ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Defense attorneys for an 18-year-old who pleaded guilty to killing five family members have called a neuroradiologist as their first witness in a hearing to determine whether the teen can be rehabilitated through psychiatric treatment.
After more than two days of testimony from medical experts, sheriff's deputies and other witnesses called to the stand by prosecutors, Nehemiah Griego's public defenders began building their case Wednesday.
The defense says Griego was abused by his father and likely suffered traumatic brain injury.
A judge is expected to determine in February whether Griego should be sentenced as a juvenile or an adult.
Griego was 15 when authorities say he opened fire inside his family's home south of Albuquerque, killing his parents and three younger siblings.