Reese pleads not guilty by reason of insanity | Crime

ST. FRANCISVILLE, LA (WAFB) - The attorney for a teenager suspected in the stabbing death of an 8-year-old boy entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity for his client during an arraignment hearing Thursday morning.

Trevor Reese, 16, held his head down while the proceedings took place.

He was shackled at his hands and feet.

His parents were quiet as they were escorted from the courthouse.

The teen's lawyer said the case has never been about what happened, but why it happened.

"The last time we hadn't had evaluating done," said Lewis Unglesby, Reese's attorney. "Tests done, appeared something wrong. Now, more focused and medically diagnosed."

Reese is accused of killing Jackson Attuso of Clinton in a West Feliciana Parish subdivision on June 10.

A grand jury indicted him for first-degree murder, but he will not face the possibility of the death penalty.

If convicted, he will receive an automatic life sentence.

A judge ruled the teen will be tried as an adult.

He has been held in the West Feliciana Parish Prison since his arrest on the day of the murder.

According to authorities, Reese stabbed Attuso to death while the young boy was riding his bike through the woods with his mother.

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