After spending more than a week in detention, the 13-year-old accused of vandalizing a statue of Marty Brennanman has gone home with his maternal grandmother.
The teen was ordered to stay in juvenile detention on Oct. 30 after he had already spent two days confined after his arrest. The court initially planned to release him to a shelter, but his mother told the magistrate he should be locked up.
In addition to the vandalism charge, he also faces two misdemeanor domestic violence charges involving his mother and a sibling.
On Nov. 6 before Hamilton County Juvenile Court Judge Kari Bloom, he said his mother had kicked him out of the house. His lawyer, James Cooper, said there were allegations that his mother had physically abused him.
“The situation at home is not safe,” Cooper said.
The teen’s grandmother cried as she told the judge, “I’m willing to help him turn his life around and help him.”
The grandmother also explained that her relationship with her daughter was strained, in part, because “she feels that I baby him.”
She said it’s been troubling seeing her grandson go through the things he has in his home. He’s the oldest of five other children ranging in age from 1⅟₂ months to 11 years old.
Bloom asked the teen what’s going to happen when his grandmother tells him to do something he doesn’t want to do.
“It’s her rules,” he said. “I gotta listen. I’ll do it.”
Bloom ordered that the teen attend school, be supervised at all times under house arrest and stop smoking marijuana – something the teen admitted he had been doing since he was 8.
The teen’s next court date is scheduled for Nov. 24.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: 13-year-old accused of Brennaman statue vandalism released to grandmother
Reporting by Cameron Knight, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
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