MILWAUKEE — A Milwaukee police officer testifying in the trial of a man accused of killing his 13-year-old neighbor says the man offered an unsolicited confession as he was being handcuffed.
Officer Richard Martinez testified Tuesday that he responded to a report of a shooting in May 2012. He says he saw 76-year-old John Henry Spooner standing on the sidewalk holding a handgun.
He says he told Spooner to drop the weapon, and Spooner bent over and placed the gun on the sidewalk. Martinez says as he handcuffed him, Spooner said, "Yeah I shot him."
The victim was Spooner's next-door neighbor, Darius Simmons.
Spooner's defense attorney acknowledges his client shot the boy, whom he accused of stealing from him. But he says the questions at trial will be Spooner's intent and mental illness.
