Mt. Pleasant teen apologizes to family for shooting 13-year-old son
Nearly two years after Mark and Leah Gustafson's 13-year-old son was shot and killed by his best friend, they finally heard an apology from the teen who pulled the trigger.
But the Gustafsons said they didn't want to hear from John Burnsworth III, now 16, who was in court Friday for a hearing to review his sentence after he pleaded guilty in juvenile court in late 2016 to a charge of involuntary manslaughter .
“It's hard for us to accept your apology because of what you did,” Mark Gustafson said. “I hope you learn from this. When it comes to guns, it is not a game.”
Since his arrest, Burnsworth had not publicly expressed remorse to the Gustafson family for fatally shooting James Robert “J.R.” Gustafson in March 2016 in a Mt. Pleasant home they were visiting.
“There is nothing I can say. I am really sorry. He was a good friend of mine, and I wish I didn't do what I did,” Burnsworth said.
Both boys were students at Mt. Pleasant Area Middle School.
Mark Gustafson said he and his wife would not accept the apology.
“For us to spend the holiday with him, we have to go to a cemetery,” Gustafson said in court.
Since March, Burnsworth has attended Appalachian Youth Services program, a reform school in Ebensburg, Cambria County.
Common Pleas Judge Michele Bononi on Friday ordered Burnsworth to remain indefinitely at that facility after a brief hearing to update her on the teen's progress.
Juvenile probation officer Melissa Dinsmore said Burnsworth, now in the ninth grade, has thrived at the reform school. He has performed more than 120 hours of community service, works part-time to make restitution payments and has achieved good grades in school, Dinsmore testified.
Burnsworth said an 18-year-old babysitter, Brooke Nelson, asked him to help get Gustafson to leave the Mt. Pleasant home where she was watching three young children. Police said Burnsworth, then 14, shot Gustafson once in the head to scare him into leaving.
Burnsworth claimed the gun accidently discharged.
Nelson, 20, of Ruffsdale is scheduled to go to trial in January on charges of reckless endangerment and child endangerment.
Joshua Hudec, 32, the father of the children at the home where the shooting occurred, pleaded guilty earlier this year to 10 misdemeanor charges in connection for leaving his loaded gun unattended. He is serving an 111⁄2- to 23-month jail sentence.
Rich Cholodofsky is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-830-6293 or rcholodofsky@tribweb.com.
