DelC
09-10-2001, 00:44
BY DONNA DE LA CRUZ The Associated Press
NEW YORK -- An 8-year-old boy was charged with criminally negligent homicide Friday for allegedly stabbing to death a 4-year-old neighbor who police say had been bullied for more than a year.
The suspect's 9-year-old brother was charged with assault for his role in the attack, police said. Both were charged as juveniles.
Police said the 8-year-old stabbed Emanuel Barima in the neck -- piercing his jugular vein -- as the boy played with his sister in the hall outside their Bronx apartment Wednesday. Tests were being done to determine whether a set of house keys or a pen was the murder weapon.
The brothers are among the youngest people ever charged in the United States in a slaying. Criminally negligent homicide is a lesser offense than murder or manslaughter.
"From what we understand, it was one smack to the neck area or the striking of the neck area," Deputy Police Chief Joseph Reznick said. "It all happened so fast, they may not have realized they actually caused the death."
Police said the boys are too young to be placed in a detention facility; they could be referred to counseling, to a group home or to foster care.
The boys were interviewed by police and later released into the custody of an uncle. Reznick said the two brothers did not seem to realize how much trouble they faced.
NEW YORK -- An 8-year-old boy was charged with criminally negligent homicide Friday for allegedly stabbing to death a 4-year-old neighbor who police say had been bullied for more than a year.
The suspect's 9-year-old brother was charged with assault for his role in the attack, police said. Both were charged as juveniles.
Police said the 8-year-old stabbed Emanuel Barima in the neck -- piercing his jugular vein -- as the boy played with his sister in the hall outside their Bronx apartment Wednesday. Tests were being done to determine whether a set of house keys or a pen was the murder weapon.
The brothers are among the youngest people ever charged in the United States in a slaying. Criminally negligent homicide is a lesser offense than murder or manslaughter.
"From what we understand, it was one smack to the neck area or the striking of the neck area," Deputy Police Chief Joseph Reznick said. "It all happened so fast, they may not have realized they actually caused the death."
Police said the boys are too young to be placed in a detention facility; they could be referred to counseling, to a group home or to foster care.
The boys were interviewed by police and later released into the custody of an uncle. Reznick said the two brothers did not seem to realize how much trouble they faced.