CHARLESTON - A 15-year-old who claimed the antidepressant Zoloft drove him to kill his sleeping grandparents and burn their house down was convicted of murder Tuesday and sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Christopher Pittman, now 15 and being tried as an adult, hung his head as the jury's verdict was read after about six hours of deliberation.
"I know it's in the hands of God. Whatever he decides on, that's what it's going to be," Pittman told Circuit Judge Danny Pieper shortly before the sentence was pronounced. The judge's only other option was life behind bars.
The trial, coming at a time of heightened awareness of the side effects of antidepressants, was billed as the first in the United States in which Zoloft was blamed for driving a youngster to kill.
Defense attorneys told jurors that the then-12-year-old's mind was so clouded that he could not tell right from wrong when he killed his grandparents, torched their home and then drove off in their car in November 2001.
But prosecutors said Pittman was actually motivated by anger because his grandparents disciplined him for choking a younger student on a school bus - and they reminded jurors of the vicious nature of the crime: Both Joe Pittman, 66, and his wife, Joy, were killed by shotgun blasts to the head as they slept. Afterward, he told police they "deserved it."
Pittman's father, Joe, told the judge he supports his son even though the victims of the November 2001 shootings were Joe Pittman's parents.
"I love my son with all of my heart, as I did my mom and dad," he said. "And mom and dad, if they were here today, would be begging for mercy as well."
Later, Joe Pittman called on South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford and President Bush to pardon his son. He said he is a Gulf War veteran and urged the officials to "give my son the benefit of the doubt."
Christopher Pittman cried as several other family members asked for mercy before sentencing.
"We're devastated. We're heartbroken. We're mystified the state chooses to treat a 12-year-old as an adult," defense attorney Andy Vickery told reporters later. "Is it consistent with our notion of decency ... to try 12-year-olds for murder?"
Prosecutor Barney Giese said he has sympathy for the teenager, "but I also have sympathy for Joe and Joy Pittman."
Christopher Pittman had been hospitalized when he lived in Florida. He ran away from home there and then threatened to kill himself about a month before the slayings.
Initially, the youngster told police that a black man had shot his grandparents, burned the house and kidnapped him. Prosecutors said the Zoloft defense was just another smokescreen.
"He just happened to be on an antidepressant when this happened," prosecutor John Meadors said later.
Zoloft is the most widely prescribed antidepressant in the United States, with 32.7 million prescriptions written in 2003. Last October, the Food and Drug Administration ordered Zoloft and other antidepressants to carry "black box" warnings - the government's strongest warning short of a ban - about an increased risk of suicidal behavior in children.
Pfizer, the manufacturer of Zoloft, issued a statement saying it was a tragic case and that the testimony showed Pittman needed help before the slayings.
"Zoloft didn't cause his problems nor did the medication drive him to commit murder," the statement said. "On these two points, both Pfizer and the jury agree."
In April, a Santa Cruz, Calif., jury acquitted a man of attempted murder after he beat his friend then blamed the episode on Zoloft. In at least two cases last year, however, juries in Michigan and North Dakota rejected similar claims.
Vickery said he plans appeals, one on the question of whether the state can constitutionally try a 12-year-old in adult court for murder.
Joe Pittman said he embraced his son after the verdict.
"We held each other. We cried. We told each other we loved each other and said it's not over."
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