AZ - Timothy Romans, 39, & Vincent Romero, 29, slain, St Johns, 5 Nov 2008 - #1

[Hailiejade77]

I doesn't seem there is denial that the boy did this. Here's a new story from the bio mother:

http://www.startribune.com/nation/34982419.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUUF

quoted from link above:
"Judge Michael Roca ruled that the boy could be released for 48 hours to spend Thanksgiving with his mother. Thomas said her son wanted to see the movie "Kung Fu Panda" and play games during his parole."
I hope she doesn't let him play any violent video games! JMO
I am not saying that violent video game playing causes kids to kill people. But I do believe kids that "aren't normal" that play violent video games can contribute to their dissolution that its ok to kill. JMO

 

[twinkiesmom]

There is speculation from day one about abuse... and then all info was shut off. I'm not saying the father was abusing the son at that moment however I have to wonder what possibly could have set off such a young person. We are all wondering and I'm speculation.

Thank you for the clarification of one charge for now. I still wonder though - there is much we don't know.

I think he just did not know how to cope with his own rage. The more media reports come out, the more it is mentioned that this child was having trouble in school and the dad was treating it as a discipline issue. I believe he had an undiagnosed learning disorder.

I wonder if his young father realized that kids today need help with their homework and can not be left to their own devices to get it done? Was anyone watching him from when the bus left off to when his parents got home?

 

[fran]

:waitasec: After seeing the Good Morning America interview this morning with biological mom, I am so confused by the case. Here's why:

- he's too well-spoken for an 8 year old
- he claims he only fired the gun twice
- he was interrogated without counsel/parents
- his answers sound like he is trying to please the officers

I am sure we'll have a lot more info, but I am still not convinced here.

I agree with you, I'm not convinced either. I have a grandson the same age. He's well spoken as well, but I cannot imagine him doing something even close to this AND be interrogated, surrounded by LE.

I saw just a snippet the other day of this interrogation, (I use that term loosely), and it appeared to ME, the officer SUGGESTED he shot his dad (because someone told them he did?) and the boy elaborated (ie agreed). At least that's how I perceived what I saw.

As for them 'holding off' on one of the indictments,.............seems they're playing fast and loose on this case, as if they have Al Capone they're trying to put in prison. This is an eight year old little boy. Why don't they try to get it RIGHT and stop playing games.

I HOPE! Whoever represents this young lad is ABSOLUTELY sure there's NOTHING being 'hidden' from the defense. It would be a shame IF they put this young boy away and 10 or 20 years from now find the pros withheld exculpatory evidence.

JMHO
fran

 

[Ms Suzanne]

Hi
I'm not convinced this little boy did it either.If he did something led up to it.

suzanne

 

[Trino]

I'm not convinced this little boy did it either.If he did something led up to it.suzanne

It IS hard to believe, isn't it? However, even w/o the video, I have heard no one connected to the case dispute the fact that he did it, not even the boy's defense attorney.

No one, including the bio mother, has suggested the boy was abused. The bio mother also did not rebuff the idea that her son committed this crime.

"He had a very good relationship with his father," the boy's mother, Eryn Thomas, told ABC's "Good Morning America." "He did a lot with him. They did everything together. He loved his dad."

http://www.startribune.com/nation/34982419.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUUF

 

[oceanblueeyes]

I think he just did not know how to cope with his own rage. The more media reports come out, the more it is mentioned that this child was having trouble in school and the dad was treating it as a discipline issue. I believe he had an undiagnosed learning disorder.

I wonder if his young father realized that kids today need help with their homework and can not be left to their own devices to get it done? Was anyone watching him from when the bus left off to when his parents got home?

As you know Twinkie, this somewhat has been my opinion for sometime. I do believe this boy was very close with his father and they had a good relationship but what I think happened was Vincent dared to see he was spanked this time and the boy could not control his anger he felt. A boy that is close to their father seeks approval all the time and when for once he didn't get it ......it threw him into a tailspin. He may have felt betrayed by his father if he had never been given swats before.

