Ten-year-old faces 48 years in prison for murder

A 10-year-old is likely to be charged with the murder of his father and faces up to 48 years in prison if convicted, his lawyer said.

“This is a tragic case, a tragedy on all sides,” lawyer Chris Tritico said after a closed juvenile court hearing in Houston, Texas.

He said the boy was a victim of physical and sexual abuse by his father, 41-year-old doctor Rick Lohstroh, allegations denied by Lohstroh’s lawyer.

Bill Hawkins, head of the Harris County District Attorney’s Juvenile Division, confirme the case will stay in the juvenile system because of the boy’s age. He said the case is still under investigation.

If allegations against the boy are found to be true in juvenile court, he could be held as a youth until age 18 and then could be imprisoned for another 40 years, Tritico said.

Police found Lohstroh shot dead dead inside his vehicle outside his ex-wife’s house, where he had gone to pick up their two children.

According to a sheriff’s department report, the boy retrieved a gun from his mother’s bedroom, climbed into the back seat and began firing “through the back of the driver’s seat striking his father.”

“He then exited the vehicle and fired more times, striking his father’s vehicle,” the statement said. “He then returned to the house where the mother took the weapon from him and called 911,” it said.

The boy’s mother, Deborah Geisler, said her son “appears OK but I am very concerned. I love my son very much.”