May 18, 2008 4:04 pm US/Eastern
Documents: Towson Teen Confessed To Mom's Murder
TOWSON, Md. (WJZ) ―
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Lewin Powell faces trial as an adult for the murder of his mother and the attempted murder of his father.
CBS
Friends and classmates are moving forward in unity, days after a student admitted to murdering his mother.
The attack happened inside the family's Towson home.
Kathryn Brown reports friends and family remembered Donna Campbell-Powell as a kind woman and devoted mother.
Classmates of her son, who confessed to killing her, are coping with the shock.
Friends and family members prepare to say a final farewell to 39-year-old Campbell-Powell. Her 16-year-old son, Lewin Powell III, confessed to beating her to death Tuesday with a baseball bat inside their Towson home.
"Just can't believe it. She was a very nice, hardworking, soft-spoken woman, and this just comes as a total surprise to everyone," said neighbor Debbie Horsey.
Those close to the Powells recall an atmosphere of tension between Lewin and his parents.
"They were extremely strict with Lewin. I mean he didn't have a lot of freedoms," said neighbor Paul Kozloski.
At the respected McDonogh School, where Lewin was a sophomore taking honors and AP courses, faculty says he never displayed any signs that he was about to snap.
At the school's first sporting event since the violent incident of this week, parents and students were obviously still shaken by Lewin's arrest.
They are choosing to put their loyalty to their school above all else, and they are handling their grief privately.
"It's disappointing, but it's just beyond everyone's control. And that's all I have to say," said parent Bob Owen.
"It's a little scary to think that's happening here, but I don't know that anything shocks me anymore," said parent Lorrie Fugoso.
Just three months ago, 15-year-old Nicholas Browning confessed to killing his parents and two brothers in Baltimore County.
Last year, there were nearly 300 cases nationwide of children who were accused of killing their parents.
Psychiatrist Cynthia Turner-Graham says the number of children under extreme stress is growing at a dangerously fast rate.
"There are many children today who absolutely aren't equipped with the moral developmental skills or the emotional control that comes from good and positive family relationships," said Turner-Graham.
Lewin also injured his father in the attack. He has been released from the hospital and is expected to recover from his injuries.
Lewin is being charged as an adult with first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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