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Third-grader accused of double homicide
Thursday November 20 2008
St. Johns, Ariz. was in shock Monday last week when an 8-year-old allegedly confessed to shooting and killing his father and another man. The boy appeared in handcuffs in court. At the hearing, the judge placed a gag order on the case due to the sensitivity of the matter. This order was later modified, allowing the release of public records.
“I’m not accusing anybody of anything at this point, but we’re certainly going to look at the abuse part of this,” Police Chief Roy Melnick said in an Associated Press article. “He’s 8 years old. He just doesn’t decide one day that he’s going to shoot his father and shoot his father’s friend for no reason. Something led up to this.”
FBI statistics show that instances of children younger than 11 committing homicides are very rare.
Melnick claims the boy did not act on the spur of the moment. The third-grader planned and confessed to the killings of his father, Vincent Romero, and Timothy Romans, a 39-year-old tenant in the Romero house.
A neighbor called the police, who arrived moments after the shooting to find one man lying just outside the front door and the other upstairs. The boy had gone to the neighbor’s house and said he “believed that his father was dead,” police reported.
The .22-caliber rifle used in the killings belonged to the boy’s father.
Melnick said they will investigate if the boy was abused, because they have received calls in the past regarding public disturbance at the Romeros’ household. Family and friends deny these claims.
Judge Michael Roca ordered a psychological evaluation of the boy to determine a possible motive. The defense will have until Friday to obtain an expert evaluation of the boy’s mental competency and psychiatric state.
According to Apache County Attorney Brad Carlyon, the 8-year-old has no history of complaints with Arizona Child Protective Services.
“He had no record of any kind, not even a disciplinary record at school,” Carlyon said. “He has never been in trouble before.”
Additionally, Defense Attorney Benjamin Brewer is concerned that the police questioned the third-grader without an attorney or parental guardian and did not advise him of his rights.
Police want to try the boy as an adult, despite the fact that his actions may be a result of abuse. Under Arizona law, charges can be filed against anyone aged 8 or older.
The boy was living alone with his father in St. Johns, which has a population of about 4,000. His mother resides in Mississippi but was present at the preliminary hearing.
“There is no justice here that does not take into account that the person that will suffer the most for this ‘crime,’ for the rest of his life, is this poor little boy,” Dr. John Teske, professor of psychology, said.
“What 8-year old boy doesn’t want to kill his father at one point or another?” he continued. “Who knows what kind of set of accidents or impulses or follies led to this tragedy, but to couch it in terms of ‘questioning,’ ‘confessing,’ ‘premeditation,’ or ‘murder’ is to turn the world into a Hell constructed by Kafka.”
Authorities released a tape this past Tuesday in which the 8-year-old gives his account. This video constitutes public record as stipulated in the judge’s modified gag order.
According to CNN.com, the boy stated on the tape that he shot both men twice.
“After I shot him [Romero] once, he was still moving; I think I shot him again,” the third-grader said of his father.
The defense is still deliberating as to whether the third-grade boy will be tried as an adult or a juvenile.
“He seems to be in good spirits,” Brewer said. “He’s scared, but he’s trying to be tough.”
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