Comments on: 8-Year-Old Arizona Boy Kills Father

Police Investigating Possible Abuse As Motive In Double-Murder; Father's Friend Also Killed

[honestabe8]

Wait until Sherriff Joe gets hold of the little tyke...

[groggyrock]

1st, the parents would have to be partially responsible, since the boy was able to get his hands on the gun. So, here is one time where it may be possible to actually put a little blame on the victim (oh right, he''s dead, blame won''t change his ways) 2nd I also got a kick out of the fact the young boy didn''t have a long rap sheet. That''s some pretty tight and fast police work, let''s see seven years ago there were rumors he pooped his diapers and wet the bed. No, there does need to be an instruction manual and a test, before people are allowed to become parents.

[gdig60804]

I think it is disgusting that any parent would teach small children 8 and under to kill animals and use a rifle . That in itself is abusive! How can any parent have a small child hold and use a gun of any sort with bullets? That in itself should be illegal. Then to hold the child responsible and punish him for something he cannot possible comprehend is absurd!! This kid needs extensive therapy a guardian ad litum and a lifetime of prayers.

[displeased]

The formula is simple. No guns=No shootings!~
Posted by Professor209

It''s not hat simple. The more accurate formula...No guns = Reduced shootings. You will never eradicate all the guns in the US.

[think51]

I see on this same page today where 2 people were stabbed and killed in their home. Maybe we should not allow knives in the home either, Huh?

[mygramma]

My gawd!!! The police chief wants to try this youngster as an adult while also recognizing that something was very wrong in the house??? Something is very wrong with the chief''s head and the heads of the idiot legislators that enacted such a statute.

There is only one explanation for such thinking -- revenge and blind retribution. A statute like Arizona''s would deter crimes by 8 year old children who can''t even fully forecast the consequences of casting a spit wad in their 3rd grade class??? Give me a farging break. It''s the adults in this case that should go on trial for perpetrating stupidity.

[usmc1968]

Professor209, I concede to be totally bewildered as to cause of this case, and yes having a 10 year old whom is into video games, and cartoons, a 8 year old might have no real concept of death, killing, in fact in most court systems, a hearing has to be held pre-testimony of any child 7 and under to determine if they know fantasy from reality, so your right this kid might have been taught to hunt, might have did this horrible crime, but as a father of a 10 year old I guess I am just bewildered, by this case, and I live in arizona, and the rural arizona towns are different than the big cities, hunting, gun ownership is second nature, my view is this father made one big mistake, not keeping the gun under lock and key, but I still am suspicious of the mothers visit prior to this incident, he convienantly being back in Mississippi when killings occured, one can assume a custody issue existed, she might have a boyfriend, if so, I would hope the arizona state bureau of investigation is investigating his where abouts during this time frame, and if the boy as reported denied the killing at first, and only confessed after coercive interrogation by St. Johns police, I suspect a possible false confession maybe, or maybe not, trully this case is disturbing to me, as a father, cannot fathom it, my dad was a abusive alcoholic, to me and mom, I never killed him, nor would have ever considered the idea no matter how mad I got at him.

[berniepeders]

My father taught me how to shoot and hunt, and I never even had the faintest desire to shoot him. It just wouldn''t enter my mind. I loved him. Kids today are just screwed up.
Peace

[berniepeders]

"There could be no shooting without guns. When you bring weapons into your home the chances of death are increased." Posted by Professor209

But Professor, why, when we all had many guns in our homes, (and dads who sometimes gave us spankings or punishments we didn''t like), why weren''t there a lot more shootings then? I don''t recall EVER hearing about someone purposely shooting someone in anger, just an OCCASIONAL hunting accident.
Peace

[berniepeders]

This is a sign of the times- I''m 56 years old, and when I was a kid (pre-teen), everyone in our neighborhood had guns in their homes, and no one had gun safes or racks, they were just stacked in their cases in the closet. Our dads taught us how to use them safely, so we didn''t have much curiosity about them. We only took them out when it was time to go hunting. Now though, kids don''t know diddly about guns and gun safety, and they are inured to gun violence from movies and video games.
Peace

[usmc1968]

There is racial over tones to this case, names of the deceased are hispanic, so one might assume the kid is hispanic, which leads one to ask would a white 8 year old boy be subjected to coeircive interrogation as he was by obviously white police officers? I can bet the issue is being looked at by ACLU, La Raza and rightly so! I am white, and have no dog in this fight, it disturbs me some hicks in St. Johns, not fit to be police officers might have induced a false confession out of a 8 year old boy, which has been documented to have occured by children older than this boy, so it is not beyond the realm of possible!

