Crime & Safety

Robert Richardson III Pleads Guilty to Shooting Father, Dumping Body

Supporters of the teen say he was the victim of repeated domestic abuse.

A Bel Air teen indicted on murder charges in the shooting death of his father pleaded guilty Wednesday in Harford County Circuit Court to manslaughter and using a firearm to commit a felony.

As a result, Robert Richardson, III, 18, was sentenced to 30 years in jail with all but 18 years suspended, according to a statement from Harford County State's Attorney Joseph Cassilly.

Police said Richardson confessed to killing his father—Robert Richardson Jr., 58—at his home in the 800 block of Moores Mill Road on Jan. 9, 2012.

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"...[Robert Richardson III's] grandmother told the court that she lost both her son and her grandson that day, and that her son’s life was not his to take," the state's attorney reported Wednesday.

The teen's sister called 911 on Jan. 9, 2012, and said her brother shot their father, according to the Harford County Sheriff's Office, which told Patch at the time there was blood on the ground when police arrived.

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According to the statement of facts read in court Wednesday, Richardson "took a swig of rum, smoked some pot and shot his father in the back of the head," WJZ reported.

Then the teen picked up two friends who returned to the house with him to pack the father up in a bed sheet before dumping the body in a pond near a relative's home in Aberdeen, according to The Dagger.

Supporters of the Bel Air teen, who attended C. Milton Wright, said that he had been "driven to insanity" by domestic abuse. Attorneys for both Richardson and the state said that community members knew Richardson was abused, according to The Baltimore Sun.

Attorneys on both sides also said that stemming from the abuse, the teen suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and cannabis use disorder, The Dagger reported.

"The system is in place to help teenagers like Richardson if someone has the courage to speak out," Cassilly said.

"This was a terrible tragedy that did not have to take place," Diane Adkins Tobin, deputy state's attorney, said in a prepared statement. "There are people who were aware of his situation but did nothing and did not notify authorities."

A message on the Facebook page "Free Robert Richardson III" Wednesday night reinforced the message that people need to report domestic incidents: "...it is tragic that so many people knew of the ongoing serious abuse that was taking place in that home, and that [Department of Social Services] only received one phone call regarding the abuse. I pray that our community has learned a lesson from this tragedy, and that no other child will ever have to suffer in the way that Bob suffered."

The court has recommended that Richardson serve his sentence in the Youthful Offender Program at Patuxent Institute in Jessup, which helps provide services for people under 21 transitioning into adulthood.

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