Family of a 17-year-old boy shot and killed on a hunting trip in country Victoria fear they'll never find out what really happened.
Dustin Buckley was with another teenage friend when he suffered a gunshot wound to the head in the Neerim East Forest in eastern Victoria August 2017.
They'd been shooting at an old television, firing shots near each others' feet and shooting into puddles to make a splash before the incident - a "light-hearted" fight over a gun they didn't know was loaded.
It's likely the trigger was inadvertently pulled by the other boy - then also just 17. He had admitted a charge of conduct endangering life and will be sentenced next week in the Supreme Court.
He cried out "I've shot him, I f***ed up," as Dustin was struck and collapsed.
He and 27-year-old Daniel McConnell - who was out with the teens - also pleaded guilty to attempting to pervert the course of justice after concocting a story to cover up what happened.
After driving Dustin to hospital McConnell claimed they'd been out yabbying when the boy had been hit by a ricocheting bullet fired by an unknown shooter.
The story was later repeated to police, who were taken to a fake scene.
The teen later admitted lying because he was scared, saying the circumstances in which Dustin had been shot were "accidental and the stupidest thing anyone could have done".
McConnell said he had earlier told the teens to "stop being dickheads" but never anticipated that anything might happen because he considered them to be more experienced with guns than himself.
Dustin's grandparents said the waters surrounding his death had been muddied so much they may never know the truth.
One of his four sisters, Naomi, said she supposed the truth would never come out, questioning if the other boy - now 20 - even remembered the truth.
McConnell accepted his lies had made it hard for the teen's family.
In an emotional speech to Dustin's family on Tuesday, Justice Paul Coghlan said sudden death was always awful but more so when it was someone so young.
"Lots of people will say you've got to get over it. I think that's not a very useful thing to say," he said.
"We have to let time pass as best we can. We can't let go but we shouldn't hang on too hard."
He said the process had been a long one for the family, but it would come to an end when McConnell and the boy are sentenced on Monday.
