found guilty of capital murder in less than an hour and was sentenced to life in prison with a possibility of parole after 40 years.
A Houston teen who raped and murdered his girlfriend – and then shared images of her lifeless body with his friends – was sentenced to life in prison this week, according to Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg’s office.
Jesus Campos Jr. was 15 when he killed 15-year-old Karen Perez on May 27, 2016. He was convicted of capital murder Monday after a six-day trial.
“I’ve tried several capital murder cases,” said Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Meriwether in a statement. “But the recording of Karen being raped, and pleading for her life before she was so viciously murdered, will stay with me for the rest of my life.”
Perez, a freshman at South Houston High School, went missing days after her 15th birthday.
Volunteers, including Texas EquuSearch, had been searching for her for three days when Campos told his father “she is not alive.”
Campos’ father took the teen to the Houston Police Department to confess, but during questioning, he denied knowing where his girlfriend was. He told police that he last saw her at a taqueria the day she went missing.
Three days after Perez went missing, another teenager called Texas EquuSearch and said he was part of a group of teens including Perez and Campos who left school and went to the taco restaurant and then to an abandoned apartment complex. He told authorities that he and two other teens left and went back to school, but Perez and Campos stayed at the apartment. That was the last time he saw her alive.
Based on the tip, police found the young girl’s body.
Campos continued to insist he did not know where Perez was, but when investigators searched Campos’s cell phone they found images and a recording of the sexual assault and strangulation.
During the recording, Perez is heard crying and begging Campos not to kill her: “I don’t want to die, Jesus.”
At trial, jurors heard that Campos shared graphic images of Perez after he killed her.
The jury found Campos guilty of capital murder in less than an hour. The 18-year-old was automatically sentenced to life in prison, with a possibility of parole after 40 years.
Michael Campbell was seventeen years old when he murdered a sixteen year old girl he had met for the first time. According to court documents Michael Campbell and Shayna Ritthaler met on an online dating website and soon after started to date online. The two made plans for Shayna Ritthaler to run away and live with him.
Finally the two met and Michael Campbell would pick her up and a short time later Shayna Ritthaler was dead shot in the head. No one is quite sure why the murder happened. Michael Campbell hid the body but he would be soon arrested. The teen killer would plead guilty to first degree manslaughter and is expected to receive a fifty five year sentence later this year.
Michael Campbell News
A South Dakota teen has admitted to killing a 16-year-old girl who ran away from home to be with him after they met online.
On Thursday, Michael Campbell, 17, pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter in the killing of 16-year-old Shayna Ritthaler, according to the Argus Leader, KNBN and KOTA.
Ritthaler was reported missing from a Moorcroft, Wyoming, coffee shop last October.
Weeks earlier, she had met Michael Campbell on the dating website Badoo. The pair eventually planned for Campbell to drive to Wyoming to pick Ritthaler up so she could “run away and live with him in his house,” prosecutors said in court on Thursday, the Leader reports.
On Oct. 3, Michael Campbell picked Ritthaler up from Wyoming in his Jeep and drove her back to his Sturgis, South Dakota, home. During their time together, an argument ensued that ended when Campbell shot Ritthaler once in the head.
Through their investigation, police located Campbell’s Jeep and made contact with the teen on Oct. 6.
The following day, investigators found Ritthaler’s body in Campbell’s basement.
Shortly after his arrest, a judge sealed court documents detailing the crime citing the case’s “sensitive nature.”
Campbell was initially charged with second-degree murder, which was dismissed as part of the plea that recommends 55 years in prison. He is scheduled to be sentenced in July.
Michael Campbell Other News
A 17-year-old has entered pleas of not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity in the death of 16-year-old Shayna Ritthaler.
Michael Gavin Campbell was in court Thursday for his arraignment hearing. Campbell has been indicted on alternate charges of first-degree and second-degree murder in the death of Ritthaler.
Ritthaler, from Upton, Wyo., was the subject of a missing person’s case. Her body was found Oct. 7 in Campbell’s home near Sturgis after deputies and agents from the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation searched the house at the request of the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office, who was working with authorities in Wyoming.
