CINCINNATI — A 14-year-old accused of conspiring to conduct a "mass casualty event" at Mariemont High School has pleaded guilty to lessened charges.
In court Thursday, the teen agreed to plead guilty to 12 counts of inducing panic and, in exchange, prosecutors dropped the charge of conspiracy to commit aggravated murder he'd previously faced.
The teen will be formally sentenced on the charges on July 23.
The teen was charged Feb. 7 with having a "credible plot to harm students and staff." In a press conference, Hamilton County Prosecutor Melissa Powers said the teen conspired with a 36-year-old out-of-state adult to conduct a "mass casualty event" at Mariemont High School.
Prosecutors later announced that adult would not face any charges after investigators determined they had "no means or ability to participate in" the teen's plan.
Powers said the teen had a hit list naming at least eight students and one teacher. The teen also practiced shooting weapons at a shooting range, according to an amended complaint.
Powers released multiple text exchanges between the 14-year-old and the adult. She said the two talked about the people the student wanted to kill and rape, and they mentioned the possibility of using gas in an exchange from January. Another text detailed how the front office would need to be taken care of first.
Police body camera footage shows that the teen and his father spoke to police the morning before he was arrested. The 14-year-old was pulled out of class later that day and arrested once the threat was deemed credible, Mariemont police said.
The teen was arrested after he allegedly exposed his plan to Boom Swallen, another Mariemont High School student, who then told his father. Swallen, 15, told WCPO 9 that the accused teen said he would "kill [him] as fast as possible" if he told anyone about his plan.
Following the plea agreement on Thursday, the accused teen's legal team and family issued statements.
"We are committed to making sure that our son receives and completes appropriate treatment so we can get to the root cause of the problem," reads the statement from the teen's family. "We are working closely with his legal team and look forward to presenting a treatment plan in the upcoming weeks."
"The agreement in this case recognizes that Juvenile Court is the appropriate place to ensure that (the teen) gets the individualized treatment he needs," reads the statement from the teen's legal team. "We believe that our best chance to ensure that a young boy like (the teen) never causes such fear to the community again is by finding specialized treatment for his disabilities, a goal which cannot be achieved by sending him to youth prison, where abuse and inability to provide adequate treatment has been the subject of many news reports and government scrutiny in the past several months."
