What's The Matter With Kids Today? Pt. 3

A man who police believe was shot and killed by his 8-year-old son had consulted a Roman Catholic priest about whether the boy should handle guns and had taught him how to use them, the clergyman said Saturday. The father, Vincent Romero, 29, was from a family of avid hunters and wanted to make sure the boy wasn’t afraid of guns and knew how to handle them, said the Very Rev. John Paul Sauter of St. Johns Catholic Church. The boy’s stepmother had suggested he have a BB gun, the priest said. Romero taught his son how to use a rifle to kill prairie dogs, Sauter said. Police say the boy used a 22.-caliber rifle Wednesday to kill his father and another man, Timothy Romans, 39, of San Carlos. The priest did not say how he advised the couple or whether they decided to buy him a gun but said Saturday that the boy “was just too young.” “That child, I don’t think he knows what he did, and it was brutal,” said Sauter, who presided at the wedding of the father and stepmother.

The boy, who faces two counts of premeditated murder, did not act on the spur of the moment, St. Johns Police Chief Roy Melnick said. Police are looking into whether he might have been abused. “I’m not accusing anybody of anything at this point,” he said Saturday. “But we’re certainly going to look at the abuse part of this. 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.” On Friday, a judge ordered a psychological evaluation of the boy. Under Arizona law, charges can be filed against anyone 8 or older. The boy had no record of complaints with Arizona Child Protective Services, said Apache County Attorney Brad Carlyon. In a sign of the emotional and legal complexities of the case, police are pushing to have the boy tried as an adult even as they investigate possible abuse, Melnick said. If convicted as a minor, the boy could be sent to juvenile detention until he turns 18. The boy’s lawyer, Benjamin Brewer, said his client is generally in good spirits.

Officers arrived at Romero’s home within minutes of the shooting Wednesday in St. Johns, which has a population of about 4,000 and is 170 miles northeast of Phoenix. They found one victim just outside the front door and the other dead in an upstairs room. Romans had been renting a room at the Romero house, prosecutors said. Both men were employees of a construction company working at a power plant near St. Johns. The boy went to a neighbor’s house and said he “believed that his father was dead,” Carlyon said. Melnick said police got a confession, but Brewer said police overreached in questioning the boy without representation from a parent or attorney and did not advise him of his rights.

Source

ST. JOHNS, Ariz. (AP) -- Mourners are crowding a rural Arizona church for the funeral of a man allegedly killed by his 8-year-old son.

The crowd Monday stood near an open door or sat on chairs set up outside St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in the community of St. Johns about 170 miles northeast of Phoenix.

Vincent Romero was shot Wednesday, along with a man who rented a room in his house. Police say Romero's son planned and methodically carried out the killings.

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

The boy was due in court later Monday to face two counts of premeditated murder.

Source