U.S.

Old Enough To Kill

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

August 10, 1998 / 5:56 PM EDT / CBS

Chicago police said Monday they have solved the murder of 11-year-old Ryan Harris, reports CBS News Correspondent Cynthia Bowers. The young girl's badly beaten body was found two weeks ago in a South Chicago lot.

Horrifyingly, the suspects are two boys, ages 7 and 8. Monday, the two became the youngest children ever to confess to a murder in the city of Chicago.

Ryan Harris' body was found just two blocks from where the two boys live. According to police, the 7 year old knocked her unconscious with a stone. She was then sexually molested and finally suffocated - all because the boys wanted the bicycle she was riding.

It was a police house-to-house canvass that turned up the two boys -- first as witnesses in the case.

"It's during these interviews that the kids give the statement that they're responsible for the death of Ryan Harris," said police Sergeant Stan Zaborak.

Meanwhile, in a poor neighborhood used to crime, many were having trouble accepting these children could be killers.

"First of all it required strength and an incredible amount of determination... that 7 and 8 year olds physically do not have," said attorney Andre Grant.

The boys accused of killing Ryan Harris will be tried as juveniles because they are under age 13. Even if convicted, they will be set free no later than age 21.