Teen waiting for bus killed in ‘violent’ spree, CA officials say. Man sentenced
Almost two years to the day after her 15-year-old son died during a man’s “violent crime spree” as he waited outside his high school, a California mother stood before her son’s accused killer.
“No nightmare I can ever have is worse than waking up to this reality — to know that the last thing my son might have seen is your face,” Kelly Welling said inside a Ventura County courtroom during Austin Allen Eis’ sentencing hearing, according to an April 15 news release. “You robbed me of my son and the world of a boy who would have become an amazing man.”
Following two days of “deeply emotional victim impact statements from survivors and family members,” Eis, 26, was sentenced to 85 years to life in prison in relation to a “series of violent attacks” that left Wesley Welling dead, the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office said.
“The sentence delivered today reflects not only the calculated brutality of the crimes committed, but the profound and lasting impact on an entire community,” Senior Deputy District Attorney Amber Lee said in the release. “These families have endured unspeakable pain, and their words in court gave voice to the lives forever altered by this defendant’s actions.”
‘Calculated attacks’
Eis’ “series of calculated attacks” started at a Walmart in Simi Valley on April 18, 2023, prosecutors said.
After entering the Walmart, Eis is accused of assaulting “a greeter by spitting, pepper spraying, and stabbing him multiple times,” prosecutors said in a February news release announcing Eis’ guilty plea.
Then, he dragged another worker through the store, prosecutors said.
Eis then broke inside his parents’ Camarillo home “armed with a replica firearm and a knife” and demanded “access to additional weapons” and fled, prosecutors said.
Eis’ spree continued outside Westlake High School in Thousand Oaks, where he is accused of intentionally driving into a group of students waiting at a bus stop, causing his car to flip, prosecutors said.
Witnesses told investigators Eis accelerated before impact, prosecutors said.
Wesley died from his injuries, while multiple other students were severely injured, prosecutors said.
“Eis later admitted he targeted the students out of personal frustration and a desire to commit mass violence,” prosecutors said.
Through an investigation, officials found “disturbing evidence, including years of violent ideation, admiration for mass murderers, and extremist beliefs,” according to prosecutors.
According to testimony during a separate hearing, “Eis wanted to die in a ‘suicide by cop’ confrontation or to commit a crime that would bring a life sentence,” the Ventura County Star reported.
Eis once attended the high school and “felt he was belittled,” according to testimony, the newspaper reported.
In February, Eis pleaded guilty to 10 felonies, “including first-degree murder, multiple counts of premeditated attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, and false imprisonment by violence,” prosecutors said.
He also pleaded guilty to special allegations of “the use of deadly weapons and infliction of great bodily injury,” prosecutors said.
‘Wish I could undo all of it’
Eis addressed the court Monday, April 14, saying “there are no words adequate enough to express just how profoundly remorseful I am,” the Thousand Oaks Acorn reported.
“I wish I could undo all of it,” he reportedly said.
He went on to say he hoped his guilty plea would provide some closure for the families involved and concluded by saying, “I beg your forgiveness. I beg your forgiveness,” the newspaper reported.
“Rot in hell,” an audience member shouted, according to the newspaper.
‘Filled with an emptiness’
During her statements, Kelly Welling told Eis her 15-year-old son was more of a man than he ever could be, according to prosecutors.
“You are not seen as powerful,” she said. “You are seen as the coward that you are who chose to hurt children.”
She went on to say that while others will move on, “Wesley is never coming back.”
“Every day from this point on is filled with an emptiness,” Kelly Welling said. “There are no words to describe this pain.”
Thousand Oaks is about a 40-mile drive northwest from Los Angeles.
This story was originally published April 16, 2025 at 2:48 PM with the headline "Teen waiting for bus killed in ‘violent’ spree, CA officials say. Man sentenced."
