8 Year Old Boy Faces Murder Charges

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An 8-year-old boy appeared in court Monday afternoon in St. Johns, Arizona, on charges that he murdered his father and another man.

The judge and attorneys discussed preliminary issues, including conducting a mental health evaluation of the boy and possible visitation options for his mother, said court administrator Betty Smith.

The next hearing was scheduled for November 19.

A gag order preventing those involved in the case from speaking about it was left in place.

More than 600 mourners attended services for the father, Vincent Romero, 29, Monday morning, CNN affiliate KPHO-TV reported.

Tim Romans, 39, also was found dead Wednesday afternoon in Romero's home, where he rented a room, KPHO said.

Police said Thursday that the boy had confessed to shooting the two men with a .22-caliber weapon. No motive was given.

"We solved the crime," St. Johns Police Chief Roy Melnick told KPHO. "Now we have to solve the mystery of why."

Ron Wood, one of the boy's public defenders, said before the gag order was issued that the defense is treating the boy's case "like any other first-degree murder case."

"Our position is that our responsibility -- our duty -- is to take care of [him], whatever the allegations," Wood said. "He is an 8-year-old boy; he is a third-grader.... He's frightened."

The boy's other attorney, Ben Brewer, told KPHO he questions whether police acted properly in their interviews with the boy.

"Their evidence is very minimal," Brewer said. "There was overreaching with police with regard to their contact with him ... I think there's a very good likelihood that there could have been improper interview techniques done."

"It's evident that he's shaken up, and he's scared," Brewer told KPHO. "He was yanked out of the comfortable situation, a situation he knew about, and put into a situation that he has no knowledge about. He's hurting.

"He's a scared little kid," Brewer said.

Brewer also told KPHO prosecutors were "just guessing" when it came to physical evidence in the case.

On the "Today" show, Melnick said there were no indications the boy had been in trouble before.

"There's no record of any problems in school, no reported abuse," he said.

Wood indicated to KPHO that he, too, had not heard any assertions the boy had been abused, despite media assertions that abuse could be related to a motive in the case.

"At this point in time, we haven't seen anything indicating abuse," Wood said. "We haven't heard of anything; we're not aware of anything."

Meanwhile, the boy remains in custody at a juvenile detention facility, where he is attending school.

"Every effort is being made to see that he's comfortable," Smith said.

On Monday Wood said that so far, nobody had stepped up to take custody of the boy.

"We've got an 8-year-old client who is sitting in a detention facility who needs someone to take him home, and we haven't found that person," Wood told KPHO. "The stepmother didn't want to take custody of him. His mother hasn't taken custody of him.

"At this point in time, no one has come forward and indicated they're willing to take [him]."

The boy's lawyers said they plan to file a motion to request experts to help with the investigation and will ask for access to the crime scene.

Source: CNN

Jeez....whether he pulled the trigger or not, you've really got to feel for this boy

[¡ñ±£¿®∆L Ф¶†ïς@п]

Hm, I wonder how the story will evolve from here... I'm sure there will be a trial to find out the true motivations for the slayings, and that will ultimately determine the boy's fate. Either he has a breakdown because of the dire situation he will soon find himself in, or he suffered it long before, and it concluded in the shooting he has alleged to have committed.

It can easily boogle the mind, this revelation.

[raum]

If they called me to take the double-homicide demon spawn home with me - his @$$ would rot in jail before he is in my house when I am asleep...

jus saying.

That being said,..
not sure how I feel about what should happen to him. I mean he is eight, but you can't give him a pass on a double-homicide or that will backfire. Children Who Murder is a book I have been reading on this. It is not an easy solution. Gun deaths in children's hands are usually accidents or unsafe play with a deadly weapon. Most crimes which seem to have this gravity are a result of post adolescent behavior. In Arizona, the law dictates that he be tried as an adult. But I'd almost rather see the kid put out of his misery, with compassion, than become a product of a state he NEVER has any input into.

This child will never know so much.

[AYHJA]

Little Michael Myers..?

[puppydog]

wow, i wonder if it was self defense or even accidental? but then again how can he accidentally just kill two people?

[¡ñ±£¿®∆L Ф¶†ïς@п]

We don't know enough of the details to even speculate, I think..