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8-Year-Old Suspected Of Murdering Father Says Parents Exceeded His 1,000-Spank Limit
allheadlinenew ^ | December 1, 2008

Posted on 12/01/2008 5:36:21 PM PST by JoeProBono

Phoenix, AZ (AHN) - An 8-year-old boy who confessed to shooting to death his father and a man renting a room from his father in Arizona earlier this month, had told authorities he kept a log recording the instances his father and stepmother hit him. According to a search affidavit from a St. Johns, Ariz. Police officer, the boy told Child Protective Services agents that 1,000 spankings was his threshold.

(Excerpt) Read more at allheadlinenews.com ...


TOPICS: Miscellaneous; Weird Stuff
KEYWORDS: clintonlegacy; cpswatch; spank
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In a statement to police the day after the Nov. 5 shooting, he said he had been spanked the day before for not finishing a homework assignment. He is being accused of shooting to death his father, Vincent Romano, 29, and Timothy Romero, 39, who was renting a room in the Romano house, with a .22-caliber rifle his father had taught him to use.

Prosecutors entered a plea deal in the case last week, but the details aren't clear. Prosecutors had sought to drop one of two first-degree murder charges against the boy.

Police records show family members, including the boy's grandparents, said Romano and his wife were too hard on the boy and they weren't surprised to hear he was a suspect in the shooting.

Police Chief Roy Melnick wrote in his report: "I comforted them as best we could. After several minutes, [the boy's grandmother] shouted out in an angry and loud tone, 'I knew this would happen. They were too hard on [the boy]. I knew he did it, He spent the night in my bed cuddling up to me. I had a feeling he did it. If an eight year old boy is capable of doing this, it's [him]."

1 posted on 12/01/2008 5:36:21 PM PST by JoeProBono
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To: All

2 posted on 12/01/2008 5:38:27 PM PST by JoeProBono ( Loose Associations - Postcards from My Mind)
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To: JoeProBono

Sad for the life that is ruined for this boy, but wonder the future damage the world has been saved.

I wonder if they will keep in a facility. I doubt it.

Let’s say he’s been keeping a tab since he was four, and that’s early to start keeping up with that stuff, that’s nearly a spanking a day.

No child that I have ever met does so much bad that they deserve that. And I’ve met some doozies.


3 posted on 12/01/2008 5:39:08 PM PST by autumnraine (Churchill: " we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall never surrender")
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To: JoeProBono

Geez...what do you say to that....


4 posted on 12/01/2008 5:39:28 PM PST by nevergore ("It could be that the purpose of my life is simply to serve as a warning to others.")
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To: JoeProBono

Grandparents always say that the kids are diceplined to much.


5 posted on 12/01/2008 5:39:32 PM PST by waxer1 ( Live Free or Die)
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To: JoeProBono

He was abused. They were cruel


6 posted on 12/01/2008 5:39:42 PM PST by yldstrk (My heros have always been cowboys--Reagan and Bush)
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To: JoeProBono
some people should have a license to have children.

My grandson is 8 and is as innocent as the day is long......he has good parents. I can't imagine what went on in this house to make a "baby" kill his father.

7 posted on 12/01/2008 5:40:22 PM PST by estrogen (time to fight)
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To: yldstrk

Whatever. WE really do not know anything yet. Probably we will never know what went on in that house. He is a juvenile and thier records are sealed and the public is not allowed in the court room.


8 posted on 12/01/2008 5:41:33 PM PST by waxer1 ( Live Free or Die)
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To: autumnraine

I agree. This is a case of child abuse. I am siding with the boy on this one.


9 posted on 12/01/2008 5:43:29 PM PST by Soothesayer (The United States of America Rest in Peace November 4 2008)
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To: autumnraine
It's a rare child that can keep such a lengthy and continuous record. If what the cops are telling us is true I'd suspect the father was beating him to suppress the child's innate genius and get him to behave like an idiot.

I can wrap names around this particular problem.

10 posted on 12/01/2008 5:45:29 PM PST by muawiyah
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To: waxer1

It’s true that we will never know. There have been cases in the past of truly sociopathic and psychopathic children but it looks like this most likely isn’t one of those.


11 posted on 12/01/2008 5:45:48 PM PST by Soothesayer (The United States of America Rest in Peace November 4 2008)
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To: waxer1
Grandparents always say that the kids are diceplined to much.

Not me. If they were abused, that would be an entirely different story.

12 posted on 12/01/2008 5:46:26 PM PST by PistolPaknMama (Al-Queda can recruit on college campuses but the US military can't! --FReeper airborne)
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To: JoeProBono

So why did he kill the guy renting?

Hospital records?

Something doesn’t come together on this as yet!


13 posted on 12/01/2008 5:46:27 PM PST by Sharrukin
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To: JoeProBono

Well, we’ll never know for sure, without having met the people in question (too late now). But is this kid telling the truth, and can he count that accurately?


14 posted on 12/01/2008 5:49:20 PM PST by Cicero (Marcus Tullius)
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To: JoeProBono

Spare the rod, don’t get shot dead by the child.


15 posted on 12/01/2008 5:49:47 PM PST by Bubba Ho-Tep ("More weight!"--Giles Corey)
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To: JoeProBono

If this kid is a psychopath, I think they need to test his 1,000 volt limit.


16 posted on 12/01/2008 5:49:47 PM PST by Question_Assumptions
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To: PistolPaknMama

Well, all I am saying is that we will never know what really happened here.

I really feel for the kid. People here make all kinds of judgements here on this forum on cases like these when they know nothing about the case.

Since he is a juvenile, we will never have access to the court records. It is hard for us to believe a 8 year old could do such a evil act without some logical reason.

Daddy is no longer here to defend himself is he?
Also, as far as I know, the boarder had nothing to do with this. Why was he killed?

I hope to God this child gets the help he so desparately needs.


17 posted on 12/01/2008 5:51:35 PM PST by waxer1 ( Live Free or Die)
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To: waxer1
Whatever. WE really do not know anything yet. Probably we will never know what went on in that house. He is a juvenile and thier records are sealed and the public is not allowed in the court room.

The grandparents will have to give specific examples and those examples will either show abuse or harsh treatment or not. Perhaps there are hospital/doctor records.

Let's accept that the child was abused (for argument's sake). Now what? That a child killed instead of asking others for help (as far as we know), that a child killed two people at 8 years old... What do we do with that?

18 posted on 12/01/2008 5:54:56 PM PST by Dianna
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To: JoeProBono

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27600105/

Police said Romero’s son planned and methodically carried out the killings, and confessed.

Prosecutors said that there was no record of any complaints filed about the boy with Arizona Child Protective Services and that the youngster had no disciplinary record at school.

...while friends and neighbors disputed any suggestion the boy had been abused by his father.

They painted a picture of Vincent Romero as a caring father who seemed to be doing all he could to raise a polite and respectful boy.

“They were always together doing things as a family, fishing, hunting,” Carlos Diaz, a cousin of Romero’s current wife, said after the funeral Mass at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church.


19 posted on 12/01/2008 5:55:35 PM PST by Sharrukin
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To: Sharrukin

Pure speculation...

They should make certain to check the kid out for sexual abuse. If the two who were killed were that sort, that might explain why they were both killed, and that would be something the kid may not come forward with.


20 posted on 12/01/2008 6:00:21 PM PST by Sharrukin
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