{"id":14107,"date":"2026-01-20T21:08:38","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T21:08:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/?p=14107"},"modified":"2026-01-20T21:08:38","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T21:08:38","slug":"lawyers-say-18-year-old-will-plead-guilty-to-north-carolina-shooting-that-left-five-dead-us-crime","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/?p=14107","title":{"rendered":"Lawyers say 18-year-old will plead guilty to North Carolina shooting that left five dead | US crime"},"content":{"rendered":"

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An 18-year-old plans to plead guilty to a 2022 mass shooting in North Carolina<\/a> that left five people dead \u2013 including his older brother \u2013 avoiding a trial in February, his attorneys have said.<\/p>\n

A written notice filed in Wake county court by the lawyers for Austin Thompson said their client intends to plead guilty to all charges against him.<\/p>\n

Thompson was 15 when authorities believe he went on a killing rampage in October 2022, beginning in his Raleigh neighborhood with his 16-year-old brother. A hearing in advance of his scheduled February trial had been set for Wednesday.<\/p>\n

But through the intended plea, Thompson \u201chas decided he wishes to save the community and the victims from as much additional infliction of trauma as possible\u201d, attorneys Kellie Mannette and Deonte\u2019 Thomas wrote.<\/p>\n

The attorneys did not immediately respond to emails on Tuesday seeking additional information on the decision.<\/p>\n

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Thompson\u2019s legal proceedings were delayed in part as he recovered from a gunshot wound that a prosecutor concluded was self-inflicted before his arrest. His attorneys say it resulted in a brain injury.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors had not revealed a potential motive for the shootings but in a court filing said they had intended to prove Thompson\u2019s actions, among other factors, were \u201cespecially heinous, atrocious, or cruel\u201d \u2013 and that he attempted to avoid custody.<\/p>\n

Tuesday\u2019s filing by Thompson\u2019s attorneys said that while \u201cthe serious brain injury he suffered has made it such that Austin cannot explain why he committed this shooting, he has always accepted that he did this\u201d.<\/p>\n

Thompson was charged<\/a> as an adult on five counts of murder, two counts of attempted murder, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon and one count of assault of an officer with a gun. A sentencing hearing would be held at a later date after any plea.<\/p>\n

Because of his age at the time of the attack, Thompson could not receive the death penalty if convicted. The presiding judge would have to decide whether to sentence him on murder counts to life in prison without parole or with the possibility of parole after at least 25 years.<\/p>\n

Wake county district attorney Lorrin Freeman said she was aware of the plea notice.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are ready to move forward. Our thoughts are with the families of the victims,\u201d Freeman added in a text message later.<\/p>\n

Thompson hopes \u201cthat the material presented at the sentencing hearing brings as much peace and closure as possible\u201d, his attorneys wrote.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors contend that Thompson shot and stabbed his brother James, whose body was found in their home.<\/p>\n

Police also said they believed Thompson then shot multiple neighbors on the Hedingham community\u2019s streets, killing off-duty Raleigh police officer Gabriel Torres, 29, and Nicole Connors, 52. Another neighbor who was wounded survived.<\/p>\n

They also alleged that he later fatally shot two others on the nearby Neuse River Greenway trail: Mary Marshall, 34, and Susan Karnatz, 49.<\/p>\n

Dressed in camouflage with multiple weapons strapped to his belt, Thompson was located by law enforcement in a shed nearby and arrested after an hours-long standoff that resulted in another police officer being wounded.<\/p>\n

Thompson\u2019s attorneys had previously indicated that they intended to use \u201cdiminished capacity\u201d and \u201cvoluntary intoxication \u2026 of a prescribed medication\u201d in his defense.<\/p>\n

In 2024, Thompson\u2019s father pleaded guilty to improperly storing a handgun that authorities said was found with his son after the shootings. He received a suspended sentence and probation.<\/p>\n

Investigators seized 11 firearms and 160 boxes of ammunition \u2013 some of them empty \u2013 from the Thompson home, according to search warrants.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

#Lawyers #18yearold #plead #guilty #North #Carolina #shooting #left #dead #crime<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An 18-year-old plans to plead … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14108,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14107"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14107"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14107\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14108"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}