COLUMBIA, S.C. — Two psychiatrists disagree over the extent to which a teen who killed a first-grader on a South Carolina school playground can be rehabilitated.
Jail psychologist and defense witness Ernest Martin told a judge Wednesday that 17-year-old Jesse Osborne didn’t realize the consequences of his actions and could be rehabilitated.
Mark Wagner is an outside psychiatrist called by the prosecution. He testified that while Osborne sounds nice and polite, his social media posts before the killings show he is cunning and has a personality disorder that can’t be cured.
A judge heard the conflicting testimony during the second day of Osborne’s sentencing hearing.
Osborne pleaded guilty to two counts of murder for killing his father, then shooting at the Townville Elementary School playground, killing 6-year-old Jacob Hall in September 2016. He faces 30 years to life.
