The teenage son of Jamaican immigrants calmly admitted in court yesterday that he beat his mother to death with a baseball bat after an argument over his grades at a prestigious private school.

The sixteen-year-old showed no emotion as he answered questions in a Baltimore County, Maryland, court about whether he understood the significance of his guilty plea to first-degree murder in connection with the prolonged attack on his mother and a similar beating of his father, who survived.

Lifetime of problems

The youngster killed his mother in May 2008 after an argument about his grades at McDonogh School, a prestigious private school. But Shannell Harleston, one of the teenager's attorneys, said the initial subject of the dispute with his mother was immaterial.

"This is a lifetime of problems that he's been dealing with that suddenly came to a head," said Harleston after the hearing. "This particular day was the first time he had ever argued back. ... He just snapped that day."

Harleston would not specify what led to his emotional difficulties, but the teen told police after he was arrested that his parents had pushed him too hard and he could not take it anymore, according to a statement of facts read in court Monday by Assistant State's Attorney Charles R. Gayle.

Harleston said the teenager had not been abused by his parents.

Prosecutors are seeking a life sentence with the possibility of parole when he is sentenced April 3. His attorneys plan to ask for all but 15 years of the sentence to be suspended and to have their client sent to a maximum-security psychiatric facility with a programme for young offenders.

In exchange for the teenager's guilty plea, prosecutors dropped all other charges, including a count of attempted murder for the attack on his father, who suffered two skull fractures when his son beat him with the same aluminium bat.

State's Attorney Scott D. Shellenberger said after the hearing that he did not believe Patuxent was an appropriate placement for the young man. Prosecutors will argue that he should serve his sentence in a state prison.

If he receives a life sentence, he could be eligible for parole after 12 years with good behaviour Parole for an offender serving a life sentence in Maryland requires the approval of the governor, which hasn't happened since 1994.