Failure indeed!
Nasty little bastard. It's clear where he got that behaviour from. Sue the parents, quite right.
If he'd been my kid he would've gotten the beating of his life, politically correct or not, after which he would have spent every last penny of his allowance to find new animals - even though that could never replace the ones he killed - and he would've spent the next year or so taking care of animals, under strict supervision, to learn that these are our fellow creatures on this earth and that they are deserving of our respect and if necessary our protection.
Sterilise the parents!