A 15-year-old Pennsylvania boy will spend up to three decades in prison for shooting and killing his 12-year-old friend during an argument shortly before a planned sleepover.
Nolan Grove was found guilty of all charges against him, including third-degree murder, by York County jurors in June for Kain Heiland’s death in April 2023. The defendant was also convicted of one count of illegal gun possession as a minor, carrying a firearm without a license, and four counts of reckless endangerment.
Pennsylvania is one of only three states where the crime of third-degree murder remains legal.
On Thursday, York County Court of Common Pleas President Judge Maria Musti Cook imposed a sentence of 15 to 30 years for the murder conviction. Grove was also sentenced to one to two years in prison for minor firearm possession, with the sentences to be served consecutively. He was also sentenced to five years probation for the other counts combined. The court credited the defendant with 562 days in pretrial detention.
On April 1, 2023, the Pennsylvania State Police received a report of a boy lying on a pathway between two homes on First Avenue in Red Lion, a small town and suburb of the York metropolitan area.
Grove, Kain, and a third friend spent the afternoon and evening at Grove’s home. The trio planned to spend the night together.
A witness told law enforcement that Grove had retrieved the gun used in the shooting from his home earlier that day. According to this witness, Grove was “playing” with the gun several times that day, including loading, unloading, and activating the laser sight.
Grove can be seen pointing the gun at Kain on surveillance video, with the laser dot visible on the victim’s torso.
Around 7:15 p.m., the three boys spoke with two girls because one of the boys thought the girls had an unnamed friend’s scooter. According to a witness, Grove told the girls that he “wasn’t afraid to shoot somebody” and would do so if given the opportunity. A surveillance camera captured the moment the defendant pointed his gun at the couple.
Another witness provided a screenshot of an image from a FaceTime call in which Grove is seen pointing the gun at Kain, with the laser sight visible on the other boy’s body, according to a criminal complaint obtained by Scranton-based ABC affiliate WNEP.
A witness told police that around 8:22 p.m., the three boys were walking through a neighbor’s yard when Grove allegedly said something about Kain’s mother. Kain then told Grove to keep quiet.
According to the third friend and the other witness who remained on the FaceTime call in question prior to and during the fatal shooting, Grove responded with something along the lines of “you know what happens” or “you know what would happen.”
The younger boy was shot once in the back by his friend. The child died in a matter of seconds when the lone bullet severed his spinal cord and struck his heart.
According to the complaint, the third friend ran home after the shooting, and Grove followed him. The boy told police that he asked Grove why he had shot Kain but got no response.
Grove called his father following the shooting. The third friend told his parents what had happened, and they contacted law enforcement.
During a subsequent police interview, the third friend stated that Grove had repeatedly teased Kain with “your mom” or “yo’ mama” jokes throughout the day, and that Kain had repeatedly told Grove to “be quiet” or “shut up.”
When questioned by police, Grove stated that he was in his bedroom when he heard a gunshot. Investigators noticed that the defendant had changed clothes and washed his hands.
During the trial, jurors discovered that the defendant retrieved his father’s gun from behind an American flag-style wall safe while the friends were out for the day. Jurors were also shown another video of Grove pointing the gun at Kain’s face prior to the shooting, with the dot of the laser landing on the boy’s hand who would be killed.
Grove testified that removing the Kel-Tec.380 semi-automatic pistol from the safe was “probably the dumbest thing I’ve done,” according to York-based Fox affiliate WPMT.
Some of the arguments at trial focused on whether Grove was aware that the gun was loaded at the time. According to the York Daily Record, the defendant claimed not to have done so.
But, in the end, the question didn’t matter much.
While the defense claimed it was “legally relevant” whether Grove knew the gun was loaded at the time, the state argued otherwise. Finally, when answering a jury question about legal culpability, the judge instructed the jurors: “If you believe Nolan Grove intentionally pointed the gun at Kain without knowing for certain that the gun was loaded, you can find malice.”
That finding marked the difference between third-degree murder and manslaughter, and it could mean years or decades in prison for Grove.
