6th grader won’t face charges in duck stabbings

updated 12:30 a.m. ET July 7, 2007

WICHITA, Kan. - A sixth grader who said he stabbed a mother duck and two ducklings, then later recanted his story, won’t face charges, a district attorney said Friday.

There was insufficient evidence to support any charges, said District Attorney Nola Foulston.

The case of the duck, which had nested near a school with her two ducklings, received national attention in May. An 11-year-old boy told classmates he hated ducks and had stabbed them multiple times. Students and teachers held a ceremony to share their grief, and alarmed officials said the boy needed mental treatment.

He later claimed he was just joking and denied killing the ducks.

Killing mallard ducks is illegal this time of year. Even in hunting season, the way they were killed would be illegal, officials said.

Foulston said officials found that at the time the ducks were discovered they had been dead for at least several days. A yellow pencil was sticking from one of the dead ducks.

School officials offered a $500 reward for information, leading several students to report that they had seen the suspect near the ducks on the day they were found.

However, Foulston said the carcasses were already decomposing by that time. She said it was possible the student may have mutilated the carcasses, but the ducks could have been dead from other causes.

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