A judge today ordered psychological testing for an eight-year-old Arizona boy accused of killing his father and another man execution-style on Wednesday. Prosecutors in the case want the child charged as an adult. That's right: an eight-year-old boy is being charged with two counts of premeditated murder, and authorities want to treat him as an adult.
The tragedy of the case goes well beyond the loss suffered by the families, the community, and the boy himself. The situation leads one to question how such a thing could have happened.
Vincent Romero, the boy's father consulted his parish priest about whether to give the boy a gun. The boy's stepmother had encouraged a bb gun. Sadly, Romero dismissed her opinion. An avid hunter, he taught his son to shoot prairie dogs with the rifle. Whatever the priest counseled, obviously, dad made the wrong choice.
Authorities are looking for signs of abuse in the boy's home, although no one had reported any. School records show no trouble of any kind. What remains a mystery is whether the boy understood the outcome of his actions before he took them.
The victims were shot execution style. Did the boy approach them from behind or simply walk up to each man, aim at his head and pull the trigger, while they failed to comprehend the danger?
American television and movies are full of images of such killing, and all generally agree that such scenes are just good fun, with everyone going home to live happily ever after. Which parent has not told a youngster in a movie, "It's all right; it's only make-believe." This boy would not be the first eight-year-old who watched inappropriate video, with or without parental consent. Is it not only possible, but also likely that he believed, even after killing animals with his father, that after being shot, dad would get up, and they would all go out for ice cream?
Clearly, the adults in this child's life failed him in the most basic ways, and must shoulder the blame for this crime, whether he understood what he was doing or not. How does one justify teaching a child to destroy life at an age where he or she is unable to comprehend what life is?
What kind of legal system allows an eight-year-old to be tried as an adult for premeditated murder? Surely, the society that gave rise to it has little regard for life.
African militias use young children for soldiers precisely because of their peculiar inability to grasp the results of their actions. They neither comprehend the danger to themselves, nor the havoc they wreck upon others.
The chief argument for trying any child as an adult is the fact that if such a child is sentenced as a minor, the sentence ends at age 18. This makes sense when dealing with incorrigible children; however, locking an eight-year-old up with the kinds of kids typically found in juvenile prisons will likely damage his character beyond repair. One might say that incorrigibility is a contagious disease.
While one might understand trying a hardened minor as an adult for such a heinous crime, it is not at all clear that this boy is such a hard case. He will have to live for the rest of his life knowing that he killed his own father. Whatever punishment the state tries to add, pales by comparison.
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Comments: 54
I would never give my child a gun, especially not an 8 yr old.
It's bad enough the things that happen to children who lose their parents under any circumstance without trying to prosecute this child as an adult.
I wonder when I read about stuff like, this how the NRA types will justify their stance on gun control or the lack there of.
Do they intend to let him live with the general adult population in prison?!!!
To Kathleen, what makes you think that gun control would have prevented this? You have no idea what type of environment this young boy was living in. I was raised in a household with guns( my father was a police officer for several years, and a hunter all his life), I have raised my children in a household with guns, and my eldest daughter is married to a police officer so their daughter is being raised in a household with guns. Gun control will only take guns away from the responsible, and ensure that criminals will have the upper hand. I really hate when a story such as this comes out and the automatic response is "how the NRA types will justify their stance on gun control".
How do you know this wasn't a household with drug dealers? If it were, your "gun control" would mean absolutely nothing. This wasn't posted to be an article in support of gun control, it was posted to bring to peoples attention that our scewed justice system is once again going to a severly warped extreme in trying an 8 year old child as an adult. If he isn't a criminal yet, he certainly would be by the time he got out, and once again "gun control" would not matter in the least.
But are these guns locked up? Are they out of reach of young children? Shouldn't there be some kind of restriction on the storage and availability of firearms in a house where children are present? Or do you think that responsible gun owner just leave their guns lying around for their children to find and use?
Obviously there are some in this country who are unwilling to take responsible measures without those measures being legislated. Why the ass-u-mption that 'gun control' means taking away all rights ?
His stint in jail did not help much. He was released, violated probation once and then was involved in an armed robbery.
I do not know how to handle this, but I will tell you jail for an eight year old is not a solution, it is a sentance to a life of crime.
Certainly, the authorities do get involved in cases of acting out - and the child is monitored and helped... but they are not charged.
we don't know the whole story here.
My 7-year-old daughter is barely cognizant of cause-and-effect... and boys are supposed to mature later than girls so I would imagine if he's anything like the average 8-year-old he is NOT yet mature enough to comprehend the magnitude of his actions.
I, too, believe there is likely more to the story, but not sure if we'll ever hear it. Children are routinely interrogated to the point where they don't even remember what the truth is any more, and sadly I'd imagine that's very likely to happen in this case.
I just wanted to say I am finally going through what is now under 6,500 pieces of gather new mail that is in my inbox on here. So with that in mind I have finally come to a piece of mail that was addressed to me in regards this article submission you have created to share with the gather community. Thank you for taking the time and sharing your piece with us here at gather. :o)
Sad, sad comment. I hear it again and again when tragedies like this occur. This would never have happened if there was not a gun in the house. Why must an 8-yr-old learn to shoot livings things? Why must they learn to kill? 8-yr-olds do NOT understand the full implications of their actions, or else we would not prevent minors from doing many things in our society. This boy should never be tried as an adult. Any parent or teacher knows that even teenagers do not fully comprehend the consequences of their actions.
It is a sad irony that so many people in this country think that children are capable and responsible for taking care of themselves and others, including little babies. What kind of a lunatic country have we turned into? Can we not realize the extent of our irresponsible violence? When will we learn?
There is absolutely no reason in the civilized, modern world for people to have guns in their homes, or worse yet in the same homes as young children. Disgusting.
I have a true story about as bad as that one - sort of. A father and son went to a gun show here in Canada and the Dad let his son try out an oozie. He was around 8 too. The kid pulled the trigger and before he could release the trigger the gun circled around and killed the boy. No charges, it was an accident. I would have charged the dad with being incredibly stupid.
What is so wrong with having to have one to own a gun?
And with the way Americans are so in love with their penis extensions(guns) , the tax revenue would be astounding.
Welcome to Afghanistan/Arizona?
They are not adults, and should not be treated as such.
This boy needs some counseling, and that's the only thing that is going to truly help him mature and become a contributing member of society.
How can an 8 year old, come up with a murder plan, and carry it out, without so much as a sign that anything was wrong? That makes no sense, and it's a travesty of justice, if you ask me.