ST. JOHNS, Ariz. — Hundreds of mourners packed a funeral Monday for a man allegedly shot to death by his 8-year-old son, while friends and neighbors disputed any suggestion the father had abused his son.
They described Vincent Romero as a caring father who did all he could to raise a polite and respectful boy.
“They were always together doing things as a family, fishing, hunting,” Carlos Diaz, a cousin of Romero’s current wife, said after the funeral Mass at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church.
About 600 people filled the rural church in this town of about 4,000. Romero, 29, a construction-company worker, was shot with a .22-caliber rifle Wednesday along with Timothy Romans, 39, who rented a room in his house.
Police said Romero’s son planned and methodically carried out the killings, and confessed. The boy has been charged as a juvenile with two counts of murder.
The boy appeared in handcuffs at a court hearing Monday and sat restlessly next to his mother. Judge Michael Roca gave defense attorneys until Friday to either find an expert to evaluate the boy’s competency or to agree to one suggested by prosecutors.
Police Chief Roy Melnick said over the weekend that police were looking into whether the boy might have been abused.