Campbell, if convicted, can face prison time, but cannot be sentenced to life in prison because he is juvenile. Campbell’s attorney said he plans to file a motion to have the case moved to juvenile court.
Prosecutors allege Campbell shot and killed Ritthaler in his home earlier this month after an alleged argument between the two.
A judge set December 20 for Campbell’s status hearing and set that date as the deadline to turn in any documents related to the case.
An argument between Michael G. Campbell and Shayna Ritthaler,
a Wyoming 16-year-old who went missing Oct. 3, led to him allegedly shooting her, prosecutors said in court Wednesday.
Dressed in a green prison uniform and bound in shackles, Campbell made his
initial court appearance before Fourth Circuit Judge Kevin Krull Wednesday morning. The state is charging Campbell with murder in the second degree. Campbell, who is 17 years old, is being charged as an adult and not a juvenile in this case, so the proceedings remain open.
If convicted, he could face life in prison.
Acting Meade County State’s Attorney Michele Bordewyk asked that Campbell be held with no bond because the nature of the allegations against Campbell show he is a danger to the community.
“The defendant was with the victim. There was an argument. It got violent which led to him shooting her,” Bordewyk said.
Krull granted a motion by Bordewyk to seal the probable cause affidavit in the case. That means details of how the two knew each other and what happened leading up to the crime will not be known for now.
Bordewyk said following the hearing that the main reasons she asked for sealing the affidavit were because of the age of the victim and the abundant media coverage of Ritthaler’s disappearance before she was
found.
The body of a young female was discovered in a basement bedroom of a home in the Blucksberg Estates subdivision south of Sturgis near Interstate 90 Monday night.
The body is believed to be that of Ritthaler, Sgt. Caleb Deyo of the Meade County Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday. An autopsy was set for Thursday morning.
Bordewyk said they believe the shooting happened at the home where Campbell lives with his parents.
“I feel like we will know a lot more after the autopsy is done,” she said.
Although the defense asked that bail be set at $250,000, Krull set bail at $1 million. Conditions of bail also included that Campbell wear an electronic monitoring device and not travel outside the Fourth District Court jurisdiction.
Campbell’s attorney, Steven Titus, argued that his client had no criminal history, was working on getting his GED and was employed full-time at a hotel in Deadwood.
Campbell, who has shoulder-length sandy hair and a stocky build, spoke only when questioned by Krull answering “Yes, your honor, or No, your honor.”
Shayna Ritthaler was a student at Moorcroft High School. Counselors were on hand Monday when students were notified of her death.
There were eight family members of Ritthaler on hand at the hearing
Wednesday and five of Campbell’s family members.
Campbell will be arraigned on charges Oct. 17. He remains in custody at the Western South Dakota Juvenile Services Center in Rapid City.
Aaron Campbell was sixteen years old when he committed a crime that shocked Ireland. According to court documents Aaron Campbell obsessed over a six year old girl to the point one night he broke into the little girls bedroom and kidnapped her, telling the girl he was a friend of her Dad’s and was bringing her to him.
This teen killer would bring the little girl to a wooded area where she was brutally raped and tortured to death. Pathologist would note over a hundred injuries to her body. The teens age saved him from spending the rest of his life in prison but it will be at least twenty seven years before he will see a parole board
Aaron Campbell Other News
Aaron Campbell, 16, told a psychologist “all I thought about was killing her” when he walked in on Alesha sleeping in her bed on the Isle of Bute in Scotland.
The monster carried her out of her family’s holiday house and into woodland before removing her clothes and raping her. He then smothered her to death and dumped her body nearby.
Aaron Campbell – who denied the crimes at trial – admitted the rape and murder for the first time ahead of sentencing for his sickening crimes at Glasgow’s High Court.
Alesha’s mum Georgina Lochrane wept as details of his confession were read to the court, in which he said Alesha had woken up in his arms as he carried her away at 2am.
He told the tragic six-year-old he was a friend of her dad’s and was taking her home.
Judge Lord Matthews said: “You told him (the pyschologist) that in the 12 months prior to the murder, you thought of doing something excessive, including rape.
