HAMILTON - A 16-year-old Madison Township girl accused of firing a fatal gunshot into her mother's forehead was indicted on a murder charge Friday by a Butler County grand jury.
Renee Morrison, who will be tried as an adult, could face a prison sentence of 15 years to life if convicted of the murder charge in Butler County Common Pleas Court.
Because a gun was involved, an additional three years would be added automatically to her sentence.
Her lawyer, Frank Schiavone, said he had hoped the grand jury would view the shooting as an accident and either not indict Miss Morrison or indict her on a lesser charge.
"I'm disappointed the grand jury didn't look into the circumstances of a possible accident," he said. "They could have considered a manslaughter charge, which would indicate an unintentional killing."
Miss Morrison's case has been assigned to Common Pleas Judge Michael Sage. She will be arraigned next week.
On May 31, Miss Morrison's father, Richard "Rick" Morrison found his 49-year-old wife, Linda, lying in a second-floor hallway of their home with a bullet wound in her head.
Miss Morrison was arrested hours later in an apartment complex's parking lot in Middletown.
Police say the teen-ager, a chronic runaway with a history of serious emotional problems, took her parents' .22-caliber handgun to her bedroom with the intention of committing suicide.
She had been under house arrest since May 13 because of an unruliness conviction.
Miss Morrison accidentally fired a shot into the floor, causing her mother to rush upstairs. After her mother refused to let her leave the house, Miss Morrison shot her, police say.
Miss Morrison is being held at the Montgomery County Jail in Dayton, where she was moved to shield her from contact with older inmates.
Previous stories
KILLING PARENT ULTIMATE TABOO June 9, 1997
MORRISON TO BE TRIED AS ADULT June 5, 1997
FAMILY'S HISTORY OF PAIN UNFOLDS June 4, 1997
ABORTION ARGUMENT PRECEDED KILLING, BOYFRIEND SAYS June 3, 1997
KILLING NUMBS A TOWN June 2, 1997
BUTLER CO. TEEN HELD AFTER MOTHER SHOT DEAD June 1, 1997
