A 13-year-old Pennsylvania boy has been charged with third-degree murder in the death of 12-year-old boy.
Nolan Grove fatally shot Kain Heiland in the back on April 1, 2023, police said on Friday.
Pennsylvania State Police troopers received a call around 8:27 p.m. on April 1, 2023 regarding a shooting and reporting a child laying on the ground. The police arrived on scene to 50 1st Avenue, Red Lion, in York County, PA, and identified the child as Kain Heiland.
Heiland was pronounced dead at the scene.
The autopsy revealed that Heiland died of a single gunshot wound to the back.
During their investigation, police say numerous witnesses were subpoenaed to appear before a Grand Jury and testify to the knowledge of the case.
Through this investigation, Pennsylvania State Police, learned that an additional witness was present with Grove when Heiland was shot.
On April 1, Heiland, Grove, and the witness were spending time together and had plans to sleepover at the witness’s house that night. According to the report, they wandered around the Red Lion Borough, including going and leaving the witness’s and Grove’s homes, throughout the evening.
According to the witness, Grove obtained the firearm from his home at some point during April 1st, though he was unsure when. The witness recalled that he saw the firearm used in Heiland’s homicide throughout the day, in Grove’s possession, several times prior. The witness indicated that Grove may have been playing with it because he heard it clicking, and he saw Grove load and unload it several times. The witness also recalled Grove activating the laser on the firearm numerous times.
More definitively, the witness recalled that Grove pointed the gun at Heiland when they were at the witness’s house, prior to the shooting. According to surveillance video, this occurred around 6:09pm.
Heiland made statements directly to Grove during this incident, telling him to “take your finger off the trigger”.
Around 7:15 p.m., the group traveled to Grove’s home, where they had an exchange with two girls who were traveling on what the witness believed to be his scooter. One of these girls later testified that Grove stated he would shoot someone if he had to, and pointed the gun at the girls as he, the witness, and Heiland walked away.
Pennsylvania State Police obtained a video from social media shared April 1st, around 7:52pm, that shows Grove pointing the firearm at Heiland. This is prior to the shooting. The red laser from the firearm can be seen on Heiland’s body while he lays on the ground and shields his face. The video of this incident was a screen recording without audio from a facetime call between the witness and a fourth witness, lasting approximately 2 hours in total.
This fourth witness stated that during the facetime call, he saw Grove with the firearm multiple times, pointing it at the witness and Heiland. This fourth witness also stated that he saw Grove attempt to shoot the firearm but it did not work.
The three males returned to witness’s home at approximately 8pm. Shortly thereafter, Grove wanted to return to his house. While the group was walking back to Grove’s home, video surveillance shows Grove raise the firearm and point it down the road toward the intersection of Hyson Lane and N. Charles Street in Red Lion.
The three males were unable to open Grove’s garage when they returned to his house, so they walked through a neighbor’s yard to get to the front of his home.
The witness testified that Grove was loading and unloading the firearm during this time, and that he would open the firearm halfway and the bullet would drop out. At one point, the witness said that the bullet fell out and Grove put it in his pocket. He was unsure if he put the bullet back in the firearm, but knew that Grove was fidgeting with the firearm in his pocket.
At approximately 8:22 p.m., the witness said that as he, Grove, and Heiland walked through the neighbor’s yard, Grove said something about about Heiland’s mom, at which point Hyland told him to be quiet.
When questioned about this interaction, the witness stated that Grove had been making “your mom” jokes to Heiland throughout the day, until Heiland would tell him to be quiet or shut up.
The witness stated that next Grove removed the firearm from his sweatshirt pocket and shot Heiland. The witness said he was unsure if the firearm was touching Heiland’s back.
The witness confirmed that Heiland was in front of Grove with his back to them, with the witness slightly behind Grove.
The witness and Grove did not call 911. Phone records indicate that shortly after the shooting Grove called his father, who was in Harrisburg. The witness returned home and told his parents, who then contacted emergency responders.
Pennsylvania State Police later executed a search warrant of Grove’s father’s home, where they located a hidden compartment firearm case in the living room. There was a magnet located on another firearm safe in the living room which could be used to open the compartment. Inside the case was a Kel-Tec P-3AT .380 firearm, which police determined to be functional.
The stamps on the ammunition matched the casing found at the scene of Heiland’s shooting.
In response to charging the parents, District Attorney Sunday responded, “what I can say now is based on the facts that we identified through the course of the investigation and the law as it currently exists, at this point the father is not being charged with a crime.”
Grove has been charged with recklessly endangering another person, possession of firearm by a minor, involuntary manslaughter, and murder of the third degree.
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