But District Attorney Bruce Isaackg told the Dallas Morning News that Christopher has been "a persistent discipline, problem for this, school, and the administrators theft were Aly concerned."
Ponder is a farm town of 500 people, 40 miles northwest of Dallas.
The essay mentions a shotgun, a handgun, various types of drug paraphernalia and the shooting of two students and his teacher.
lie wrote that he "thought it was a crook so I busted, out with a 12 guage and Ismael busted out with 9 mm and we step off the porch and this bloody body droped, down in front of us and scared us half to death."
While reviewing the papers, the teacher became concerned and turned Christopher's over to the assistant principal, school officials said. Principal Chance Allen called authorities.
Allen disputed broadcast reports that Christopher received an A for the paper. He said the essays were not graded.
Christopher's mother, Jan Beamon, said she met with the assistant principal last Thursday morning and had no idea her son would be treated like a criminal.
"And then I got a phone call that he was in juvenile detention," Beamon said Wednesday on NBC's Today show.
Superintendent Byron Welch told NBC that the outcome would have been different if Christopher had used made-up names.
"The fact that we're dealing with real people, named specifically in the classroom, that is a real problem," he said.