A West Bloomfield grandmother was charged with open murder today in the shooting death of her 17-year-old grandson. 
 
 
 
 With her husband in court and family members waving to her, Sandra Layne, a former schoolteacher, sat silently today, bowing her head as a West Bloomfield police detective described her grandson, Jonathan Hoffman, pleading for help with a 911 operator. 
 
 
 
 “The subject stated that his gramma had just shot him in the chest and that he was going to die and he pleaded for help,” Detective Brad Boulet testified in 48th District Court in Bloomfield Township. “At approximately the three-minute mark of the 911 call, the subject screamed and exclaimed he had just been shot again.” 
 
 
 
 Police arriving on the scene heard several gunshots, Boulet said. They then ordered Layne, who came to the front door with a gun in her right hand, to come out of the house. 
 
 
 
 “While walking toward the officers Ms. Layne exclaimed that she had just murdered her grandson,” Boulet said. Upstairs, they found the teen unresponsive, and he was pronounced dead at Botsford Hospital. The Oakland County Medical Examiner’s Office found that Hoffman had eight entry or exit gunshot wounds and two bullets still in his body, Boulet testified. 
 
 
 
 Judge Marc Barron ordered Layne, the victim's maternal grandmother, held without bond. She faces up to life in prison if convicted. 
 
 
 
 She's next scheduled to appear May 24 for a preliminary hearing. Assistant County Prosecutor Jason Pernick said there's a question of whether she is competent to stand trial. 
 
 
 
 Her lawyer, Mitch Ribitwer, testified that the married mother of five and grandmother of nine worked as a school teacher in California before moving to West Bloomfield 30 years ago. He said she's been married for 28 years. 
 
 
 
 "She's never been in trouble before," Ribitwer said outside the courtroom. "(She's) very distraught, very upset. It's a very difficult time." 
 
 
 
 In court, she kept looking back at her husband and three people with him, as a young man raised an arm to wave to her. The family members declined to comment as they left the courthouse. 
 
 
 
 Assistant Oakland County Prosecutor Paul Walton said Layne is being charged with open murder because it covers both first degree murder -- which includes accusations that she planned the crime -- and second degree murder. She could face up to life in prison if she's convicted. 
 
 
 
 "The jury makes the decision of the degree," Walton said. "If the case gets bound over, the jury makes the ultimate call." 
 
 
 
 Aside from her initial exclamations outside her home on Friday, Layne has not talked to investigators about the death of her grandson, West Bloomfield Police Lt. Tim Diamond said today. 
 
 
 
 Ribitwer's law partner, Jerome Sabbota, said Saturday that his client fired the .40-caliber Glock semi-automatic because "she was afraid." 
 
 
 
 She's not explaining to investigators what made her afraid, Diamond said. And she hasn't said anything about why she didn't send him to his parents, who recently moved to Arizona but had left the teen in Michigan with Layne so he could finish school. 
 
 
 
 "That's the million-dollar question," Diamond said this morning. "Hopefully, we'll find an answer in the next few weeks." 
 
 
 
 Ribitwer declined to comment when asked what led to the incident. 

 A 74-year-old woman has been charged with murder in the shooting death of her 17-year-old grandson. 
 
 Sandra Layne, 74, appears in handcuffs at the 48th District Count in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., Monday, May 21, 2012. Layne has been charged with open murder in the shooting death of her 17-year-old grandson... (Associated Press) 
 
 Sandra Layne, 74, appears in handcuffs at the 48th District Count in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., Monday, May 21, 2012. Layne has been charged with open murder in the shooting death of her 17-year-old grandson... (Associated Press) 
 
 Police said Jonathan Hoffman called police and told an emergency dispatcher that he had been shot in the chest by his grandmother, Sandra Layne, and "was going to die." By the time officers arrived at the family's upscale condo in a Detroit suburb, police said at least four more shots from a .40-caliber handgun had been pumped into the high school senior. 
 
 A West Bloomfield Township detective told a judge during a Monday court hearing that eight entry and exit wounds were found in Hoffman's body after the Friday afternoon shooting in the condo he shared with his grandparents northwest of Detroit. 
 
 Layne's lawyer Jerome Sabbota has said Hoffman was troubled, Layne was afraid of her grandson and she fired her new handgun because she felt she had no choice. 
 
 Layne has been charged with open murder and is being held without bond. She stood mute in court when the charge was read, and a not guilty plea was entered on her behalf. An open murder charge allows a jury to decide on whether a first- or second-degree charge applies after hearing evidence. 
 
 Hoffman had been attending an alternative high school in nearby Farmington and living with his maternal grandparents so he could complete his senior year while his divorced parents settled in Arizona, according to his father, Michael Hoffman of Scottsdale, Arizona. 
 
 One of Layne's attorneys, Mitchell Ribitwer, told reporters Monday that drugs and drug paraphernalia apparently belonging to the teen were found at the condo after Hoffman was killed. 
 
 Michael Hoffman said that regardless of his son's behavior, the teen was unarmed and didn't deserve to be shot to death. 
 
 Detective Brad Boulet testified about Hoffman's emergency call and said when officers arrived at the condo, Layne was inside, behind a screened door. 
 
 "She put the gun on the floor after being ordered so by officers," Boulet said. "She exclaimed she had just murdered her grandson." 
 
 Wearing an orange jumpsuit in court, Layne smiled and nodded to her husband and other family members. 
 
 Ribitwer described her to the judge as a retired teacher who has lived in the West Bloomfield area for 30 years. His requests for a reasonable bond and electronic tether monitor for Layne were denied. A pre-examination conference for Layne was set for Thursday morning. 
 
 Prosecutors had no comment after the hearing. Layne's husband and other relatives attended the hearing but also didn't comment. 
 
 Police had responded in March to a domestic disturbance at Layne's home. 
 
 "I spoke to the officer who responded, and he indicated this young man was totally out of control in the street," defense attorney Ribitwer told reporters Monday. "He was derogatory to his grandmother. He was yelling and shouting and almost got into it with the police." 
 
 Jonathan Hoffman's funeral is set for Tuesday.
– A Michigan grandmother who said she was afraid of her grandson has been charged with murder after shooting the teenager eight times, according to law enforcement authorities. The 17-year-old boy called 911 to tell an emergency dispatcher that he had been shot in the chest by his grandmother, and "was going to die," AP reports. Sandra Layne, 74, shot her grandson at least four more times with her Glock semi-automatic after he made the call, police report. Layne "exclaimed that she had just murdered her grandson" after officers arrived at her home in a Detroit suburb, a court hearing was told yesterday. Her lawyer says Layne was afraid of her grandson and used her new handgun because she felt she had no choice. She hasn't told investigators why she was afraid, or why she didn't send the teen to his parents, who recently moved to Arizona but left their son in Michigan to finish his senior year at high school, the Detroit Free Press reports.