A Wisconsin man has been sentenced to more than two decades in jail for fatally shooting his 8-year-old stepson in the arm and neck while showing him guns — telling cops later that he was aiming to “look cool” and be “exciting,” according to prosecutors.
“How cool and exciting is it to point a gun at an 8-year-old boy?” asked Walworth County Circuit Court Judge Kristine E. Drettwan at Steven Merkel’s sentencing on Thursday.
“A 52-year-old, at 2:00 in the morning roughly, pulling out firearms to look cool to an 8-year-old?” Drettwan blasted. “How enjoyable is that? “How does this make you look cool?”
Merkel, 53, received a 25-year prison sentence and ten years of extended supervision after pleading guilty to first-degree reckless homicide in August. According to the Town of Geneva Police Department and the Walworth County District Attorney’s Office, Merkel’s stepson, Michael Meagher, was with him at a Walworth County property when the shooting occurred on January 20.
“Merkel claimed the shooting was an accident after police found Michael Meagher fatally wounded inside Merkel’s home,” said Geneva town administrator Scott Williams in a Facebook statement following Merkel’s guilty plea.
According to a Jan. 20 press statement, cops and firefighters from the Town of Geneva arrived at the home approximately 2:25 a.m. and discovered Michael with a single gunshot wound. “Life-saving measures” were taken, but the kid died from his injuries at a local hospital. When officers questioned Merkel about what had occurred, he “seemed frantic and was covered in blood,” according to a criminal complaint acquired by Milwaukee Fox station WITI.
Merkel later told police that “he did something stupid, and it wasn’t (Michael’s) fault” that he was shot. Merkel stated that he removed the magazine from the 9 millimeter handgun that killed Michael, believing that it would not shoot without it. He leveled the gun toward the youngster and pulled the trigger, firing one shot into him.
When authorities inquired why he was showing Michael the pistols, Merkel explained that they had been playing video games and he wanted to “look cool,” according to investigators.
“Today is the first time the court learned that the bullet entered Michael’s upper arm or shoulder area, exited, and passed through his neck,” Drettwan revealed during Merkel’s sentence. “That is a defensive posture.” How is it enjoyable and cool for Michael that you walk out of a bedroom waving a gun at him, scaring him so much that he raises his defense arm, and then you shoot him?”
Merkel revealed to investigators that he had previously pulled out his revolver to show Michael, even pointing it down at him and commanding him to listen, according to the complaint. Police said he “drank two little drinks of rum and RC that evening” prior to the shooting. Drettwan observed Thursday that Merkel also indicated that he “showed Michael a stun gun that he had at the residence and was ‘popping it’ and pointing it toward him as he [Michael] was squirming away,” according to the court.
“I know alcohol was involved, but there’s no evidence here that he was impaired to the point of intoxication,” Drettwan said, noting that his blood alcohol level was 0.02 and that he had two cocktails that night. “Sitting around playing video games with an 8-year-old, and you needed to drink? But there is no evidence that you were inebriated.”
Merkel’s defense lawyer told the court Thursday that he “always says how he should’ve done something different, how he should’ve checked the firearm, how he should not have even brought it out in the first place.” The counsel requested 11 years in prison and five years of extended monitoring, while Merkel issued a statement in an attempt to demonstrate regret.
“I’m here to accept responsibility for my actions in this tragedy,” she added. “I’d like to apologize to the court as well as to the victims affected in this tragedy.”
Drettwan stated that she has handled “a number of devastating cases” over the years, but she believes Merkel’s is “one of, if not the toughest one, because of the senseless and absolutely preventable death of an innocent 8-year-old boy who just wanted to hang out and have fun with an adult in his life whom he trusted,” according to the judge.
“I can’t imagine the pain of losing a child in any circumstances, but it’s pretty unimaginable the way that this has happened to Michael,” says Drettwan. “This did not need to happen. It was completely preventable, senseless, and really difficult to comprehend.”
