Parents of Belgrade school shooter sentenced to total of 17 years in prison

(Patria) - The Higher Court in Belgrade today announced the verdict for Vladimir and Miljana Kecmanović, parents of the boy who on May 3, 2023, at the “Vladislav Ribnikar” elementary school, shot and killed nine students and a security guard, and wounded five other students and a history teacher.

The court issued a first-instance verdict finding the boy's parents guilty.

As Kurir reports, Vladimir Kecmanović was sentenced to 14.5 years in prison, and Miljana Kecmanović to three years in prison. The shooting range instructor was sentenced to 15 months in prison for perjury.

Both the defense and the prosecution have the right to appeal the verdict to the Appellate Court.

This trial was closed to the public from the very beginning, but the pronouncement of the verdict was made public.

Let us recall, the chief public prosecutor of the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade, Nenad Stefanović, requested maximum prison sentences for the Kecmanovićs. In his closing arguments, he proposed that the court sentence Vladimir Kecmanović to a single prison term of 14 years and 11 months for the criminal offenses of: a serious crime against general safety and neglect and abuse of a minor.

For Miljana Kecmanović, he proposed a single prison term of five years and five months for the criminal offenses of: illegal production, possession, carrying and trafficking of weapons and explosive materials and neglect and abuse of a minor.

The prosecutor proposed a maximum sentence of three years in prison for shooting instructor Nemanja Marinković for the criminal offense of giving false testimony.

Stefanović believes there are no mitigating circumstances for the Kecmanovićs, only aggravating ones, as they have expressed neither remorse nor empathy for the victims.

He also stated that Miljana Kecmanović presented herself as an impeccable mother, while treating the injured parties with distance and indifference.

He also recalled the false testimony of Nemanja Marinković during the investigation, by which he attempted to steer the investigation in a different direction. On the other hand, the defense argued that the guilt of the accused had not been proven.

The boy K. K., who at the time of the crime was not yet 14 years old and therefore not criminally responsible, shot at the school on May 3 using two of his father's pistols, which he had taken two days earlier.

On the fateful day, he put them in his backpack, went to school, and during the first class killed ten people and wounded five other children and a teacher.

Earlier today, the civil proceedings based on the lawsuit filed by 27 members of the nine killed at the “Vladislav Ribnikar” elementary school concluded at the Higher Court in Belgrade.

After expert psychologists and psychiatrists finished presenting their findings and opinions resulting from the evaluation of the minor perpetrator of the mass murder, the trial was reopened to the public.

Incidentally, the experts stated that K.K. was fully capable of reasoning and that he committed the crime consciously, reports Telegraf.rs.