Sun coverage: Cockeysville family killed

Browning faces a life in prison

When Nicholas W. Browning is sentenced in December for the fatal shootings of his parents and two younger brothers, the 16-year-old Cockeysville honors student with no prior criminal record will likely join a state prison population that includes hundreds of inmates serving time for crimes they committed as teenagers.

Guilty plea in 4 murders

At court hearing after court hearing, Nicholas W. Browning has sat stoically as lawyers argued about his bail status, the doctors who would evaluate him and whether he would be tried in adult court or the juvenile system on charges that he killed his family.

Tape raises questions

He told police that he stood over his father with a gun for 20 to 25 minutes before shooting him in the head. He told them that after also shooting his mother and brothers, he tried to make the house look like it had been hit by burglars. And he told the detectives investigating the fatal shootings in his upscale Cockeysville neighborhood that he killed his two younger brothers because he thought it was the only way he could get away with killing his parents.

Mental state might be key in murder trial

A teenage boy, numbed by what he described as emotional and physical abuse by his parents, was walking home one winter night from a friend's house when he began fantasizing about a life without them.

Teen 'trance-like,' doctor testifies

A Cockeysville teenager accused of killing his parents and two younger brothers was in a "trance-like state" when they were shot, one by one, as they slept in the family's home in February, a forensic psychiatrist testifying for the defense told a judge yesterday.

Hearing delayed in killing of family

A Baltimore County judge has postponed until July a hearing that had been scheduled for next week to determine whether the Cockeysville teenager accused of killing his parents and two younger brothers should be tried in the juvenile system or remain in adult court.

Garden of grief

Sitting at the February funeral service for the four members of the Browning family, Garland Williams was overcome by the sheer number of people grieving the couple, their two youngest sons and the arrest of their eldest boy on murder charges in the deaths.

Teen held in killings will be evaluated

A Baltimore County judge ordered a psychiatric evaluation yesterday for the Cockeysville teenager accused of killing his parents and younger brothers.

Browning indicted in killings

While medical staff at the Baltimore County jail continue to watch over the Cockeysville teenager charged with killing his family this month, Nicholas W. Browning was indicted yesterday on murder and handgun charges.

United in life, and now death

As mourners shuffled into pews, images flashed on a screen above the altar: The couple dancing on their wedding day, the husband's strong arms wrapped around his wife. Their three sons posing in Christmas sweaters, all chubby cheeks and big smiles. The boys in recent years, shaggy-haired and gangly, clowning on a snow-covered mountain.

When tragedy hits home

Covering tragedies is never easy or enjoyable for any journalist - in spite of how it's portrayed in the entertainment world. When a tragedy involves children and strikes close to home, it's even tougher.

The search for 'why'

Minutes before services started, the Rev. Bill Brown still didn't know what on earth he would say.

High-profile lawyer hired for Cockeysville teen

From the 17-year-old D.C. sniper to a disgraced state politician, the new attorney for a 15-year-old Cockeysville youth who police say confessed to fatally shooting his family last weekend has had his share of high-visibility clients.

Killings of parents by youths rare in U.S., experts say

The murder of a parent at the hands of a son or daughter is rare in this country, occurring 250 to 300 times a year, according to experts.

Dan Rodricks: In face of violence, looking within

Parents and teenagers are walking around this week awed by the violence that destroyed the Browning family in Cockeysville - one of those events that are so shocking we all look at each other and wait for someone to make some sense of it. But there is no sense to it, and the explanation might never come.

Gun death hit family before

The fatal shooting last weekend of a Baltimore County couple and two of their sons, allegedly at the hands of their eldest son, is not the first gun tragedy to have visited their extended family.

Shootings highlight questions about kids who kill relatives with little warning

Authorities offered no further insight into the motive of a teenager accused in the shooting deaths of his father, mother and two brothers, but experts say such crimes are not unprecedented -- and they often come without any obvious warning signs.

A suspect, few clues

Nicholas Browning appeared on the television screen in a Towson courtroom yesterday, his dirty-blond hair tousled, wearing a jail-issued orange jumpsuit. The 15-year-old Dulaney High School sophomore answered the judge's questions with "ma'am," as he was ordered held without bail in his first court appearance after being charged with murdering his family.

A Parent's View

Dulaney dad tries to make sense of deaths

At the house on Powers Avenue in Cockeysville where the killings took place, two police cars blocked the driveway yesterday and a makeshift memorial of balloons, flowers and teddy bears stood at the entrance to the wide front porch.

15-year-old charged in killings

A Dulaney High School honor student and Boy Scout was charged with shooting and killing his parents and two younger brothers, a crime that police said he confessed to more than 24 hours after the killings.

Vigil pays tribute to family

Neighbors and friends gathered to remember four Browning family members found shot in their Cockeysville home.

Four bodies found in home

The bodies of two adults and two teenagers were discovered last night in a home in Cockeysville by a 15-year-old boy who lived at the home, Baltimore County Police said.