Arizona Eight Year Old Faces Premeditated Murder Charges

November 10, 2008 8:58 a.m. EST

Phoenix, AZ (AHN) - Police in the small community of St. Johns, Ariz. arrested an 8-year old boy on premeditated murder charges after they say he shot and killed his father and another man Wednesday.

The boy, whose name has not been released because of his age, was charged Friday with two counts of premeditated murder in the deaths of his father, 29-year-old Vincent Romero and 39-year-old Timothy Romans, St. Johns Police Chief Roy Melnick said.

Romans was a boarder at the house.

Melnick said police arrived at the house within minutes of the murder. Police found one man just outside the front door and the other dead upstairs.

The boy, who prosecutors say has no history of trouble, first denied involvement in the crime, but later confessed, Melnick said.

Police have not released a motive.

The boy's defense attorney argued that police should not have questioned the boy without an attorney or a parent present, and said that police never advised the boy of his rights.

But a judge determined at a Friday hearing that there was probable cause to believe the boy committed the crime.

St. Johns is a community of about 4,000 people about 170 miles northeast of Phoenix.

County Attorney Criss Candelaria said she has never seen a similar crime in her 23-career as a prosecutor.

She said the boy won't be charged as an adult, but could remain in juvenile detention until adulthood.