Cops: Son shot father while back turned

SILVER CITY, N.M. (KRQE) - Thomas Manning told police he'd been going back and forth with himself over killing his dad during the hunting trip.

The Albuquerque teen's internal debate over whether or not to kill his father Jeffrey Manning is contained in a criminal complaint in the case obtained Thursday by New 13.

The younger Manning initially told authorities it was a hunting accident that killed his father on Sunday in the Gila National Forest, about 30 miles northeast of Silver City. But, when police interviewed him, the story changed from an accident to a murder.

The boy told police he and his 43-year-old father were hunting for deer.

At one point, while watching for deer on a hillside, Thomas Manning said his father had his back to him and "he began to have a bad thought about killing his father," according to the complaint.

He told investigators he pointed a hunting rifle at his father's back with his finger on the trigger while he continued to argue with himself about killing him.

The boy does not describe pulling the trigger but instead just says he then observed his father's head move forward and then backward.

Manning went on to say he did not feel bad about what he did. He told police he stayed at the scene for a while watching his father's dead body.

He then left in his father's SUV and thought about disappearing. But he decided to stop at a restaurant and report that he'd accidentally killed his father.

Manning remains in the Luna County Juvenile Detention Center under $500,000 bond charged with an open court of murder.