Cody Posey stood before Judge James Waylon Counts Wednesday. Quietly and evenly, he read his final statement before his sentencing.

Posey, who stands convicted of manslaughter, second-degree murder and first-degree murder in the deaths of his father, stepmother and step-sister, began by thanking his supporters and his defense team.

"I never knew that so many people could care so much," Posey said of the supporters who have been deluging defense attorney Gary Mitchell's office with letters, e-mails and petitions on his behalf.

"Every day I regret what I did," Posey said. "I know it wasn't right. While the abuse might be true, I try to think about my family and about the good times that we had."

Posey's voice cracked a little.

"I don't know about emotions," he said. "I don't know how to express them or what to do about them."

Posey talked about his goals for treatment, and said he feels he has learned a lot in the past two years. He has learned about anger management and problem solving, and admitted he has a long way to go. He wouldn't be in court today if he had known how to manage his problems, he said.

"I never really lived with a family that was loving," Posey said. "I want to take parenting classes. If I ever become a father ... I want to do all I can to help myself understand myself better."

Posey noted the court heard testimony that he is a psychopath, a liar, a problem, and that he will kill again.

"I can tell you right now that I will never kill again," Posey said. "I have been taught better solutions to problems. I am confident I can be a good, model citizen."

Posey said he has been asked time and time again to be an advocate and stand up for the abused.

"I want to help people," Posey said. "I don't think I will be a problem with the community. People who don't know me want to adopt me."

Looking forward to college, Posey talked about an interest in computer science and eventually, law school.

"I know I'm 16 and my ideas can change a lot," he said. "I want to work on myself and my problems ... I want to show people that don't believe in me that I can and will be better."

Prosecuting attorney Sandra Grisham began her final presentation with a dramatic follow-up.

"On July 5, 2004, Cody Posey thought he could get away with murder," she said. "He did not snap -- he planned and executed his murders -- and he planned and executed the cover-up. Cody Posey thought he could get away with murder -- with three of them."

Grisham said there is a reason judges are responsible for making sentencing decisions, and not attorneys or popular opinion. Discretion must be guided by the children's code, case law and the evidence, she said.

"This offense was committed in an aggressive, violent, and premeditated manner," she said.

Grisham repainted the picture of day of the murders, emphasizing that Posey shot his step-sister Marilea Schmid a second time to make sure she was dead. He reloaded the gun after all three murders in order to shoot anyone else who might show up -- which, Grisham admitted, he never confessed to.

"All factors that show the nature of this crime, show it was cold, calculated, deliberate and chilling," Grisham said.

She said the trial would have been different if the crime had not occurred on the ranch of a celebrity and if Posey "wasn't an Anglo."

"These are not the actions of a someone acting in self defense," Grisham said.

Grisham also suggested some of Posey's testimony about abuse might have been taken from other sources.

Grisham said if Posey is sentenced as an juvenile, there is very little chance he would be kept in the system for another four and a half years. She went through the possible family members who would look after Posey if he were freed. Her implication was that none of the family members Posey might end up with would be capable of supervising him and getting him the help he needs.

"Marilea would have been 15 years old today," Grisham said. She read a letter from a relative, describing Marilea's kindness.

"The court is asking you to impose the maximum sentence in this case," she said. "Cody Posey is not safe. He will not be safe in a couple of years. He will not be safe as long as he is able to pick up a gun."

Defense attorney Gary Mitchell began his closing statement by saying he thinks it's been a very good thing that so much "light from the media has been thrown on this trial."

He said the publicity reveals the far-reaching and catastrophic nature of these kinds of cases.

Mitchell said the public does not fear Posey, "they do not think an abused child will commit like acts again."

Thousands of names are on the various petitions and Mitchell received hundreds of letters, he said.

"I think these letters speak to that issue that that type of treatment of a child is not only wrong, but it is abuse," he said. "I regret in this case that we have attempted to defile those who have come forward to testify to the abuse by denying them. The exposure of this case has indicated to us that this nation and this state care immensely about our children."

The only remaining issue concerning Posey, Mitchell said, is whether he is amenable to treatment.

"In this case, the overwhelming evidence is that he can be treated," he said.

Mitchell said Posey works hard to do the right thing and learn what he needs to.

"If that makes him some kind of psychopath, then I suspect everyone of us who have worked for what we wanted are psychopaths," Mitchell said.

Mitchell said he would welcome Cody at his table, in his home, with his family.

"We recommend he be committed to the care of the department until the age of 21," Mitchell said. "He has already served 12 years in a hell that no child should be in. It's time that one of our priorities truly is children."

Grisham had the last word.

"The fact that many people do not consider Cody Posey a threat to them does not mean we should let him loose on them," she said. "Many children are abused and very few have killed."

Grisham said she was there to speak for children, one of whom cannot speak for herself; to speak for the children in law enforcement facilities; and for all the children to come.