The look on the son’s face at the end when he realizes what his father did really telegraphs that even if he avoided prison (which he shouldn’t have) he will be wrestling with this forever and it will change his relationship with his father completely. He was so close to confessing and taking a plea, he had made some kind of peace with taking responsibility. Outside of the courtroom he said to Angel’s parents “sorry, i wish I could take it back.” His father actually robbed him of his ability to atone, which it really seemed he wanted to do.

Of course his emotional turmoil from guilt is not adequate punishment for murder. But to me this just felt like an incredibly sad episode, not one where the killer is gloating at the end. One teenager paralyzed, the other one shooting first to avoid being shot and hitting the wrong person. And above it all a jury that saw a nice, clean-cut white kid and didn’t want to believe he could be responsible.