Boy shot family 'after beating from father'

A 14-year-old boy accused in a triple-murder on television journalist Sam Donaldson’s ranch told police he took a gun from the barn and shot his family after being repeatedly beaten by his father – including once with a shovel, according to a man who took care of the teenager before his arrest.

Cody Posey remained in custody in the deaths of his father Delbert Paul Posey, stepmother Tryone Posey and 14-year-old stepsister Mary Lee Schmid, whose bodies were unearthed from a shallow grave near their Hondo ranch, southern New Mexico.

Faustino Salcido said he was present during questioning of Cody Posey by Lincoln County sheriff’s deputies.

Salcido said Cody told deputies said he knew it was wrong but that the world would be better off without them. “He was tired of all this abuse,” he said.

Salcido said the boy told investigators that on Monday “he was cleaning the corral, and his dad didn’t like the way he cleaned it, so he smacked him a couple of times and told him to go into the house”.

Salcido said the boy told deputies that he went into the barn, got the family’s .38-calibre pistol and went into the house.

“His mom was in there. That’s the one he shot first. Then the dad and the sister came in, and he shot them too,” Salcido said the boy told investigators.

Salcido said the boy also told deputies his father hit him with a shovel and tried to strangle him during the Fourth of July weekend.

Assistant prosecutor Sandra Grisham of Alamogordo said formal charges would be filed against Cody Posey, who was being held in a juvenile facility.

District Attorney Scot Key said the boy could face adult penalties, including up to 30 years in prison, if convicted.