Boy apologizes in court for killing father

ELYRIA, Ohio (AP) -- A 15-year-old boy who once sketched bloody images of himself shooting his father apologized in court before admitting he committed the crime.
"I'm sorry for what happened," Matthew Hetsler said Friday after pleading guilty in Lorain County Juvenile Court to aggravated murder and tampering with evidence.
Police in nearby Lorain said the boy shot his father July 4 while the man slept in a sleeping bag on the floor of a second-floor computer room in his house.
Wade Hetsler, 48, was found dead shortly after the son called 911.
Matthew was put into the custody of the Ohio Department of Youth Services until he turns 21. He could serve up to 20 years to life in prison after that if he gets into trouble in juvenile detention or is deemed a danger to society, according to the blended juvenile and adult sentence imposed by Judge David Basinski.
The boy told police that he killed his father because of a lifetime of mental and verbal abuse, but police said they do not know whether any abuse occurred.
Matthew had sketched bloody images of himself shooting his father several years before, and family members told Lorain police that Matthew's father had found shotgun shells in his backpack the Friday before the shooting but was not overly concerned about it.