Delaware teen gets prison for father's crossbow killing

A Harrington teenager has been sentenced to six years in prison for killing his father with a crossbow, according to court records.

Seth Ramsey, 19, was also given two years of probation when he was sentenced Wednesday morning at the Kent County Courthouse. His sentence was made effective Dec. 11, 2014, the day he was initially arrested.

The former Lake Forest High School student told police he killed his 41-year-old father, Todd, with a crossbow, a weapon that fires arrows using a triggering mechanism, in December 2014 because he skipped school and feared his dad would be angry, court records show.

He pleaded guilty to manslaughter – a lesser offense than murder – and possession of a deadly weapon during the commission of a felony in September.

He faced a maximum of 25 years in prison on each of the two counts, but on Wednesday received only three years in prison for each offense.

A warrant said state troopers and Harrington police went to the Ramsey home in the 4800 block of Park Brown Road in response to a welfare check in December 2014.

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When a sergeant arrived, two people flagged him down and said Seth Ramsey was in their car and "they believe he killed his father," the warrant said.

Police put Ramsey in their vehicle and went inside the home, where they found the father's body with a single wound to the abdomen, records showed.

A piece of carpet was missing in a hallway in front of a blood-splattered door, and inside the room, police found the father's body covered by the carpet section, records said.

A trooper interviewed Ramsey, who said he skipped school two days earlier and stayed home, the warrant said.

"He knew when his father came out he would be mad so he shot him," the warrant said.

Contact Jessica Masulli Reyes at (302) 324-2777, jmreyes@delawareonline.com or Twitter @jessicamasulli.