Mom scores court win over homicidal neighbor, John Spooner

MILWAUKEE (AP) — A judge has handed a significant victory to a Milwaukee woman who watched her neighbor shoot and kill her teenage son in 2012.

A jury already convicted 77-year-old John Spooner of gunning down 13-year-old Darius Simmons. Spooner has almost no assets but the boy's mother, Patricia Larry, filed a civil lawsuit in case he ever profits from his story.

Her attorney asked Judge Kevin Martens to enter summary judgment on two charges, meaning Martens would rule in her favor without actually holding a trial. Martens did so Wednesday for a costly wrongful-death charge, but not for a charge of inflicting severe emotional distress.

Martens says a jury should decide how severe her distress was.

Spooner's attorney, Basil Loeb, left the courtroom without speaking to a reporter.