13 year old boy found guilty in shooting death

A 13-year-old Brookneal boy was found guilty Friday in the Feb. 3 shooting death of an 11-year-old neighbor.

Brandon Lee Walker was charged with murder earlier this year after shooting Andrew Bryant Lambert on Gilliam Road in what was initially described as horseplay.

However, Campbell County Sheriff’s Office investigators said in earlier interviews that the 13-year-old pointed a gun at Lambert three times. The third time, he cocked the rifle and pulled the trigger, they said.

The boy was ruled a delinquent by Judge A. Ellen White, defense attorney Joseph Sanzone said after Friday’s trial in Campbell County Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court.

Sanzone said the judge ruled there was not evidence beyond a reasonable doubt to show the boy acted with malice or premeditation, meaning that he would have been convicted of involuntary manslaughter if he had been older.

A sentencing hearing has not been scheduled.

“At 13, he is still a child and he understands a lot of what has happened, but there’s a lot he doesn’t understand,“ he said.

Outside the courthouse, Samuel Lambert, the victim’s older brother, told a television reporter he was disappointed and had hoped for a first-degree murder conviction. He also said he was glad the case was largely over.

“My brother can rest in peace,“ Lambert said.

The News & Advance was not present in the courtroom Friday to hear evidence.

State law allows juvenile courts to close hearings involving children, although the hearings are presumed to be open for children 14 or older charged with crimes considered to be felonies when they involved adults.

For this case, Judge White allowed court access to news organizations only if they agreed not to name the defendant.

The News & Advance had requested access to the hearings but withdrew that request after being informed of the conditions, in an order from the judge:

“The News & Advance and any other media organization requesting access to these proceedings shall be granted access only on the same conditions as previously ordered on the access request filed by WSET, namely, any media agency having access to the proceedings shall not publish the name or any identifying information for any juvenile defendant or witnesses and shall not take photographs of any juvenile defendant or witnesses. Each media agency requesting access must affirmatively agree to these conditions for access to the proceedings.“

Withdrawing its request, The News & Advance chose not to relinquish its right to inform its readers of the name of a juvenile involved in the killing of another, according to Managing Editor Joe Stinnett.