The mother of confessed teenage killer Vernon Bartley says her son had little education and was emotionally immature for his age when he killed their Ewa Beach neighbor, 51-year-old Karen Ertell.

Bartley, 17, was 15 years old when he admitted strangling Ertell at her home May 25, 2007. But his mother, Jillian Bartley, said that emotionally, “;he just wasn't his age.”;

And physically, she said, “;he wasn't mature enough to be an adult.”;

Vernon Bartley is on trial as an adult in Circuit Court for murder, sexual assault and other crimes in connection with Ertell's death because the state Family Court waived jurisdiction.

  Mother takes the stand in Ewa murder trial

 

The mother of an accused teenage murderer testified today in court.

[ Watch ]

 

At the time of Ertell's death, Bartley had other matters pending in Family Court, his lawyer, Jeffrey Hawk, said.

One was for burglarizing Ertell's home and stealing $600 from her.

Jillian Bartley said her son admitted to her that he committed that burglary and several previous ones at Ertell's home. She said she asked Ertell whether there was any way to fix what her son had done in the other burglaries.

She said Ertell offered to help. Instead of Ertell reporting the crimes to police, Vernon was supposed to do some work at her house. But his mother said he never did the work.

Bartley said her son struggled in the seventh grade, the last grade he attended, because he skipped out on school. On the morning that her son admitted he killed Ertell, Bartley said he was not at home when she woke up and took his siblings to school.

Bartley said her son is shy and did not have many friends because he did not know how to make friends.

“;I know he had friends, but not the right friends,”; she said.

Bartley was at her son's side when he confessed to police that he strangled Ertell, two days after her death. But he told police detectives he did not intend to kill her. He said he planned to sneak into Ertell's home and steal her keys.