TJ Lane shows no remorse during his sentencing
A US teenager smirked as he was handed three life sentences without
chance of parole after admitting killing three students in a high school
cafeteria.
Wearing a t-shirt with the word "killer" hand-written on it, TJ Lane,
18, taunted victims of the attack in February last year in Ohio.
Despite evidence he suffered psychosis and hallucinations, he was found competent to be tried as an adult.
Investigators have said the gunman told them he did not know why he did it.
Lane pleaded guilty last month to three counts of aggravated
murder, two counts of attempted aggravated murder and one count of
felonious assault.
'Pathetic human being'
He used a .22-calibre pistol to fire 10 shots at a group of
students in Chardon High School's cafeteria, killing 16-year-olds Daniel
Parmertor and Demetrius Hewlin, and Russell King, 17. Three others were
wounded.
During Tuesday's sentencing, Lane unbuttoned his shirt in
court to reveal a white T-shirt with the word "killer" scrawled across
the chest.
He also smirked throughout the hearing, including while relatives of his victims spoke, mocking and gesturing obscenely at them.
Dina Parmertor, mother of victim Daniel, said that Lane was
"a pathetic excuse for a human being" and wished him "an extremely, slow
torturous death".
One of his victims, Nate Mueller, who escaped the shooting
with a minor injury, dismissed Lane's courtroom antics as those of "a
scared little boy".
At the time of the shooting, Lane was waiting for a bus to a
school for children who have not adjusted to traditional school
environments.
Lane was not eligible for the death sentence, because he was
17 years old when the shooting occurred. But relatives of the victims
pushed for the maximum sentence.
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