“He records that when you saw Alesha, your reaction was according to you ‘a moment of opportunity’… ‘all I thought about was killing her once I saw her’.
Defending, QC Brian McConnachie said the teen had shown “traits on the psychopathy checklist” during the pyschological profile.
There were screams of ‘f***ing paedo’ as he was led to the cells after being sentenced to a minimum of 27 years behind bars.
Sentencing Aaron Campbell to life in prison, with a minimum of 27 years, Judge Matthews said: “You had been drinking but wanted cannabis and broke into the house to get some. You returned to the house and entered Alesha’s bedroom.”
Referring to the details of the reports, the judge added: “You said that Alesha was drowsy and became a bit more awake when you went outside.
“She asked who you were and where you were going, you said you were a friend of her father’s and that you were taking her home.
“You gave her your top because she was cold.
“You explained that after you murdered Alesha, you threw your clothes into the sea, had a shower, then returned to where you left her to retrieve your phone.”
The judge continued: “Your attitude was clearly demonstrated by the evidence that you posted an image of yourself in the mirror, while making a joke that you had found where the murderer was hiding.
“Your arrogance was breathtaking. Not once during the trial did I detect a flicker of emotion from you.
“At points during the trial you had to stop yourself from laughing, you had to tell yourself to zip it.”
The cannabis and violent computer game-obsessed teen carried out a savage sexual attack leaving her with 117 separate injuries before smothering her to death and dumping her body.
Aaron Campbell was convicted after damning billion-to-one DNA evidence linked him to the crime scene and chilling CCTV footage showing him skulking from his mum’s home the night of the slaughter on July 2 last year.
Aaron Campbell can be named after a legal challenge by The Sun and other media outlets saw his right to anonymity overturned due to the shocking nature of the murder.
The teen fiend tried to blame Alesha’s father Robert’s girlfriend for the murder in a cowardly bid to escape justice.
Aaron Campbell outrageously claimed that he had a sexual affair with Toni McLachlan and that she had planted DNA evidence from a used condom.
Little Alesha had been staying with her dad and grandparents on the Isle of Bute when she feel asleep watching a Peppa Pig DVD.
Aaron Campbell -who had drunk nearly two bottles of wine at a house party – stole a knife from his mum’s kitchen and swiped Alesha from her bed at 2am.
A “shadowy figure” was later captured on CCTV carrying a mystery object – believed to be Alesha – across the shoreline at Rothesay on the night she vanished.
Once at the site of a former hotel, the twisted killer removed the girl’s clothes and shook her “violently” as he covered her nose, mouth and neck with his hands.
Her mutilated body was found in woods on the Isle of Bute hours later after her devastated family woke up to find she was missing.
Judge Lord Matthews who presided over the case told Campbell the case was “one of the wickedest and most evil crimes in the history of this court”.
Following the verdict, the killer’s mother accepted he was a drug taker but insisted he ‘was not a violent boy’.
She said: “I wanted him to grow up in a safe place, a peaceful environment, and get a good education.
“He wasn’t a violent boy. He was very normal. Yes, he smoked cannabis, but it’s rife among kids on this island.
“I knew he was buying it from Rab [Alesha’s father] and Toni [Rab’s girlfriend], but what could I do? If I went to the police my son would be in trouble.”
Aaron Campbell Videos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vEXTXUhbpo
Aaron Campbell More News
The teenager who abducted, raped and murdered Alesha MacPhail has had his 27-year minimum sentence reduced by appeal judges.
Aaron Campbell was 16 when he was sentenced to life for killing the six-year-old on the Isle of Bute.
Three judges ruled on Tuesday his sentence should be cut by three years.
Campbell, now 17, will still serve the longest term of detention to be imposed on a juvenile offender in Scotland.
Prior to Campbell’s sentence, Luke Mitchell, the teenager who killed school girl Jodi Jones in 2003, received 20 years.
Mr McConnachie told Lady Dorrian, Lord Menzies and Lord Drummond Young at the start of the appeal: “It was clearly an appalling and heinous crime.
“The outcome of this appeal will not determine when, or indeed if, the appellant is allowed release.”
