Teen pleads guilty but mentally ill in killings

Jacob Remaley pleaded guilty but mentally ill Tuesday on two counts of first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of his mother and younger brother while they were sleeping in 2016.

Remaley, now 18, was 14 at the time of the murders.

Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court Judge Christopher Feliciani sentenced him to two concurrent prison terms of 30 years to life, including the time he has already served.

District Attorney John Peck said the plea was negotiated. In Pennsylvania, a guilty but mentally ill plea is proven when the case involves “one who is a result of mental disease or defect that lacks the substantial capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law,” Mr. Peck said.

On Nov. 30, 2016, authorities said Remaley grabbed a gun from atop the refrigerator in his family’s Hempfield home and killed his mother, Dana, 46, and younger brother Caleb, 8. At 6:53 a.m. the next morning, Remaley dialed 911 and told the operator, “Why didn’t he kill me? I need help.”

Throughout the case, Remaley’s defense has claimed he has multiple personalities. On the night of the murders, they said one of the personalities — Wrath — was responsible for the shootings.

Remaley was tried as an adult. Typically, a juvenile under the age of 15 convicted of first-degree murder would receive a 25-years-to-life sentence. Mr. Peck said he recommended that Remaley receive 30 years to life.

At Tuesday’s sentencing, Mr. Peck said Remaley told the judge that he was sorry for what he did. Mr. Peck said Remaley admitted his guilt and was apologetic.

Mr. Peck said Remaley was “reserved” and “unemotional” but engaged in the courtroom proceedings.

“At one point, the judge asked him, ‘Do you have any questions?’” he said. “And he said, ‘Am I going to get credit for the time I already served?’ You know, obviously he was fully participating. The way he spoke logically and coherently and to the point.”

Since 2016, Remaley has had treatments that include hospitalizations, Mr. Peck said. Mr. Peck said he hopes Remaley can be rehabilitated.

Wayne Philip McGrew, Remaley’s lawyer, said the main focus was to provide his client with the right mental health treatment.

“His family’s stood beside him, and I’m confident that they are conflicted,” he said. “Understandably, they want to support him and hope he gets well. But they’re also equally concerned about what actually occurred that morning.”

After the sentencing, Mr. McGrew and the Remaley family, which includes Remaley’s father and grandparents, are hoping he will be sent to a facility that will help him get the treatment he needs.