Boy accused of slayings to be evaluated

PHOENIX, Nov. 11 (UPI) -- Prosecutors have charged an 8-year-old Arizona boy with premeditated murder in the death of his father and another man.

Court officers said the boy will undergo psychological testing to determine his mental state on the day of the shootings and when he confessed, The Arizona Republic in Phoenix reported Tuesday. He also will be examined to determine whether he is competent to stand trial.

Prosecutors said the boy stopped and reloaded a single-action, .22-caliber rifle as he shot each man at least four times, The New York Times reported.

While investigators said they initially thought the boy may have suffered severe physical or sexual trauma, they have found no evidence of abuse, said Roy Melnick, the police chief in St. Johns, Ariz., where the shootings occurred. Investigators also found no evidence that the boy had disciplinary problems in school or indicated he was troubled, Melnick said.

Melnick and Apache County deputy attorney Brad Carlyon spoke to the Times before an Apache County judge issued a gag order Monday.

The shootings occurred Wednesday in St. Johns, about 200 miles northeast of Phoenix, where the boy lived with his 29-year-old father and a 39-year-old man who rented a room in the house.

While the boy allegedly confessed to the killings, Carlyon said the boy "did not say that was the reason he committed any of the acts."