“They are guilty”, the first words of the judge broke the silence in the full courtroom at the beginning of the sentencing of the parents of the minor who killed nine children and a school guard and injured five other students and a history teacher on May 3, 2023 in the elementary school “Vladislav Ribnikar”.
I was right behind Vladimir and Miljana Kecmanović, K.K’s parents, so I didn’t see their expressions during the reading of the verdict, which lasted more than two hours.
On the right were the defense lawyers, on the left the representatives of the injured families, who watched everything in silence and with tears in their eyes, especially in the most difficult moments of the judge’s presentation, when he detailed how many bullets were used and where which child was hit.
One of the members of the court guard, facing the audience and journalists, breathed deeply in an attempt to suppress his feelings
There were also tears among the journalists.
All searches and hearings were extremely emotional, the judge pointed out.
“And a stone would cry,” he said.
Between the reading and reasoning of the verdict, which took a step towards the judicial epilogue of the tragedy that deeply shook the entire country, penalties were also announced.
Vladimir Kecmanović was sentenced to 14 and a half years in prison for a serious offense against general safety and neglect and abuse of a minor child, and his wife to two years and 11 months for neglecting a minor child.
They were also sentenced to similar sentences in December 2024, but the Court of Appeal rejected that verdict due to violations of the procedure and requested a new one.
The defense announced an appeal this time as well.
KK was less than 14 years old at the time of the crime and is not subject to criminal liability.
How the tragedy happened
In the read verdict, the relationships in the Kecmanović family, the thoughts and interests of the minors, as well as how he planned the massacre, and what happened second by second in “Ribnikar” on that May 3, were described in detail.
It was emphasized that KK felt rejected and unappreciated among his peers, that he “stopped being happy”, but that at the same time he did not show emotions.
He considered them a weakness.
In the meantime, he began to identify with the term psychopath – as his father once called him – and searched for him on the Internet, as well as questions such as “can he, as a psychopath, love animals.”
Psychiatric examination established that KK is not a psychopath, the judge emphasized.
It was emphasized that he used the phone and computer without parental supervision, as well as that he most often searched the Internet late at night, between three and five in the morning.
He repeatedly searched for mass shootings in schools in the US and the most famous people responsible for them, and the judge particularly emphasized the video of the crime in Columbine High School from 1999 in the USAwhen 16 people were killed, among them 13 students.
“That movie gave him the idea to shoot up the school,” he said.
The investigation established that he came into contact with weapons at least five times before the mass murder in “Ribnikar”.
His father trained him on several occasions – himself, and with the help of employees in shooting ranges and shooting ranges – to use air and firearms, how to load them and breathe while shooting.
He filmed and took pictures of him while he was shooting and praised him for being talented, according to the verdict.
However, his mother “pressured him to be the best in everything”, and he was “extremely afraid”, the verdict says.
At one point, KK thought of telling his mother what he was planning to do in “Ribnikar”, but he was so afraid of her and her reaction that he didn’t, the judge said.
The Kecmanović family did not develop feelings of love, happiness, tenderness, and trust, and the parents did not provide emotional security for their son, nor did they seek medical and psychological help, according to the verdict.
At most of these and similar details, many in the courtroom shook their heads, and the scenes of upset parents came back to me all the time on May 3, 2023, which I spent almost the entire time in front of “Ribnikar”.
How they run to the school and look for their children, then hug them tightly.
And a few of them who stayed there, still waiting, even when the others left.
KK had a plan that morning to be late for the first lesson, so that as many children as possible would be at school.
On May 1, 2023, he took his father’s weapon from the closet in the hallway of the apartment, where – instead of in the safe intended for safekeeping – it was under a padlock with a code, which he easily opened.
He put the weapon away in the desk in his room.
He made a list of the children he planned to kill, a plan of the school and of moving around the building, intending to enter several classrooms.
He also prepared Molotov cocktails, planning to throw them at the classroom door when the police came, so they couldn’t get to him.
He fired 21 bullets in the school corridor and 45 in the classroom itself.
He was not guided by the list he had previously made, the judge emphasized.
During the shooting, he was cold and emotionless, according to witness statements.
The shooting lasted a total of two minutes and one second.
Sam called the police.
He was aware that after the crime he would be imprisoned and he wanted it, so that he would not be with his family or peers, the judge said.
However, KK stated that he “wished his parents had noticed (what he was planning)”.
He was placed in the Clinic for Neurology and Psychiatry for Children, where with the help of doctors there was a “visible improvement” in his condition, the judge emphasized.
Reactions
“The guilty verdict for both parents confirms that the VJT in Belgrade proved all the allegations from the indictment,” said Nenad Stefanović, chief prosecutor of the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office (VJT) in Belgrade.
He added that “all proven failures of Vladimir and Miljana Kecmanović, unfortunately, resulted in an unprecedented tragedy”.
The defense denies it.
“It has not been established that the minor child was neglected due to the behavior of his parents, because this fact could only be determined by court experts,” emphasized Irina Borović, who represents the Kecmanović family.
At the same time, the court’s reasoning does not differ in any way from the first judgment against Kecmanović, which was previously annulled by the Court of Appeal, he believes.
“I hope that this verdict will not be the place where we end the story, because this problem is much deeper and cannot be resolved in one criminal procedure,” said Borović.
Zora Dobričanin, one of the representatives of the families of the injured, described the trial as a “long battle” that will continue before the Court of Appeal.
I believe that everything that was heard during the sentencing is “quite strong” and that it is about “concrete evidence” against Kecmanović.
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