WHAT IS A WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS?
Also known as "The Great Writ," a writ of habeas corpus ad subjiciendum is a court order addressed to a prison official (or other custodian) ordering that a prisoner be brought before the court so that the court can determine whether that person is serving a lawful sentence or should be released from custody. The prisoner, or some other person on his behalf (for example, where the prisoner is being held incommunicado), may petition the court or an individual judge for a writ of habeas corpus.  
See Wikipedia, Habeas Corpus, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habeas_corpus

WHAT IS DOMESTIC VIOLENCE?
Domestic violence includes physical abuse, sexual abuse, psychological abuse, and abuse to property and pets (Ganley, 1989). Exposure to this form of violence has considerable potential to be perceived as life-threatening by those victimized and can leave them with a sense of vulnerability, helplessness, and in extreme cases, horror. Physical abuse refers to any behavior that involves the intentional use of force against the body of another person that risks physical injury, harm, and/or pain (Dutton, 1992). Physical abuse includes pushing, hitting, slapping, choking, using an object to hit, twisting of a body part, forcing the ingestion of an unwanted substance, and use of a weapon. Sexual abuse is defined as any unwanted sexual intimacy forced on one individual by another. It may include oral, anal, or vaginal stimulation or penetration, forced nudity, forced exposure to sexually explicit material or activity, or any other unwanted sexual activity (Dutton, 1994). Compliance may be obtained through actual or threatened physical force or through some other form of coercion. Psychological abuse may include derogatory statements or threats of further abuse (e.g., threats of being killed by another individual). It may also involve isolation, economic threats, and emotional abuse.
See The American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress, Effects of Domestic Violence on Children and Adolescents: An Overview, http://www.aaets.org/article8.htm

WHAT WAS THE DEFINITION OF VOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER IN THE STATE OF GEORGIA IN 1998, THE YEAR BILLY WAS CONVICTED?
§ 16-5-2. Voluntary manslaughter

(a) A person commits the offense of voluntary manslaughter when he causes the death of another human being under circumstances which would otherwise be murder and if he acts solely as the result of a sudden, violent, and irresistible passion resulting from serious provocation sufficient to excite such passion in a reasonable person; however, if there should have been an interval between the provocation and the killing sufficient for the voice of reason and humanity to be heard, of which the jury in all cases shall be the judge, the killing shall be attributed to deliberate revenge and be punished as murder.
O.C.G.A. § 16-5-2

WHAT WAS THE DEFINITION OF ARMED ROBBERY IN THE STATE OF GEORGIA IN 1998?
§ 16-8-41. Armed robbery

(a) A person commits the offense of armed robbery when, with intent to commit theft, he or she takes property of another from the person or the immediate presence of another by use of an offensive weapon, or any replica, article, or device having the appearance of such weapon. The offense of robbery by intimidation shall be a lesser included offense in the offense of armed robbery.
O.C.G.A. § 16-8-41

WHAT WAS THE DEFINITION OF HINDERING THE APPREHENSION OF A CRIMINAL IN THE STATE OF GEORGIA IN 1998?
§ 16-10-50. Hindering apprehension or punishment of criminal 

(a) A person commits the offense of hindering the apprehension or punishment of a criminal when, with intention to hinder the apprehension or punishment of a person whom he knows or has reasonable grounds to believe has committed a felony or to be an escaped inmate or prisoner, he:
(1) Harbors or conceals such person; or
(2) Conceals or destroys evidence of the crime.
O.C.G.A. § 16-10-50

PAUL MONES is a Portland, Oregon defense attorney who specializes in defending children who have killed their parents. He is the author of the 1992 book When a Child Kills.  [The following four questions were taken from] an edited transcript of an interview [with Mr. Mones] conducted January 23, 2007.
See PBS, When Kids Get Life, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/whenkidsgetlife/interviews/mones.html

WHAT SHOULD WE MAKE OF CHILDREN WHO KILL THEIR PARENTS?
Well, I think there's the old way to look at it, which is these are just kind of these recalcitrant, bad, evil kids. Kids have been killing their parents for years, and we didn't really look at why they did it. It was only really in the early '80s, when we started understanding that child abuse is so prevalent and has such a detrimental effect on children, that we started looking at the whys of kids who kill their parents.
See PBS, When Kids Get Life, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/whenkidsgetlife/interviews/mones.html

THEY SAY [THESE ARE] HEINOUS CRIMES.
Well, they are heinous crimes. When these homicides happen they tend to be some of the worst crime scenes you'll ever see. I mean, the kids sneak up on their parents, typically when they're sleeping, watching television. The last few cases I've had in the last year, the parents were in bed, they were reading, etc. And when they do it, there's not just one hit with a baseball bat or one shot; there's blood splatter all over the walls. These are horrific, horrific crime scenes.

Now, the term "heinous" may go to what they're talking about -- the nature of the kid; that the kid is a heinous person. I don't agree with that. These kids by and large are responding to typically horrific situations at home.  These kids think that -- they're so depressed; they think their life is over; they see no way out. And when they kill through a confluence of circumstances, that's supposed to be unexpected. But if you look at their lives, it unfortunately follows a tragedy that is waiting to happen. 

The problem is, child abuse ... is the perfect crime. It's the perfect crime because parents who do it seal their own protection, because they know the kid's typically, a, not going to fight back, and b, typically not [going to] report, because as bad as children get treated by their parents, that parent is still the caregiver; that parent still is the nourisher. And it's very difficult for the average human being to fight against that person, to rebel against that person.
See PBS, When Kids Get Life, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/whenkidsgetlife/interviews/mones.html

SO WHY [DO SOME KILL AND OTHERS DON'T]?
So why? Well, those cases are the most extreme, and those cases are also the confluence of a variety of events. Typically they've tried to get help. Typically they have told somebody and nobody's helped them out, or the abuse has just reached such a crescendo, given their mental health, that they can't go on any longer.
See PBS, When Kids Get Life, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/whenkidsgetlife/interviews/mones.html

[WHAT IS] OVERKILL?
Overkill is ... a result of the emotional buildup and the fear that this parent is larger than life, and when they kill, they have to stab numerous times; they have to use the baseball bat numerous times. They never fire one bullet from a gun; they fire the whole barrel. They never fire one shotgun shell; they fire numerous ones. In today's time kids use semiautomatic handguns that, when you press the trigger, you can pull off 14 rounds in a few seconds, whole clips typically. It's not just bang and you're dead. Never happens like that. Never, never, never. 
See PBS, When Kids Get Life, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/whenkidsgetlife/interviews/mones.html

DOES BILLY HAVE AN E-MAIL ADDRESS?
No.  Although some facilities do allow inmates e-mail privileges, Billy does not have access to the internet.  If you would like to send Billy a message, you can do so by posting it on the "Message for Billy" page of the active forum associated with this site.  The posts will be printed and sent to Billy on a weekly basis.  This is his preferred method of communication for any well wishes and words of support you would like to extend.  The forum, which also includes a general discussion of Billy's case, can be found at http://activeforum.billycrowder.com.