A 14-year-old boy from Detroit, Joshua Smith, in the early hours of Monday morning, shot his mother, 36 year old Tamiko Robinson, at least ten times as she slept on the couch, his uncle told reporters after the teenager was arrested.
The teen was said to be angry that his mother had tried to keep him off the streets and away from a gang.
Smith's uncle LeShaun Roberts, told Fox Detroit News the teen had wanted to 'hang with the big boys' - gang members in their twenties - but when his mother said no he ran away to relatives. But Robinson, a dialysis patient, who was battling lupus, went after her son and insisted he came home, angering the youngster.According to the uncle, Joshua broke into his step dad's room, got a twelve gauge and brutally murdered his mother while she slept on the couch in their home.
Joshua's five-year-old sister and step dad, were in the home at the time and were forced to jump out of a low window to escape the gunfire.
Smith was arrested soon after the shooting. He had reportedly been driving around in his mother's car.