An 8-year-old boy in the rural community of St. Johns may face double-murder charges in the shooting death of his father and another man at the family residence, according to Police Chief Roy Melnick.
The child is being held in juvenile custody for a hearing…in Apache County Justice Court. His 29-year-old father, whose name is being withheld by The Arizona Republic to avoid identifying the boy, and a boarder at their home, Tim Romans, 39, were found dead at the family residence Wednesday shortly after neighbors reported the sound of gunfire…
Melnick said police arrived at the residence within minutes of the shooting to find one of the victims deceased just outside the front door and the other dead in an upstairs room.
Arizona law generally holds that a child lacks competency to be held responsible for a homicide. However, Melnick said, “We think an exception can be made based on the facts and circumstances … This is precedent-setting. We’re going to charge an 8-year-old with two counts of homicide.”
Phew! I think I’d like to know a heck of a lot more about the circumstances.
There’s a more detailed update, now, here.
Kid was probably hopped up on some amphetamine or the like.
Murder is murder, but we don’t know the background to his actions. Who knows if the kid has been raped or if he have witnessed these two guys doing something to his mother in the past?
#2 “Murder is murder,”
Yes, but if as said, “Who knows if the kid has been raped “. That might NOT be murder. Killing is not always equal to murder.
But, they haven’t reported anything that we can base any conclusions on.
Well this really cheers up my Saturday.
LOL, at least his father got to express his consitutional right to not have a gun lock on his gun.
They say he’s in good spirits and “scared, trying to act tough but scared”. Okaaaaay….
He’s either seriously insane or he’s hiding who actually did it.
Another Obama failure, first the stock market and now this.
#7 GF
First of all, WTF? Secondly, last time I looked George Bush is the POTUS.
And we still have ignorant asshats fighting tooth and nail to NOT tighten up gun laws and ownership restrictions across the US.
Cow-Paddy, Ignorant Shit Talking Sociopath,
#1
Kid was probably hopped up on some amphetamine or the like.
#3,
Yes, but if as said, “Who knows if the kid has been raped “.
…
But, they haven’t reported anything that we can base any conclusions on.
Do you ever think about what you just wrote before you hit SEND? Why not read the article first. The police are investigating if the kid was abused. Nor do they have any evidence that drugs were involved.
This is an eight year old kid. My own kid is nine. I doubt if she has the requisite mens rea to kill someone. That doesn’t mean she can’t become angry or want to strike out. It means that she isn’t mentally mature enough to fully comprehend her actions.
A new study came out. It appears that sociopaths actually enjoy other’s suffering.
#10 “It means that she isn’t mentally mature enough to fully comprehend her actions.”
At 9? Pretty stupid kid.
#11, Cow-Paddy, Ignorant Shit Talking Sociopath,
No, normal. That is why she isn’t allowed to vote, drive a car, drink alcohol, marry, or join the military. She is recognized as being immature.
If 8 year olds lack competency to comprehend their actions, wouldn’t it be much more common for them to kill people?
Zybech said “And we still have ignorant asshats fighting tooth and nail to NOT tighten up gun laws and ownership restrictions across the US.”
What if he poured gas on his father while he was sleeping, and threw a match on him. Would we outlaw gasoline? If you want to kill someone, you can EASILY find another way, so do we outlaw everything that can kill someone IF A HUMAN USES IT IMPROPERLY?
Guns don’t kill people idiot, people kill people. Knives can kill, should we outlaw steak knives? Cars kill, outlaw cars? Someone can make a nail bomb, should we outlaw nails?
# 12 Mr. Fusion said, “No, normal.”
No, it isn’t normal for a 9 year year old to not realize that if you shoot someone you could kill them.
That’s developmentally disabled.
#7: GF
Wait, I’m a Republican, and even I’m not sure how this can be blamed on Obama. Can someone please explain that to me???? Oh, and the stock market? That confused me too. I guess I don’t understand how our market tanking has anything to do with Obama, seeing as how it tanked before he was even elected. By the way, it closed today at 100 points up.
#7: GF
I also fail to see your reasoning for posting about politics in an article that is clearly not political.
Hey, Mr. Fusion, it’s unbelievable the responses of some of these ignorant jackasses. This kid is 8 YEARS OLD! We have laws in civilized states like Illinois that don’t allow 8 year olds to be incarcerated for the obvious reason that they don’t have the mental capacity to understand all of this. But, then again, we’re dealing with redneck Arizona where nobody even seems to question how the hell an 8-year old got access to a loaded weapon in the first place! Yee-haw, I guess he has a 2nd amendment right, too.