From the articles I have read both his dad and step mom seemed to be hands on parents. I do think they tried to help him with his school work. IMO we will see that Vincent most likely had talked with the teachers about it at his school, asking them how they could help him and what seemed to be the problem he was having. I think this may have been what brought the spanking to bear because this had been an ongoing problem and the boy still wasn't showing them his school work or bringing it home like I know they must have asked him to do repeatedly.

imoo

 

[Trino]

http://www.cnn.com/US/9808/11/boys.charged.01/index.html

Here's what 7 and 8 yr olds are capable of - murder. 1998 case


"The boys are just 7 and 8, but prosecutors call them brutal killers. The youngest murder defendants in Chicago history are accused of attacking an 11-year-old girl with rocks, suffocating her with her panties and molesting her, all for her shiny blue bicycle."

 

[GlitchWizard]

Someone asked how loud a .22 is when fired. LOUD. That's why it's advisable to wear hearing protection when you fire one. No matter who fired the gun, it ought to have been heard from outside of the house and down the road. That's why I can't believe that the roommate was outside of the house when the father was shot. Who would enter a house, after hearing a gunshot?

 

[PattyCake]

No. never

? okay, how do you know that for sure? Did you live with him? I'm not being insensitive. I'm wondering how you know that is the case. I'm just trying to think out loud speculating. A child just doesn't go and do this for no reason whatsoever.

 

[twinkiesmom]

As you know Twinkie, this somewhat has been my opinion for sometime. I do believe this boy was very close with his father and they had a good relationship but what I think happened was Vincent dared to see he was spanked this time and the boy could not control his anger he felt. A boy that is close to their father seeks approval all the time and when for once he didn't get it ......it threw him into a tailspin. He may have felt betrayed by his father if he had never been given swats before.

From the articles I have read both his dad and step mom seemed to be hands on parents. I do think they tried to help him with his school work. IMO we will see that Vincent most likely had talked with the teachers about it at his school, asking them how they could help him and what seemed to be the problem he was having. I think this may have been what brought the spanking to bear because this had been an ongoing problem and the boy still wasn't showing them his school work or bringing it home like I know they must have asked him to do repeatedly.

imoo

Well, I say what I say as the mom of an adopted son with prenatal alcohol exposure...He is very smart but learning disabled. He is chronically disorganized and stays on task poorly without appropriate prompting...There is a diagnosis for this....It is called impaired executive function. It is not just forgetfulness and does not improve with restricting tv time or swats on the behind. My son becomes an A student if there is enough support for him in the classroom, including a teacher's aide.

 

[oceanblueeyes]

Someone asked how loud a .22 is when fired. LOUD. That's why it's advisable to wear hearing protection when you fire one. No matter who fired the gun, it ought to have been heard from outside of the house and down the road. That's why I can't believe that the roommate was outside of the house when the father was shot. Who would enter a house, after hearing a gunshot?

A man trying to come to the aide of a kid who had called him? I think so.


I have never worn gear when I have fired my 22 rifle. It is not loud....when shot outside where the sound travels it is more of a shrill, sharp, cracking sound. Shooting from an inside area out or shooting in an enclosed home would be more like popping sounds.

The officer who testified in this case said it would sound like "pops" if fired from inside the house and would be muffled.

Romans was shot in the arm. I think he kept trying to come to help. He then was shot 2-3 times in his chest and then shots to the head when he lay up against the metal door.

The truck had to be only about 25 feet away from the door. From the porch back toward the parked truck was a 24 feet blood trickle coming from his wounds. So he didn't get far but it does look like he tried his best even though wounded to keep trying to get to the house.

imoo

 

[oceanblueeyes]

? okay, how do you know that for sure? Did you live with him? I'm not being insensitive. I'm wondering how you know that is the case. I'm just trying to think out loud speculating. A child just doesn't go and do this for no reason whatsoever.

