'He needs healing': Shooting victim's mom backs accused shooter in court
ERIE, Pa. − An Erie teen charged with involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of his girlfriend had the victim's mother on his side as his case reached a pivotal moment in a Pennsylvania courtroom.
The mother wants the defendant, Riley R. Shearer, now 18, to avoid prosecution as an adult in the death of her daughter, Audrey Maria Kellogg. She was 14 when she was killed in an Erie apartment in October 2022, when Shearer was 16.
"I believe that he should be tried as a juvenile and not an adult," her mother, Gabriela Kellogg, said on Nov. 6 in Erie County Common Pleas Court. "I believe he needs support. He needs healing. He does not to be locked up somewhere."
Kellogg testified at a hearing on the defense's request that Shearer's case be moved from adult criminal court to juvenile court. The Erie County District Attorney's Office charged Shearer as an adult due to the violent nature of the offense.
Shearer is accused of involuntary manslaughter based on allegations that he acted unintentionally but with extreme recklessness in killing Audrey shortly before 7:40 p.m. on Oct. 29, 2022. He is also accused of aggravated assault and recklessly endangering another person.
Alcohol and pot fueled accidental shooting
Erie police charged Shearer with killing Audrey with a shotgun after he was drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana while the two were visiting friends at the first-floor apartment, according to testimony. The apartment house is near a skate park in Erie's Little Italy that Shearer and Audrey frequented with their friends.
Shearer told police he did not realize the shotgun was loaded when he waved and it went off, killing Audrey, according to arrest records. The police said the adult owner of the shotgun told investigators he warned Shearer to leave the weapon alone, but that Shearer removed it from a spot in the bedroom where the shooting happened.
Audrey was in eighth grade at Walnut Creek Middle School in Millcreek Township. Shearer was a freshman at Erie High School in 2022. He is attending online classes while free on bond and on electronic monitoring. He lives with his mother.
Shearer has not been in trouble since the shooting, and he continues to take psychotropic drugs to curb the severe depression that he has suffered since the shooting, his lawyers said at the proceeding, known as a decertification hearing.
Presiding Judge John J. Mead said he would rule after he gets briefs from the defense and prosecution in a month.
The defense lawyers — Justin Panighetti and Gene Placidi — argued that Shearer's remorse, lack of prior record and the accidental nature of the shooting are among the reasons he should be prosecuted as a juvenile instead of an adult. Prosecutor Jessica Reger argued that the shooting and Shearer's mental issues warrant continued prosecution in adult criminal court.
Reger's argument centered on how long Shearer could be under supervision and get treatment. In the juvenile system, he could be held in a juvenile facility or placed on probation only until he turns 21. In the adult system, he could be incarcerated at a special prison for young adult offenders or placed on probation after he turns 21.
Shearer did not testify. The defense called as its main witness a specialist in juvenile probation, Randy Matuscak. He testified that Shearer is committed to rehabilitation and would be best served by supervision in the juvenile system.
"He's done with drugs, he's done with alcohol, he's done with guns," Matuscak said via videoconference.
Victim's mom wants 'what's right for him'
Gabriela Kellogg, Audrey's mother, supported Matuscak's views as the defense's final witness. She testified as Shearer cried softly at the defense table and as his mother, Amanda Shearer, and other relatives watched from the gallery.
Kellogg testified that Riley Shearer was kind to her daughter, whom he had dated for nearly a year. She alluded to testimony that Shearer's home life was tumultuous, including a period when he was homeless. Shearer deserves more treatment outside of a prison setting, Kellogg said.
"I want what's fair, what's right for him," Kellogg said.
She said the situation at the apartment when Audrey was killed was "chaotic," with drugs and alcohol present. Her daughter, she said, could have been the one who handled the shotgun and killed someone.
"It was an accident," Kellogg said. "It could have been Audrey. It could have been the other way around."
Kellogg left the witness stand. She walked back to the gallery. As the hearing ended, she and Shearer's mother hugged.
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