Okay, so the boy has been living with his mother in a type of "house arrest" set up, to describe it as part of the "plea deal".
"
In February, Whiting worked out what appeared to be an acceptable plea deal with the boy's attorney. According to the
agreement, the boy admitted to negligent homicide in the slaying of Romans, and charges involving his father's death were dropped. As part of the
plea agreement, the boy accepted intensive probation, community treatment and possible juvenile detention but not state incarceration.
There was no trial, only a guilty plea the judge accepted. Though the boy accepted probation, a sentence was not set, pending psychiatric evaluation. Since then, he has been in legal limbo while Apache County struggles with where to put him and how to pay for his placement."
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-11-11-nineyearoldkiller_N.htm
Why did this case never make it to trial??
Even in a plea deal, i would think competency would have to be determined before a sentence. Since he is so young, and
if he is truly a danger, then he should have been placed in a residential youth psychiatric hospital, not on house arrest with his mother.
Something seems fishy.
Their are children as young as he is in psychiatric hospitals inpatient in other states, who haven't even commited murders.
Potentially some of the inpatient psychiatric hospitals for youths can be worse or just as bad as juvenile detention centers.
I know someone who works for a "children's psychiatric center" and Juvenile Hall actually sends their "bad cases" to them until they "get better", and then they get send back again, repeat the process.. so you can imagine..
I don't think that him living with his mother, pretty much isolated from the world due to the house arrest type set up is very healthy. It seems the town does not want to be responsible to pay for his inpatient psychiatric care as well.
This case is a mess, and i am still on the fence with it.
I wish it went to trial, with an unbias jury and hard evidence..
It should have been thrown out the way he was interrogated in the beginning.
