Attorney for boy expects civil charge

By PAM EASTON
Associated Press Writer

HOUSTON (AP) -- The attorney for a 10-year-old being held in the fatal shooting of his father said Monday he expects the boy will face a civil murder charge.

"This is a tragic case, a tragedy on all sides," attorney Chris Tritico said after a closed juvenile court hearing. Another hearing was set for Sept. 13.

Tritico said the boy was a victim of physical and sexual abuse by his father, 41-year-old physician Rick Lohstroh, allegations denied by Lohstroh's divorce attorney Kathleen Collins.

Bill Hawkins, head of the Harris County District Attorney's Juvenile Division, confirmed the case will stay in the juvenile system because of the boy's age. He said the case is still under investigation.

If allegations against the boy are found to be true in juvenile court, he could be held as a youth until age 18 and then could be imprisoned for another 40 years, Tritico said.

Police found Lohstroh dead inside his vehicle Friday outside his ex-wife's house, where he had gone to pick up their two children. The couple last year had finalized a rocky divorce and agreed to joint custody, Collins said.

According to a sheriff's department report, the boy retrieved a gun from his mother's bedroom, climbed into the back seat and began firing "through the back of the driver's seat striking his father."

"He then exited the vehicle and fired more times, striking his father's vehicle," the statement said. "He then returned to the house where the mother took the weapon from him and called 911," it said.

The boy's mother, Deborah Geisler, attended Monday's hearing and said her son "appears OK."

"I am very concerned," Geisler said, "I love my son very much."

Collins said she believes many questions remain about what happened Friday.

"How did the child get the gun?" she asked before Monday's hearing, adding she isn't convinced the child acted alone.

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