U.S. boy admits killing mother, brother with knife and ax handle

A 13-year-old boy entered the juvenile form of a guilty plea for killing his mother and 9-year-old brother with a knife and ax handle.

Photo: U.S. boy admits killing mother, brother with knife and ax handle

The boy, who was 12 at the time of the killings, entered a plea of "involved" to two charges of first-degree murder at a juvenile court hearing Wednesday in Prince George's County Circuit Court. Under Maryland law, children under the age of 14 cannot be charged as adults. He was not identified by authorities because he is a minor.

He will likely be sentenced Dec. 19 to a detention and treatment center in South Carolina until he turns 21, said Ramon Korionoff, spokesman for the county state's attorney's office. The boy would also receive help for "certain issues with his mental health," Korionoff said.

County police found the boy's mother, Katrina Denise Powe, 31, and brother Mystery Toma Hillian, dead in the family's Forestville, Maryland, apartment April 22. Both had been killed with a knife and the wooden handle of a pick ax, reports AP.

The boy got in a fight with his mother after being thrown out of a party and coming home late, authorities said.