Boy, 8, Arrested in Death of Two Adults, Including Dad

[bijou]

ST. JOHNS, Ariz. —  It's a crime that police officers in a small eastern Arizona community can hardly fathom yet have to deal with: an 8-year-old charged in the fatal shootings of his father and another man.

"Who would think an 8-year-old kid could kill two adults?" St. Johns Police Chief Roy Melnick said Friday.

The killings on Wednesday sent shock waves through St. Johns, a community of about 4,000 people. The boy had no disciplinary record at school, and there was no indication he had any problems at home, prosecutors said.

"It was such a tragedy," said the boy's defense attorney, Benjamin Brewer. "You have two people dead; you have an 8-year-old in jail. It tugs at the heart strings. It's a shocker, no doubt about it."

On Friday, a judge determined there was probable cause to show that the boy fatally shot his father, Vincent Romero, 29, and Timothy Romans, 39, of San Carlos, with a .22-caliber rifle. The boy faces two counts of premeditated murder. Under Arizona law, charges can be filed against anyone 8 or older.

Melnick said the boy didn't act on the "spur of the moment," though he didn't elaborate on what the motive might have been.

...

link

[Flame]

How very sad.

[Thor]

This is a result of the liberal mentality towards discipline.

[miskie]

This is a result of the liberal mentality towards discipline.

My gut tells me there is an awful backstory to this involving abuse or sexual predation.

[bijou]

My gut tells me there is an awful backstory to this involving abuse or sexual predation.

I think you're right miskie.  If it were both parents then it may be down to a massively dysfunctional family, but his father and an unrelated man makes me suspect abuse too. 

[DumbAss Tanker]

My gut tells me there is an awful backstory to this involving abuse or sexual predation.

I have the same feeling.  Just something about the age and gender mix of the people involved raises a red flag for me.

[Ptarmigan]

We had a case where we had 10 year old boy killed his own father, while trying to drive to work in his car. The family had divorced. Also, the parents of the slained doctor filed a lawsuit against the drug company that the 10 year old was on.

http://www.click2houston.com/news/9981436/detail.html?rss=hou&psp=news

[Inga]

Hopefully one less predator the children have to deal with. And hopefully they will go to a better place to live.  If that be the case.

[Thor]

Friends dispute abuse suspicions in Ariz. slaying

By FELICIA FONSECA – 1 hour ago

ST. JOHNS, Ariz. (AP) — Hundreds of mourners packed a funeral Monday for a man allegedly shot to death by his 8-year-old son, while friends and neighbors disputed any suggestion the boy had been abused by his father.

They painted a picture of Vincent Romero as a caring father who seemed to be doing all he could to raise a polite and respectful boy.

"They were always together doing things as a family, fishing, hunting," Carlos Diaz, a cousin of Romero's current wife, said after the funeral Mass at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church.

About 600 people filled the rural Arizona church in this town of about 4,000. People who could not get in crowded around an open door or sat on chairs set up outside. Romero, an avid hunter, was in a casket with a camouflage lid.

Romero, a 29-year-old employee of a construction company, was shot with a .22-caliber rifle last Wednesday along with Timothy Romans, a 39-year-old man who rented a room in his house.

Police said Romero's son planned and methodically carried out the killings, and confessed. Authorities would not discuss specifics of the confession. The boy has been charged with two counts of murder.

Police Chief Roy Melnick said over the weekend that police were looking into whether the boy might have been abused. He would not say who might be under scrutiny. The police department said in a statement Monday that a court had issued an order prohibiting the release of any further information about the case.

Prosecutors said that there was no record of any complaints filed about the boy with Arizona Child Protective Services and that the youngster had no disciplinary record at school.

Romero had full custody of the child. The boy's mother is in Mississippi, according to officials. Police said the boy's stepmother was not home at the time of the shooting.

The boy's attorney complained that police questioned the third-grader without representation from a parent or attorney and did not advise him of his rights.

Relatives and friends of Romero's in the town 170 miles northeast of Phoenix said they saw no signs of abuse by the father.

Carl Hamblin, a neighbor who had once coached the father in Little League, said he often saw Romero and his son at football games or out in the yard, playing baseball.

