ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — An 11-year-old New Mexico boy has been charged with first-degree murder in the August shooting death of his father.
District Attorney Lemuel Martinez says his office filed the charge Tuesday.
Belen Police Sgt. Joe Portio says evidence supports the murder charge but declined to elaborate, citing a request by the boy's attorney, Jeff Buckels.
Police say the boy shot 42-year-old Bryon Hilburn with a rifle while the boy's 6-year-old sister was in the room, then flagged down officers outside the family's home in Belen, about 30 miles south of Albuquerque. The boy was 10 at the time.
Buckels says he hasn't seen the charges but says "the whole idea that a 10-year-old boy is capable of committing deliberate murder is preposterous."
The boy remains in the custody of his mother.
