I think
analog has summed it up best in this situation.
This 14 yr old was not behaving as a 14 year old he had a weapon and
Quote:
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Officers searched the family’s house with the consent of the boy’s parents and, the authorities said, found notebooks detailing violent acts, an Army handbook on counterinsurgency operations and a DVD entitled “Game Over in Littleton,” a documentary on the 1999 rampage in which two students at Columbine High School in Colorado shot to death 12 schoolmates and a teacher before committing suicide.
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So now we have a 14 yr old who has cold bloodedly (I don't think that's a word is it?) planned out the death of numerous people his own age. At 14 he understands death, he understands what he's taking from those people and their families, and he has decided to kill these other children anyway.
To me that act of planning it out makes this such a horrific idea. He has most definitely used adult reasoning and intellect when it comes to planning out these murders and / or attacks.
For the case stated in the OP do I support trying the kid in adult court? No, I don't, for the simple reason that he was caught before it happened and the system has a chance of working for him as well as against him at this point in his life. If he had actually had the opportunity to follow his plans through then my answer would be notably different.
As for the ridiculous idea of a 6 yr old being tried under adult conditions this would never happen. A 6 yr old does not have the emotional maturity to understand their actions and the consequences attached even if they do have the intellectual capability.