However, psychologist Dr Gary Macpherson concluded: “I am of the view that the capacity for change may be limited due to the nature of Aaron Campbell’s personality structure and his complex risk factors.
“I apologise to the court for appearing pessimistic, however, I am not confident that Aaron Campbell has the capacity or desire to change his behaviour in any meaningful way and as such the risks will remain for the foreseeable future.”
The appeal ruling said: “In determining the appropriate punishment part the trial judge took account of several cases where the appellant had been a young person.”
It went on to say that comparing Campbell’s case with past cases gave “limited guidance”, and the majority in that case also “highlighted the difficulty of such a comparative exercise”.
After comparing a number of cases where the offender had been a young person or when the crime was of a violent nature, the judges reduced Campbell’s sentence from 27 to 24 years.
The ruling said: “A punishment part in excess of 20 years was plainly merited. We have concluded that a punishment part of 24 years would be appropriate to reflect the appellant’s youth.
“We will accordingly allow the appeal to the extent of substituting that period for the sentence imposed.”
After hearing about the ruling, Alesha’s uncle, Calum-John MacPhail, posted on social media that he would speak to Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf about the decision.
He later told BBC news: “I am angry, upset, done with it. I’m angry at the decision.
“He should be tried like an adult. He doesn’t deserve to have been given any less – or even an appeal.”
Meanwhile, Scottish Conservative justice spokesman Liam Kerr said the ruling was “disgraceful”.
He said: “This is one of the most vile criminals in Scotland, and he should not be enjoying having time shaved off his sentence. If anything he should be looking at an even longer stint.
“Yet again Scotland’s justice system has come down favourably on the side of the criminal and it will cause massive upset to the victim’s family.”
A Scottish government spokesperson said they would not comment on decisions about sentencing.
However, they added: “A person will not be considered for parole until the punishment part of the sentence has expired.”
Alesha, from Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, was only a few days into a family holiday in Rothesay when Campbell took her from her bed in the middle of the night on 2 July last year.
The child’s body was found in the grounds of a former hotel the following morning.
A post-mortem examination later revealed she had suffered 117 injuries.
During his nine-day trial in February, Campbell lodged a special defence naming the 18-year-old girlfriend of Alesha’s father as the killer.
Aaron Campbell also took the stand and told the jury his DNA must have been planted at the crime scene.
However, before being sentenced he confessed to the killing
Zachary Callens was sixteen when he murdered his parents as they slept in Texas. According to court documents Zachary Callens was upset that his parents were thinking of sending him to a public school and that they were strict so he decided to murder them.
Zachary Callens would put on headphones and enter his parents room armed with a rifle that was equipped with a flashlight and would shoot and kill his parents. This teen killer would be ultimately convicted and sentenced to life in prison however he is eligible for parole after thirty years
Zachary Callens 2023 Information
SID Number: 50570559
TDCJ Number: 02093547
Name: CALLENS, ZACHARY ELLIOT
Race: W
Gender: M
DOB: 1998-05-20
Maximum Sentence Date: LIFE SENTENCE
Current Facility: FERGUSON
Projected Release Date: LIFE SENTENCE
Parole Eligibility Date: 2044-08-11
Zachary Callens Other News
A Frisco teen was sentenced to life in prison Monday for murdering his parents two years ago.
Zachary Callens, 18, was sentenced at the Collin County Courthouse for the Aug. 11, 2014, slayings of his parents, Ryan and Maria Elena Callens.
Defense attorneys had asked jurors to give their client a lighter sentence, recommending 16 years for each slaying to match Zachary’s age at the time of the offense. But the jury took about 70 minutes to reject that plea. Zachary Callens, the youngest of five children, must serve 30 years before becoming eligible for parole.
As they did in the guilt-innocence phase of the trial, defense attorneys called no witnesses.
But all four of Callens’ siblings and three of his aunts testified for the prosecution. All said that he had no remorse over his actions, is a continuing threat to society and deserves a harsh sentence.
“It was very hard for him to hear his siblings ask for him never to be allowed on the streets again,” said defense attorney April Steele, who sat next to her client and saw his tears while his two brothers and two sisters testified against him.
