8-Year-Old Confesses To Shooting Dad

(CBS/AP)  An 8-year-old boy accused of killing his father and another man is due in court Wednesday a day after prosecutors released a police interview with the boy in which he admits to firing at least two shots at each man.

The Arizona boy said that he did not fire the first shots at the men but later shot them so they wouldn't suffer.

The boy gives conflicting accounts of the shootings during an hourlong video of his interview with authorities in St. Johns, but the video ends with him admitting to pulling the trigger. He then buries his head in his jacket.

"I'm going to go to juvie," the boy says after an officer asks what he's thinking.

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.

"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."

Citing the boy's age and the sketchy circumstances surrounding the case, CBS News chief legal analyst Andrew Cohen said, this ranks as "one of the most egregious examples of pretrial publicity."

The boy has been charged in juvenile court with two counts of murder in the deaths of his father, Vincent Romero, and Timothy Romans, who rented a room there and was Romero's co-worker.

A defense attorney has said police overreached in their questioning of the boy, who was not represented by a family member or lawyer during the interview.

"I think they're going to have a problem getting that statement into court," defense attorney Benjamin Brewer said earlier this month before a judge issued a gag order in the case. "I believe there were many violations in regards to how it was obtained."

The gag order does not extend to the release of reports or recordings that would be considered public records in Arizona.

The shootings occurred Nov. 5 in an eastern Arizona community about 170 miles northeast of Phoenix.

[fush2]

his a minor y wasnt there any family member with him...they should dismiss this video....i mean really..i dont see how an 8 year old can pick up a gun and kill his own dad..they need to do more investigating...

[lavay1]

I viewed the video of the 8 yr old boy being interrogated. You have got to be kidding me that they believe that this is a case that is on the up and up. This is a child that was taught by his father on how to handle a gun and was probably told that animals are not to suffer upon being shot. This young child does not know nor does he understand the meaning behind what these police officers were trying to get him to say. He was most definitely cohersed into making the statements that he made. This is a case that should go no further but to release him to his mother and call it done. I''m not an advocate to fire arms but this child did not kill his father nor the other man. As he stated he came upon these men already shot and me may have used the gun to end the suffering as he was taught by his father but he clearly does not appear to understand what has taken place here and the authorities should be heavily reprimanded for their actions of putting this child into this situatiion (*** them).

[lucidreams]

Okay, natali14 is right. We are starting to go off of the subject at hand. Truthrocks is right about the numbers he/she posts. On one last point about the ammendments, however, the right to bear arms is a protection clause. I understand that some people don''t have the right mindset to grasp this concept, but I feel safe knowing that i can defend myself with such force if I have to. The first ammendment grants the right to free speech, but you can''t yell "fire!" in a crowded theatre. If guns are outlawed, shooting people in the face will still be illegal. It''s the immorality that causes these deaths, not the rights we''ve been granted as citizens of the United States. Anyway, this issue really is about the kid''s rights. I don''t know what the hell to hope for in this case.

[natali14-2009]

I think that the issue is clouded here. The question is not about whether or not an individual should have the right to own a gun...the issue is where exactly are the CHILD''S rights? We should be focusing moreso on how faulty this interrogation was held. I will be very dissappointed if this child is convicted on these murders based on a pressured confession drawn by the officers questioning him. If this child goes to jail you might as well consider him a convict for life, because that is exactly the lifestyle he will be taught within that type of environment.

[lucidreams]

The second ammendment gives us the right to own guns LEGALLY. An eight-year-old boy cannot have a gun registered to him. Also, the kid was old enough to know how to dial 911. If he truly came in with two dying men in his house, why would he shoot them to put them out of misery instead of notifying someone? I''m not saying he murdered these guys in cold blood, but I''m presenting alternatives to icing your dad. If an eight-year-old knows how to load and fire a rifle, it doesn''t necessarily mean that he''s responsible enough to be given that liberty.

[pensacola98]

Children that kill are not as rare as many believe.

Many children exposed to anger become violent and kill.

There is no vehicle to identify high risk children and intervene, because social workers are hired to address matters after violent actions occured, not before.

A person is required to have a license before driving a car, flying an airplane, or owning a buisiness, but no license is required to have a child.

[shanev137]

I just read the boy is going to be set free and allowed to spend the holidays with his mother.

Aren''t they afraid he might kill her as well?

[cockamammy]

rem rafdn - If you are protecting yourself or your family from an intruder you have every right to protect yourself. With that in mind you should do everything you can to avoid killing. But shooting 2 people over a TV is murder, no matter what. What this scumbag did was unnecessary. What most disgusts me is the value he places on an appliance over a human life with no remorse or sadness. I don''t think there is anything more unchristian or immoral for that matter than feeling good about murdering someone else.

[shanev137]

"I think I shot my dad" ????

[cockamammy]

Ok - After reading through most of these postings I noticed that only 1 of you folks brought up the idea of a gag order. This is a sensationalist crime and considering it in involves a child, there should be a complete blackout or information relating to this horrible event. Where is the judge in this whole thing!? What hell are the police and prosecutors thinking by releasing this video confession!? By showing this tragic interrogation, they are satisfying the perversion of the people who get off watching sad and sick stuff like this - like some of the people in this forum. Showing this video doesn''t help law enforcement, the prosecution, or anybody for that matter.
PS - getoffmine1, you are a true lowlife if you feel proud for killing 2 people. The fact that you cared more about your junk TV than the lives of 2 people shows exactly who you are - a shameless, lowlife murderer.