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14-Year-Old Admits Murdering Parents & Siblings After Discovering 'Mom' Was Actually His Stepmom

NewsPublished Sep 4, 2019
By Kaitlin Stanford
Caution tape ropes off the Sisk family drivewayCBS News/YouTube

Police were called to a tragic scene Monday at a home in Elkmont, Alabama. There, in various rooms of the one-story house, lay five victims, all shot at close range: a mother, a father, and three of their children, who ranged in age from 6 years to just 6 months. Only the couple's 14-year-old son survived, and he was remarkably unscathed. But soon after cops questioned the teen, a confession came tumbling out: He was the shooter.

The teen, who has not been named publicly, initially claimed to have been in the basement of the home when he heard shots break out upstairs.

This was the tale he told a 911 operator shortly before 11 p.m. Monday, and when police arrived at the home soon after, he reiterated the same story.

"He said that he ran out the door, and there was very little other information given," Limestone County Sheriff's Office spokesman Stephen Young said.

But the teen's story crumbled like a house of cards once he was taken to the police station for questioning.

"Upon being confronted with some of the inconsistencies [in his story]," Young explained, "he did admit to shooting the five family members."

Those family members turned out to be John Sisk, 38; his wife Mary, 35; a 6-year-old boy; 5-year-old girl; and 6-month-old baby boy. All were shot with a 9mm handgun, which police determined was in the home illegally, and three of them were found dead at the scene. The other two, though not specified, died shortly after being airlifted to a nearby hospital.

Once the teen confessed, he led investigators straight to where he'd ditched the gun on the side of a nearby road.

He's being held in a juvenile facility, where he faces five counts of murder. According to Young, depending on the adjudication process, he could be tried as an adult on all five counts.

Police say they haven't yet established a motive, but a revealing interview with the boy's first cousin turned up some troubling details.

Daisy McCarty told WAFF-TV that she believes the boy was "triggered" last week after learning that Mary Sisk was actually not his biological mother but his stepmother. By extension, he then discovered that her three children were his half-siblings.

But that alone isn't enough to make a person snap, of course. And to that, McCarty did say that troubling signs had been popping up within the last year.

“I think he’s been having problems," she shared. "And everybody, I don’t know why everybody didn’t just see it," McCarty said. "That’s what bothers me, because they’d seen it but they didn’t do anything about it really.”

The "problems" she speaks of weren't tiny ones, either.

McCarty claimed the boy was recently caught vandalizing his school and burning animals alive.

Although vandalizing property isn't exactly model behavior, it's understandable how that might not raise too many red flags. But psychologists have long regarded intentional animal torture and cruelty as a serious symptom of a behavioral disorder.

According to Psychology Today

"When the science of behavioral profiling began to emerge in the 1970s, one of the most consistent findings reported by the FBI profiling unit was that childhood IATC appeared to be a common behavior among serial murderers and rapists (i.e., those with psychopathic traits characterized by impulsivity, selfishness, and lack of remorse). Many notorious serial killers -- such as Jeffrey Dahmer -- began by torturing and killing animals in their childhood. Dahmer also collected animal roadkill, dissected the remains, and masturbated over the animals he had cut up."

For now, the small but close-knit community of Elkmont continues to mourn the loss of the Sisk family -- especially the children, taken far too soon.

"There are not enough words to convey the sense of loss this family is feeling at this time and there is little the rest of us can do to bring them comfort," Elkton Mayor Tracy Compton said a statement shared Tuesday on Facebook. "We pray as a community for healing in this unprecedented situation and know that together we will persevere and eventually overcome."

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