All told, about a dozen family members attended the six-day trial, including several of Ryan Callens’ nine siblings. Elena Callens’ two sisters were in Spain and one, Joan Maria Escudero, testified by Skype on Monday.
“They’re terrified if he gets out,” prosecutor Danette Broome told jurors. “He holds grudges. You don’t think he’s going to hold that grudge against them?”
In pushing for a lighter sentence, Steele emphasized Callens’ age at the time of the offense and called his long curly hair and plaid shirt “schoolboy” in appearance. A picture in evidence of a lockbox with ammunition for the Martin Model 60 rifle he used to kill his parents also showed Legos and his backpack.
“Do you put a 5-year-old in timeout for an hour? No. Age-appropriate punishment,” Steele told the jury. “He’s a kid.”
Testimony during the trial showed that Zachary Callens, who was home-schooled, was angry at his parents because they had grounded him for not keeping up with his schoolwork and general disobedience.
“They had a lot of life left to live,” Broome said of the boy’s parents during his closing argument..
But a state district judge had already made that decision a year ago, ruling that Zachary Callens should be tried as an adult. The brutal shooting, the lack of empathy for his family members and his low amenability to treatment were cited as reasons for the ruling.
Ryan Callens, 48, was shot twice in the doorway to his bedroom at the Frisco home. Maria Elena Callens, 49, was shot seven times while in the bed nearby.
An 18-year-old North Texas man must serve life in prison for the 2014 killing of his parents in what prosecutors call a dispute over unfinished schoolwork and disobedience.
Zachary Callens was sentenced Monday in McKinney.
A Collin County jury on Friday convicted Zachary Callens of murder in the deaths of his parents — Ryan and Maria Callens. The victims were shot to death in the family’s home in Frisco, about 30 miles north of Dallas.
The home-schooled son was 16 years old at the time of the August 2014 slayings, but he was tried as an adult. A judge who certified Zachary Callens as an adult cited the brutality of the crime and the teen’s lack of remorse after the deaths.
Zachary Callens More News
A Collin County jury on Friday convicted 18-year-old Zachary Callens of murdering his parents in their Frisco home.
In August 2014, Ryan Callens, 48, was shot twice in the doorway to his bedroom. Maria Elena Callens, 49, was shot seven times while in the bed nearby
Their son, the youngest of five children, could be sentenced to life in prison. The punishment phase of his trial started late Friday and is to resume Monday morning.
Prosecutors said the motive for the double homicide appeared to be that Zachary, described by witnesses as a rebellious youth, was angry that his parents punished him for not doing his schoolwork.
The jury deliberated for 70 minutes before returning its verdict.
His four siblings are pressing for a long sentence.
“Nothing,” said Samantha Callens, 26, when asked about her brother’s emotional state since the murders. “Unremorseful. No guilt or sorry for how he’s affected us and our lives or even considering any of that.”
Zachary’s DNA was found on a flashlight that was duct-taped to the murder weapon, a Marlin Model 60 rifle.
His DNA was also on a roll of duct tape discovered in his room. Forensics experts said the tape on the gun came from that roll.
Zachary’s sister and a Frisco officer said he confessed outside the home right after the killings.
Zachary Callens was 16 at the time.
After 3 ½ days of prosecution testimony, Zachary’s defense lawyer, David Kleckner, called no witnesses. The defendant did not take the stand.
Kleckner tried to raise doubt about his client’s guilt by suggesting that Ryan Callens or one of Zachary’s siblings was the shooter.
The Collin County medical examiner, Dr. William Rohr, played down the notion that Callens had killed his wife, then himself.
The father’s wounds, Rohr testified, “didn’t show any characteristics of suicidal gunshot wounds.”
Scott Callens, 22, was living in the house but was not home on the night of the murders, according to testimony backed by tolltag records.
He testified, through tears, that he did not shoot his parents.
All four of Zachary’s siblings took the witness stand. They talked about their last dinner as a family, their parents’ disciplinary methods and what they knew about Zachary’s struggles at home.
“They were extremely involved in all of our lives,” Ryan Callens Jr., 25, said of his parents. “They made a visible and conscious effort to be involved in everything we did.”
