Boy, 8, Killed Mother's Beau

An 8-year-old boy is accused of murdering his mother's live-in boyfriend in the small town of Coker Creek, Tennessee.

Neighbors describe the child as friendly and sweet. They also say the boyfriend was abusive.

The mother has been charged with child neglect, and the boy and his brother have been placed in custody with the Department of Children's Services. Police are not releasing te boy's name.

According to the police the child confessed to the murder, saying he did it because the boyfriend was beating his mother.

Jerry Estes, the district attorney general handling the case, told CBS Early Show Co-Anchor Jane Clayson it's too early to tell whether the boy will be prosecuted for murder as an adult. In Tennessee, it's legal to prosecute an 8-year-old as an adult.

"Preliminarily, though, I don't see it headed in that direction, at this point," said Estes.

Testimony from friends and neighbors, who describe the boy as good and kind - and was perhaps abused and neglected - will be considered when prosecutors decide whether to try him as an adult or as a juvenile.

One or more of the witnesses have given "inconsistent statements,"says Estes, "but as a general matter, it appears as though this was a situation where there were certain things going on in the home that may have led to this."

He doesn't say however, that it is always inappropriate to charge an 8-year-old as an adult.

"If the child has a prior juvenile record that involves violence; if the child was the aggressor; if all efforts to try to rehabilitate the child or help the child have failed in the past, and in the interest of public safety in keeping something like this from happening again, we believe that the child should be incarcerated then, no, I wouldn't have any problem in those circumstances," Estes explained.

However, this would be the first time he's ever tried such a young child for murder.

"We have had situations involving children before, but they were usually from the age of 12 up."

James Fox, a criminology expert at Northeastern University in Boston, said he'd be astonished if there was any consideration given to trying the boy as an adult.

"An 8-year-old simply does not have the capacity to think things through the same way an adult does," said Fox. "I'm not saying we should excuse it or say that 8-year-olds don't have any ability to determine right from wrong. They just don't have…the same culpability that an adult has. It makes no sense trying him as an adult no matter what record he may or may not have."

Fox adds that "an adult court and adult prison is not the place where they belong and not the place where they'll get the right kind of treatment. And it is certainly not the right kind of place in terms of safety for a child."

"Let's not ruin this kid any more than he's been ruined."

There has been a national trend over the last ten years, opeing the floodgates for trying children as adults, says Fox.

"In certain cases it makes sense. A 16-year-old or 15-year-old who has been a persistent offender who has shown he's unreachable, yes, those kids should be tried as an adult on a case-by-case basis."

At the same time, Fox points out that use of the self-defense plea has been expanded in court.

"If there's a pattern of abuse creating a terroristic situation in the household, one could suggest there was impending fear of something happening, and we could see someone excused in this situation," said Fox.

"It's maybe a stretch, because there are other...alternatives to dealing with an abusive situation than using a knife," says Fox. "But given the fact that he's 8 years old…high preference would be to find something other than a criminal sanction or punishment for this child."

Fox says there are ways to protect such tragedies from happening.

"There have been calls to social services in this case before. And perhaps the system responded poorly," said Fox.

"This case should raise our consciousness that lots of kids are suffering because of abuse in the home, not against them necessarily but also against parents and they suffer and they develop a sense of insecurity and distrust," he said.