Russian man who handed rifle to disabled teenager during drunken 'shooting lesson,' gets nine years in jail for death of boy

A man in Russia’s Urals region has been convicted of murder after a young boy was hit by a stray bullet from his rifle. While he didn’t actually pull the trigger, he was found guilty anyway for his role in the tragic event.

The Sverdlovsk Regional Court on Wednesday ruled that Alexander Borisov was responsible for the killing. He was also indicted on an additional charge of hooliganism over the incident in which seven-year-old Yegor Korkunov was killed in August last year.

Borisov, who was under the influence of alcohol at the time, decided to give an impromptu shooting lesson to a mentally disabled teenager in a communal garden.

According to prosecutors, Borisov handed over a loaded air rifle and instructed the teen on where to shoot. The court ruled that although the second man pulled the trigger, he was unable to fully understand the danger. Despite warnings from passersby that they were close to an outdoor climbing frame where children were playing, 12 shots were fired.

One of those hit Yegor Korkunov, who had been 36 meters away, across a dirt road. According to local media, the boy was admitted to hospital in Ekaterinburg, where he remained in a coma for months before dying late last year. Although Borisov had been arrested for the shooting, his charges were later upgraded to murder.

As a result of Wednesday’s verdict, Borisov will spend the next nine years in a maximum-security penal colony. He will also have to pay close to 2 million rubles (over $25,000) to the boy’s family.

Speaking outside the court, Yegor’s mother, Anna Korkunova, slammed the verdict. “I believe that his guilt has been proven, but the term is very short,” she said. “I would be more relieved if he were given fifteen years.”

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