Brother admits to killing sister in fight over TV remote
Jim Adams
Star Tribune
Published Jul 9, 2002
A West St. Paul teenager who pleaded guilty Monday to killing his younger sister said he unintentionally strangled her as they fought over the TV remote control.
Scott Tomlinson wiped away tears as he testified about how he and his sister, Megan, had argued after getting home from school Jan. 28. He said that he wanted to watch "The Simpsons" and that she didn\'t.
They wrestled over the remote, and the 16-year-old said he put his arm around his 13-year-old sister\'s throat and held it until she went limp.
Dakota County District Judge Edward Lynch sentenced Tomlinson to 12 years in prison for unintentional second-degree murder while committing assault.
With credit for time served and good behavior, he could be eligible for parole in about eight years, when he is 24.
Tomlinson testified that after his sister went limp, "I didn\'t know what to do. I couldn\'t think straight. I had to tell somebody but I didn\'t know who or how."
He said he dialed 911 in another room but hung up when he heard noises. He returned to find his sister apparently having a seizure, he said; she then spit up blood and quit moving. When he checked, she had no pulse.
When his attorney, Anthony Torres, asked whether he had intended to kill Megan, Tomlinson, still crying, replied, "No."
Tomlinson said he put her body in a sleeping bag in a storage shed behind the family home, where police found her. He said he wanted to tell his aunt, who was watching the teenagers while their parents were away for a few days, when she returned home from work. But he said he got scared when he heard her car door slam and ran away.
"I didn\'t know what to tell her," he testified. "I didn\'t think she would believe me."
Police arrested him about 11:45 that night at a friend\'s house.
Monday\'s hearing in Hastings originally was scheduled to decide whether Tomlinson should be tried as a juvenile or an adult. He agreed to plead guilty and be sentenced as an adult.
He is expected to serve his sentence in the St. Cloud prison, which houses younger inmates and offers education and mental health programs, Torres said.
Torres said that Tomlinson has written letters to his sister since her death and that he has read them.
"He said he\'s sorry he won\'t ever get to see her walk down the aisle at her wedding and see their dad give her away," Torres said.
Tomlinson also wrote that "it is tough living without her," the attorney said. "He said he misses her and sometimes hears her voice, which upsets him and makes him cry."
He said the plea agreement was reached after prosecutors agreed to drop a charge of second-degree intentional murder, which carries a 25 1/2-year sentence.
It would have been difficult on such a serious charge to persuade a judge to try the case in juvenile court, because juvenile sentences can extend only to someone\'s 21st birthday, he said.
Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom said the plea balanced the needs for justice, public safety holding the teen accountable for a serious crime that deserved a longer sentence than that permitted in juvenile court.
He described Tomlinson as a "troubled young man who was unable to control his anger." He said he had prior disorderly conduct offenses but no felony record or evidence of prior assaults on his sister.
Backstrom noted that police found a blue plastic bag around Megan\'s head in the sleeping bag, although Tomlinson said he put it under her head. Prosecutors think he may have used the bag to stop bleeding from her nose. Backstrom said a stuffed dog toy also was found, although her brother denied putting anything in the sleeping bag with her.
Backstrom said the case was very unusual because it made Melvin and Beverly Tomlinson the parents of both the victim and her assailant.
The parents declined to comment in court Monday or afterward.
Backstrom noted that two juveniles who initially said Tomlinson had said he wanted to kill his whole family later recanted. That led the prosecutor to drop first-degree murder charges based on their testimony.
Tomlinson has attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and depression, Torres said.
In hindsight, he said, the Tomlinsons realize they could have handled their son\'s disabilities better. He said they have supported him fully since their daughter died.
