da12no
11-18-2008, 09:00 AM
8-Year-Old Accused of Killing Dad, Renter Seen on Video Discussing Deaths
PHOENIX NEWS | Local Breaking News from AZFAMILY.COM & KTVK 3TV - Arizona's Family (http://www.azfamily.com/)
By FELICIA FONSECA
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: Tuesday, November 18, 2008 at 7:33 a.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, November 18, 2008 at 7:38 a.m.
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. | An 8-year-old boy accused of fatally shooting his father and another man is shown in a video calmly telling law enforcement officers that he found the men lying in his home after returning from school on the day of the shootings.
The roughly 12-minute video posted Monday night on Phoenix television station KTVK’s Web site shows part of the questioning the boy underwent as authorities in the eastern Arizona community of St. Johns investigated the Nov. 5 killings.
The station said it got the video from the prosecutor’s office in Apache County, where the shootings occurred.
Police in St. Johns have said the boy confessed to the shootings but haven’t discussed specifics. His attorney has claimed police overreached in questioning the boy. His family has repeatedly declined to comment to The Associated Press, including Monday night.
The third-grader has been charged as a juvenile with two counts of murder.
The video, which the station said is only a portion of the interview, shows the boy discussing what he said happened when he got home from school on Nov. 5. His face obscured, the boy described getting off the school bus, circling the block several times, then going home and finding the bodies.
The boy said he spotted 39-year-old Tim Romans, who was renting a room in the two-story house, before calling out for his father, 29-year-old Vincent Romero.
Police said the men were shot with a .22-caliber rifle as they returned home from work.
“There was blood all over his face, I think,” the boy said in the video, referring to his father. “And I think I touched him.”
The boy said he cried for a half-hour after finding his father. He also recalled running to a neighbor’s house and telling a boy there that his father and Romans were dead.
An unidentified law enforcement official in the video repeatedly asked the boy whether he had gone straight home after school, and the boy assured her that he hadn’t.
Police have said the boy planned and methodically carried out the killings and confessed, but they wouldn’t discuss specifics. A judge has since issued a gag order in the case.
The boy is due in court Wednesday for a hearing. He is being held in a juvenile jail.
On the Net:
PHOENIX NEWS | Local Breaking News from AZFAMILY.COM & KTVK 3TV - Arizona's Family (http://www.azfamily.com/)
By FELICIA FONSECA
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: Tuesday, November 18, 2008 at 7:33 a.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, November 18, 2008 at 7:38 a.m.
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. | An 8-year-old boy accused of fatally shooting his father and another man is shown in a video calmly telling law enforcement officers that he found the men lying in his home after returning from school on the day of the shootings.
The roughly 12-minute video posted Monday night on Phoenix television station KTVK’s Web site shows part of the questioning the boy underwent as authorities in the eastern Arizona community of St. Johns investigated the Nov. 5 killings.
The station said it got the video from the prosecutor’s office in Apache County, where the shootings occurred.
Police in St. Johns have said the boy confessed to the shootings but haven’t discussed specifics. His attorney has claimed police overreached in questioning the boy. His family has repeatedly declined to comment to The Associated Press, including Monday night.
The third-grader has been charged as a juvenile with two counts of murder.
The video, which the station said is only a portion of the interview, shows the boy discussing what he said happened when he got home from school on Nov. 5. His face obscured, the boy described getting off the school bus, circling the block several times, then going home and finding the bodies.
The boy said he spotted 39-year-old Tim Romans, who was renting a room in the two-story house, before calling out for his father, 29-year-old Vincent Romero.
Police said the men were shot with a .22-caliber rifle as they returned home from work.
“There was blood all over his face, I think,” the boy said in the video, referring to his father. “And I think I touched him.”
The boy said he cried for a half-hour after finding his father. He also recalled running to a neighbor’s house and telling a boy there that his father and Romans were dead.
An unidentified law enforcement official in the video repeatedly asked the boy whether he had gone straight home after school, and the boy assured her that he hadn’t.
Police have said the boy planned and methodically carried out the killings and confessed, but they wouldn’t discuss specifics. A judge has since issued a gag order in the case.
The boy is due in court Wednesday for a hearing. He is being held in a juvenile jail.
On the Net: