12-year-old boy in US is charged with killing his mother and his younger brother

By KRISTEN WYATT Associated Press Writer

(AP) - DISTRICT HEIGHTS, Maryland-A 12-year-old boy described by a neighbor as having a volatile temper was charged as a juvenile with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of his mother and his younger brother.

The two were found beaten and stabbed on Sunday in their apartment. Police said they found a metal bar that had been used in the beatings.
news230();

At a 12-minute hearing Monday, Judge Melanie M. Shaw Geter ordered that the boy remain at a juvenile facility in Cheltenham until his next hearing on May 15. The judge also ordered a psychological evaluation for the boy.

Authorities did not release the boy's name because of his age. Police said the boy was the oldest son of Katrina D. Powe, 31, and brother of Mystery T. Hillian, 9, and lived with them.

Police arrived at their apartment Sunday after getting a phone call and found the bodies of the mother and son. Detectives interviewed the 12-year-old at the scene and arrested him there, said Cpl. Clinton Copeland. Copeland did not know who called police.

Copeland initially said that the metal bar used in the killings was the kind normally used to secure a car's steering wheel to prevent theft, but he later corrected that information to say the bar was not a part of such a device.

Prosecutors said the 12-year-old's father was on his way Monday to Maryland from North Carolina. It was not known whether he was also the father of the victim.

Children under 14 cannot be charged with homicide as an adult in Maryland and are not be eligible for the death penalty, said Ramon Korionoff, a spokesman with the office of the county state's attorney. At 12, the defendant is believed to be one of the youngest ever charged with homicide in the state. If found responsible for the deaths, the boy could be held until he is 21 years of age, said Deputy State's Attorney Patricia Smoot.
"It's certainly tragic and we'll be looking at all the facts involved," Smoot said, adding, "It's incredibly unusual to have a homicide where there's someone as young as 12 involved. I'm incredibly stunned."

Neighbors said Sunday that the boy often baby-sat his younger brother, but was known in the neighborhood for having a violent temper.

"If he got into an argument or something, like with other kids, he would kind of explode, and like go off," Azalia Taylor told WRC-TV in Washington

Now just what is this world coming to? 12 years old???? It's so sad. Three lives gone.....

source