Boy gets six years for role in murder

WARSAW, Ind. (WANE) - A 12-year-old boy will spend six years in a juvenile detention center for his role in a Kosciusko County murder.

The boy was charged with Assisting a Criminal involved in a murder, a Class C Felony. Police say he knew Colt Lundy, 15, and Paul Gingerich, 12, were planning to kill Phillip Danner, 49. On April 20, 2010, they said the 12-year-old stood outside Danner's house while Lundy and Gingerich shot and killed Danner. Later that night the boys snuck out of their homes and started driving to Arizona. Police stopped them in Illinois.

New information in court Wednesday said the boy did help plan the trip to Arizona, but he didn't know about the plan to kill Danner until that day.

"Even though the plan [to go to Arizona or California] was in the works for a while, he had no discussion of the murder plan until the day of," the boy's attorney, Chris Kehler said in court. "He was requested to participate and he said no. He had been warned, 'You better not back out or you're going to get it.' When he first heard of the shooting the day of, his thought was, 'I hope they're bluffing.' When he heard shots he thought, 'I hope they're blanks.' His role is post shooting."

Kehler added the boy's a follower, not a leader. The attorney also shed some light on the boy's childhood, saying he needed direction. The boy lived with his grandmother after his parents' divorce and by the sixth grade had been in six different schools.

Judge Duane Huffer then pointed out that the boy has been expelled from school before, saying, "You say he's not a leader? He seems to be doing this on his own." Kehler didn't say when or why the boy was expelled.

Kehler added that while the boy has smoked cigarettes before, he now says he doesn't want to because he knows he can do more physically if he doesn't smoke. Since being in the juvenile facility in Pierceton, Kehler said the boy's been on good behavior and followed orders. He's also been showing remorse.

"He told me that he had been praying and he thought it was odd to feel sorry for and cry about a family he didn't know. That's the 12-year-old version of being very remorseful," Kehler said.

Kehler asked the judge to allow the sixth grader to go home with strict rules and mandatory counseling. If not that, he asked to continue the hearing to look into a private facility.

"It was my hope he'd have less involvement with other people who have committed delinquent acts that, if an adult, would be a crime," Kehler said.

While Judge Huffer did acknowledge boy's good behavior during his incarceration, he added that the seriousness of the crime he participated in shows that he is beyond the control of his parents.

"He doesn't know s**t. He doesn't live with me," the boy's father, Michael Walley, said when news crews asked what he thought about the judge questioning this son's home life.

Huffer continued saying the boy had several opportunities to change the outcome of Danner's death. He could have run home for help or had his grandmother call the police, Huffer said. Huffer ended the hearing by saying, "Frankly, I think you are a very lucky young boy."

"As compared to being tried as an adult, he is lucky," Kehler said.

The 12-year-old is to remain detained until he is 18-years-old, but he could be released early. 

"That's what I presume will happen. That's what I hope will happen," Kehler said. "He'll have to follow the rules and they have programs. If he participates in the programs and does well, he'll have the opportunity to be released prior to age 18."

Judge Huffer also ordered the boy's mother and father to have counseling with the boy while he's in the facility. He recommend the South Bend facility, but a diagnostic center in Logansport will ultimately decide where the boy will go. Huffer said when he's released, he will be taken to his mother's house in Pierceton.

"I think that presumes he'll be younger than 18 when he's released," Huffer said.

Lundy and Gingerich are charged with Murder in adult court. Their next hearing is Thursday morning. NewsChannel 15 will have complete coverage of what happens in the hearing on wane.com and NewsChannel 15 at Noon.