Arizona boy, 8, accused of killing 2, including dad

Arizona boy, 8, accused of killing 2, including dad
By FELICIA FONSECA
Associated Press
Nov. 8, 2008, 7:59PM
ST. JOHNS, Ariz. — A man who police believe was shot and killed by his 8-year-old son had consulted a Roman Catholic priest about whether the boy should handle guns and had taught him how to use them, the clergyman said Saturday.

The father, Vincent Romero, 29, was from a family of avid hunters and wanted to make sure the boy wasn't afraid of guns and knew how to handle them, said the Very Rev. John Paul Sauter of St. Johns Catholic Church. The boy's stepmother had suggested he have a BB gun, the priest said.

Romero taught his son how to use a rifle to kill prairie dogs, Sauter said. Police say the boy used a 22.-caliber rifle Wednesday to kill his father and another man, Timothy Romans, 39, of San Carlos.

The priest did not say how he advised the couple or whether they decided to buy him a gun but said Saturday that the boy "was just too young."

"That child, I don't think he knows what he did, and it was brutal," said Sauter, who presided at the wedding of the father and stepmother.

The boy, who faces two counts of premeditated murder, did not act on the spur of the moment, St. Johns Police Chief Roy Melnick said. Police are looking into whether he might have been abused.
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