14-Year-Old Admits Murdering His Entire Family

On September 2, 2019, the small town of Elkmont, Alabama, experienced its first mass murder since the 1864 Battle of Sulphur Creek Trestle during the Civil War. Oddly enough, the site of that battle took place extremely close to the Ridge Road home where fourteen-year-old Mason Wayne Sisk murdered his family. Ridge Road runs adjacent to the Richard Martin Trail, a walking trail that replaced the old railroad bed running across the trestle in its earlier days.

On the night of the murder, around 11 p.m., Mason called 911 about gunshots at his house. Members of the local volunteer fire department were sent to the scene while police were en-route from the Limestone County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO). When first responders arrived at the scene, they discovered that 38-year-old John Sisk; 35-year-old Mary Sisk; and their three children, 6-year-old Kane, 5-year-old Rorrie, and 6-month-old Colson had all been shot while they slept.

One first responder who flew on the helicopter to the hospital with two of the victims said the crime scene was horrific but declined to appear on camera due to how upset he was at the time. All of the victims had suffered gunshot wounds to the head. Both victims taken on the helicopter died later at the hospital while the remaining three were pronounced dead at the scene.

“It’s an absolutely terrible thing, and I can’t wrap my arms around it,” Elkmont Mayor Tracy Compton, who lives close to the home where the murders took place, told a local reporter with The News Courier. “Our heartfelt condolences are extended to the family, the school, the whole community. It’s just unimaginable.”

Stephen Young, a spokesman for LCSO, made a statement indicating that Mason had called 911 and then met deputies in the driveway when they arrived. Sisk claimed he had been in the basement and heard gunshots from upstairs. He claimed he ran upstairs and then out the door, but gave little information beyond that.

Certain discrepancies in his story led deputies to question him further and confront him on some of what he had said. When pushed, Mason admitted that he had been the one who had shot all five members of his family. He then assisted the police in finding the 9mm weapon he had used before tossing it alongside the road near the scene to hide it.

An investigation revealed that the gun used in the homicides was in the home illegally. Mason’s father, John Sisk, was free on a $15,000 bond at the time of the murders. He had been arrested on a felony charge of armed burglary earlier in the year, according to court records, which meant he could not legally possess or have access to a weapon.

Although no motive has been released for the murders, Mason’s cousin, Daisy McCarty, claims it is likely due to Mason recently being told that Mary Sisk was not his biological mother. Why this information would have set him off is unclear, but it seems to have played some part in the murders. McCarty also said that Mason had been in trouble for breaking into his school and exhibited disturbing behavior such as burning animals alive in the weeks before the murders.

Mason’s biological mother died in Indiana in 2011. John Sisk had already begun seeking full custody of his son in 2010, claiming that Mason had not seen his biological mother since 2008 when he was three years old. In court, John Sisk told the judge that Mason’s mother was often under the influence of alcohol and drugs. He claimed this was evidenced by records showing the police department where she lived in Kentucky had been called on numerous occasions due to her being drunk or drugged. The court never heard anything from Mason’s mother in the case.

John Sisk was awarded emergency custody on the day Mason’s mother died. Because his mother had mostly been absent in his life, Mary Sisk was the only mother the boy who would eventually her had known until the truth behind his biological mother was revealed.

Mason was arrested and taken to the Limestone County jail after recovery of the gun in the early hours of Tuesday morning following the crime. Because of his age, Alabama law forbids him from being placed in the adult population of the jail, so he has remained in solitary confinement there awaiting trial, which has been held up for months due to the pandemic and resulting backlog of court dates.

In February 2021, Mason was finally served with the papers charging him with the capital murder of two or more victims, plus three additional charges of capital murder of a victim under the age of 14. His attorneys, Michael Sizemore and Lucas Beaty filed for the case to be fast-tracked, but Limestone County District Attorney Brian Jones has indicated that there are at least twenty major cases already ahead of Mason’s case.

Mason’s attorneys have also asked that he be moved to a juvenile detention center based on the effects his solitary housing could have on his mental and emotional state. Their request was denied because the judge determined it was not a fit facility to hold someone charged with such serious crimes.

In April 2021, Limestone County Circuit Judge Robert Baker set a trial date in Mason’s case for this coming November. The case has since been delayed until next year, though an official date has not been set. Since Mason is being tried in adult court, he will face a maximum sentence of life in prison with no possibility of parole, but he is not eligible for the death penalty due to his age at the time of the murders.

There are still so many questions to be answered about why Mason decided to murder his family and we aren’t likely to get any answers until his trial, if even then. What is clear is that it shocked this small community to its core and there may very well be more horrors to unfold once the trial is underway.