[think51]

It never ceases to amaze me how people can blame guns for such acts as this. Face it, society is going to hell in a handbag. Rather than face this fact, it''s easier to blame the inate object that is picked up to aid in the job. You can ban any and all things that could be used to harm someone, but you can''t ban the desire they have to do the things they do. Until people realize this, and start treating the disease instead of the symptoms, nothing will change. They will just find a new and probably more effective way to do their perverted acts.

[usmc1968]

I find it strange many are automatically assuming something sexual here, in this case, father was married to woman {step-mom to kid}, likely this is the issue of the domestic violence calls to the home, the "renter" is suspicious, yes maybe he was molesting the boy, unknown to the father, I find it almost unbelievable a father would knowingly allow this, but leave that to the state bureau of investigation, you can bet the deceaseds backgrounds are being fully investigated for sexual issues, my suspicious nature asks why did this happen right after the visit from the biological mom, she seems to have a air tight alibi, being back in Mississippi when shots were fired on wednesday, but does she have a boyfriend, if so where was he during all this event, if this boy did this and I am not sure if he did or not, since any 8 year old can be presuaded to say or do anything by a adult he loves such as his mother, whether she was fit, unfit, fighting for custody or not, my suspicious nature says something was amiss here, either some abuse either non sexual, sexual, occured and if not, no child simply kills his dad and another man for no reason, something strange exists, here and it might be a murder plot by mother, and a compliant boyfriend, or a mother so desperate to win custody she induced her son to kill his dad! I find the whole issue sad, disturbing and hope the truth comes out!

[slim1h2o]

ms1-1-1 at 10:40 AM : Nov 09, 2008

Where does it say that he was molested?

Getting a little racist ain''t ya?

[messiahx4eve]

IF this child is tried and convicted as an adult, what about the adult that claims an 8 year old seduced him or her sexually? IF an 8 year old can be tried as an adult, you are opening up a whole new realm of confusion. We, as a society, "create" the environment these children live in, and we, as a society, should be held accountable as well. This child learned to kill, be it video games, television, or self expression through parenting, but he still learned, if only this child would have learned the difference between right and wrong first, perhaps this would not have happened. We have a very diversed neighborhood here and we all have heard children as young as 8 brag about everything from fighting to not being a virgin & proud of it. This is how it is becoming nationwide, not just in small communities any longer. Take a moment to inventory just what your child 5 and up really is knowledgable of or aware of these days.

[usmc1968]

And as to the second amendment, as a ex-marine vietnam era, find anyone trying to use this case as a gun rights issue is like beating a dead horse, kids are killed every day by guns left in the home, loaded, unsecured, one cannot blame a child with no adult supervision for a accident, this was no accident, I leave my judgment on who did this when all the investigation is done and said, but as a gun issue for pro or anti its stupid to use this case as a rally point for either case!

[usmc1968]

This is a child, 8 years old and anyone suggesting he be tried as a adult is a idiot, do not know why this happened, even if he did it, since a 8 year old is very impressionable, easily presuaded to say or do anything by a adult {mother}, whom visited just prior to this incident, maybe she was back in Mississippi when all this happened, maybe not, one can bet if she has any culpability in this matter its being looked into, a very similiar case occured sometime ago, a young boy allegedly shot his father, mother lured him to the house, a bitter custody dispute was on going, child confessed, prosecutors believed either the mother did it, or presuaded the child to do it, and convinced him to take the blame in either event, he got convicted as a juvenile, sent away till he turns 21, mom is still under suspicion, murder before or after the fact has no statute of limitations, I find it unbelievable this child all on his own came up with this idea, act, I am suspicious by nature!

[kurlikew]

First of all, why was there a loaded gun in a house where a small child lives, and why did he have access to it?

Secondly, can anyone be surprised when kids resort to violence? Look at the garbage they watch on television, and at the non-stop violence of the video games they vegetate with all the time. If this kid was being abused - and if there are previous domestic abuse calls on record he was - that''s all the more reason why he''s learned to respond to violence with violence.

I agree with the comment below - you can''t possibly try an eight year old as an adult. That''s just ridiculous. And I seriously doubt that juvenile hall has turned out many productive, law-abiding citizens, so that''s very likely not a good option. Neither is pumping the kid up with psychiatric drugs, which they''ll no doubt try to do.

Where is this boy''s mother, anyway? The article doesn''t say.

[leftonred-2009]

excuse the poor english but you know what i mean...

[leftonred-2009]

another indicator that material wealth- money, and what it bnys, has become more important than raising kids in our country....more and more parents do not truelly bond with their own children less and less...this is just another extreme case....