I do think he had his perceived "reasons" and I think they will turn out to be senseless but to him they were enough to kill at that time.

 

[Ms Suzanne]

Hi
Why would he try to run towards the house if someone in the house was shooting at him?

suzanne

 

[PattyCake]

You can make a child say almost anything to 'get out of trouble'. Does everyone know for certain this child really did this? Again, speculating. I haven't read all the news media about this case / child.

 

[colette]

Hi
Why would he try to run towards the house if someone in the house was shooting at him?

suzanne

That's what I think. I think he was running away, but then maybe he thought he could grab the gun away from the kid before he shot again.

 

[I AM THE 14 CAR]

http://www.cnn.com/US/9808/11/boys.charged.01/index.html

Here's what 7 and 8 yr olds are capable of - murder. 1998 case


"The boys are just 7 and 8, but prosecutors call them brutal killers. The youngest murder defendants in Chicago history are accused of attacking an 11-year-old girl with rocks, suffocating her with her panties and molesting her, all for her shiny blue bicycle."

These 2 boys were cleared.

http://cbs2chicago.com/seenon/Floyd.Durr.Ryan.2.326695.html

Two boys, then 7 and 8, were accused in the death of the girl, who had been sexually assaulted, making them the youngest murder suspects in the nation at the time. It took almost a month before they were cleared in the killing after tests showed semen on the girl's clothing could not have come from the children.

DNA tests later led prosecutors to charge Durr, a convicted sex offender whose history, prosecutors outlined in court Monday, includes the sexual assault of three girls in 1998.

Meanwhile, the city has settled lawsuits filed by the boys' families against the city and two police detectives for more than $8 million -- the second settlement coming last year during the civil trial.

 

[Ms Suzanne]

Hi
I think maybe someone was shooting at him from outside and he tried to run to the house.

suzanne

 

[oceanblueeyes]

Hi
Why would he try to run towards the house if someone in the house was shooting at him?

suzanne

I don't know. Why do we see just regular joes running into a building engulfed in flames to save families? Or jumps over a high bridge trying to save the occupants of a car that has gone in, only to lose their own lives? I think they react to the moment and do not weigh their own risks.

I saw a show on tv last night that many times a human being doesn't even realize they have been hit or it may just feel like a sting. It is the mind's way of coping with the trauma. If I remember correctly Reagen at first didn't even realize he had been shot at first. A 22 bullet leaves a very small hole. There may have not been much pain and he had all of his clothing on.

I think he was wounded but still trying to get to the house but once he got to the porch he most likely collapsed and that is when the shots were fired into his head.

imoo

 

[oceanblueeyes]

Hi
I think maybe someone was shooting at him from outside and he tried to run to the house.

suzanne

They will know the direction where the shots came from.

Being shot in the chest not back, shows the shooter was in front of him. His frontal direction was toward the home.

 

[Cubby]

http://www.cnn.com/US/9808/11/boys.charged.01/index.html

Here's what 7 and 8 yr olds are capable of - murder. 1998 case


"The boys are just 7 and 8, but prosecutors call them brutal killers. The youngest murder defendants in Chicago history are accused of attacking an 11-year-old girl with rocks, suffocating her with her panties and molesting her, all for her shiny blue bicycle."

I did a little studying of this case for personal reasons, these boys were exhonerated when DNA proved it was NOT their semen found in this little girl... Can't recall off the top of my head the name of the perp who was found guilty but it was NOT these boys... and fwiw, Kip R. Owen who brought the initial charges against these boys was working very very closely with Jon Burge who is well known for being extremely corrupt.. it was because of this group that the death penalty was stopped in IL.

ETA: see someone already posted the link and info regarding this case. I thought it was Floyd Dur who was eventually charged but wasn't sure off the top of my head. Thanks for adding the link, I am having comp probs so can not copy links.