A teenager from Oklahoma has been sentenced as an adult to more than 50 years in prison for shooting a 5-year-old girl in the neck as part of gang initiation. The baby-faced boy named Noah Ney was sentenced on October 23 for all 10 ten charges against him, including firearm possession, shooting with intent to kill, and drug possession, ABC News reported.
The 4-foot, 9-inch tall boy was arrested last year for a drive-by-shooting that he testified was supposed to be an initiation into a gang.
He shot a 5-year-old in the neck and shoulder while she was playing inside her home. He wanted to be initiated into the Hoover Crips gang which terrorises the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma.
"The five-year-old was transported to hospital by EMSA because of the severity of her injuries and a difference of an inch or two in the penetrating gunshot wounds to the child could have resulted in her death.,' Attorney Morgan Medders said.
The 16-year-old made headlines again when he escaped the Juvenile Detention Center in August. However, he was caught and was taken into custody days later.
Prosecutors said that during his time at the Juvenile detention center, the accused assaulted staff flooded his cell and smeared feces on the walls, the New York Post reported.
The defence lawyer says that his parents are to be blamed for his behaviour and he was denied treatment.
His aunt testified that Ney has been neglected his whole life by his parents, who have been in and out of prison.
The prosecutor maintained that the 16-year-old boy is dangerous and should be out of the streets.
“I have treatment records in a packet that is thicker than a dictionary that show treatment attempts that he rejected, by escaping or assaulting staff that was there to help him get treatment,” Medders said.