Zachary Callens, home-schooled since fifth grade, had refused to do his schoolwork, his siblings said, so his parents grounded him and took away access to electronics.
He was days away from being sent to public school when the murders took place.
For three months before they were killed, the Callenses had been sending Zachary Callens to counseling. Records showed that he expressed homicidal thoughts toward his father, but counselors said they saw no need to refer him to police or for psychiatric treatment.
“This was standard counseling of a young man,” said Kleckner, the defense lawyer. He noted that the counselors never voiced concern for anyone’s safety and never noted any harsh feelings on Zachary’s part toward his mother.
Kleckner, in closing statements, tried to raise questions about the murder investigation. He called the police examination of the murder weapon sloppy. He said the police officers who responded to Sydney Callens’ 911 call took her word that her brother confessed, and immediately focused on him as the sole suspect.
“There could have been much further and deeper investigation,” Kleckner said. “This isn’t running a red light. This is double murder. You take the time to investigate every possible solid lead and clue. And that just wasn’t done in this case.
A “sheltered” teenage boy reportedly shot and killed his parents inside their picturesque Texas home, cops said.
Ryan and Maria Callens — who strictly monitored their child’s Internet habits and refused to let him watch violent movies — were found dead by Frisco police on Monday, WFAA reports.
Responding to a call of shots fired, the cops arrived at the grisly scene at around 2 a.m. to find the teen and his older sister standing outside the home, a Collin County court officer said during a hearing on Tuesday. The suspect was kneeling on the ground with his face in his hands, while the distraught sister frantically tried to dial someone on her phone, NBC-DFW reports.
A police officer reportedly overhead a chilling conversation between the siblings.
“What do you mean you did it?” the sister asked the suspect.
“I did it,” the boy said.
“Was this your plan?” the sister replied, receiving no response from her brother.
The girl then told officers that there was a gun in the house, as the boy gestured. Officers found a rifle on the floor of the house. A flashlight had been taped to it.
Ryan Callens, 48, was found by police in the Frisco home’s hallway, while his wife Maria Elena Callens, 49, was found in her bed with multiple bullet wounds—including in the head and arms.
Cops arrested the suspect on the spot. Authorities aren’t releasing his name because of his age, Frisco police spokesperson Colby Hill told The News. The teen has been charged with two counts of murder.
“The decision to try him as an adult will be made in consultation with the Collin county DAs office,” Hill wrote in an email. “The investigation is still on-going and that decision will be made in future court proceedings.”
During his first appearance in court, the suspect shuffled in wearing an orange jail jumpsuit. Shackled at his wrists and ankles, he remained calm and appeared to show no emotion, Dallas News reports.
A district judge decided that the teen will be detained for 14 days as the cops continue the investigation, Bill Dobiyanski, the district attorney’s first assistant, confirmed to The News.
The disturbing double homicide has neighbors struggling to wrap their minds around whether the seemingly sweet teen could be responsible for such a heinous crime.
Several friends suggested that the teen, who was homeschooled, was subjected to strict rules by his parents.
He was very sheltered,” friend Jonathon Marcum, 15, told The Dallas News. “If he broke the guidelines, he got punished.”
The son was reportedly not allowed to watch R-rated movies. PG-13 movies with violent scenes were edited, while his Internet usage was strictly monitored.
“His parents were really uptight on him,” added friend William Castillo.
Other neighbors said that the teen wasn’t allowed to drink soda and was held to a strict curfew.
Natalie Benitez, who has reportedly known the teen since elementary school, said she was shocked by the allegations. She said the teen had told her he liked being homeschooled.
“He’s, like, so against school,” Benitez, 15, said. “He’s, like, ‘I would never go back.'”
The suspect is currently in custody at the Collin County Juvenile Detention Center, NBC-DFW reports.
Neighbors said the Cullens had two children in college and a daughter in high school. A fourth child has recently graduated from college.
Zachary Callens is currently incarcerated at the Ferguson Unit in Texas
Zachary Callens Release Date
Zachary Callens is serving a life sentence however is eligible for parole in 2044
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Campbell, Michael Gavin
