WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A 13-year-old honor student accused of shooting to death a middle school teacher said he would rather be executed than spend his life in prison, according to court documents.

The documents, released Thursday, include interviews Lake Worth police detective Steven Venetucci conducted June 19 with several youngsters at the detention center where Nathaniel Brazill was once being held.

"If they give me life, I'll ask for the electric chair because I took somebody's life," Brazill allegedly told a cellmate at Palm Beach Regional Detention Center, where he was held before being transferred to the county jail.

His attorney, Robert Udell, dismissed the remarks as typical of defendants charged with serious crimes. "I promise you none of them mean it when push comes to shove," Udell said.

Brazill is not eligible for the death penalty because of his age but faces life in prison if convicted of first-degree murder for the May 26 shooting of Barry Grunow, 35.

Police say the teen-ager shot the English teacher with a handgun he brought back to the school after being sent home by another teacher for throwing water balloons on the last day of classes.