"He appeared to be doing the right things as a dad," Hamblin said.

Neighbors Flynt and Amber Smith described the father and son as "two peas in a pod."

"They were good people, and I'd have to say good parents, and made sure (the boy) was respectful to people," Amber Smith said.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iG_nB7rdOr3TiaL5ph3YDR5qNNTAD94CBE7O0

[rich_t]

An 8 year old just doesn't up and shoot two people for no reason.

I strongly suspect there is more to this than we have read so far.

[Ptarmigan]

An 8 year old just doesn't up and shoot two people for no reason.

I strongly suspect there is more to this than we have read so far.

The 10 year old who shot his father in 2004 claimed he was abused by him. His parents had divorced and the siblings spent the time between father and mother. The parents of the slained doctor sued the drug company because the kid was on some medication, I think anti-depressants or something like that. Also, there was allegation of child molestation.

[Ptarmigan]

Boy, 8, accused of killing two
WMI Central
- Posted 11/11/2008, 6:00 a.m.

ST. JOHNS - Rocked by a double murder in their small close-knit community last Wednesday afternoon, the residents of St. Johns have only one question on their minds. Why would an eight-year-old boy allegedly kill two men, one of whom was his father?

The 8-year-old was charged on Friday with two counts of first degree murder. The charges allege the boy acted with premeditation to kill his father, Vincent Romero, 29, of St. Johns, and his friend and boarder, Tim Romans, 39, of San Carlos.

Dressed in a jail-issued orange jumpsuit, shackle chains dragging on the floor, the youngster was led into the courtroom by detention officials for the 3 p.m. Friday hearing where a judge was to decide if the 8-year-old should remain in custody or be released to family members. Sitting next to his attorney at the table reserved for defendants, in a chair normally occupied by an adult, the youngster's feet didn't touch the floor.

Full Article

====================================================

"Did you ask him if he might have been mad at his dad," asked Carlyon. Neckel said the boy admitted he was mad at his dad. "He said that the evening before, he didn't bring some papers home from school and his dad was very angry and had (the boy's) stepmother spank him five swats."

Looks like the boy lashed out after being spanked. Really disturbing.

[Eupher]

The anti-gun nuts are circling like the vultures they are....:

Brad Carlyon, deputy attorney for Apache County, said that the boy was familiar with weapons because his father used to take him on regular trips into the desert to shoot prairie dogs.

On the other hand, this is at the tail end of the article:

DESPITE America's relaxed gun laws, killings by young children remain rare, according to FBI figures. There were at least three cases of homicide by children younger than 11 each year from 2003 to 2005, down from 15 in 2002.

Update

There had been domestic disturbances at the home, generally involving the murdered man and his estranged wife, who was out of state at the time of the shootings.

However, the other man who was killed was renting a room at the boy's house.

That's a bit of a red flag right there.

But give it just a little bit more time. The anti-gun nuts will be all over this like the vultures they are.

[Thor]

Yes, they WILL. This story really boggles my mind. No motive. No reason, nada. Zip. Zero. Zilch. SOMETHING had to happen to make this 8 year old go off like that, grab a gun and start killing people, unless he is just an outright sociopath.

[Ptarmigan]

As shocking of the notion of children killing people. It has happened in the past, even before video games, TV, and comics.

Youngest Executed in 1786. She killed another child.
Hannah Ocuish - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I post at another forum and this person is a police officer and said this boy is a sociopath, likely born as one. I have read that psychopaths/sociopaths is biological. It is proof that people can be born evil, like Fred Phelps, Lori Drew, Jim Jones, and Pol Pot. Sociopaths cannot be treated like mental illness. They have to change and it is their own will to do so.
Wikipedia-Psychopathy

[Miss Mia]

This is a very strange case.  I hope that the child gets some help.  But honestly I cannot fathom how a child can premeditate murdering someone.  It boggles my mind (not to say that it couldn't be the case here, but still strange).

[rich_t]

I still say there's more to this story than we currently know.

[Miss Mia]

I still say there's more to this story than we currently know.

I think so too.  I dunno, I just seriously cannot grasp an 8 year old planning murder.

[Thor]

There's only ONE way to "help" a sociopath, 180 grains of lead.....