PHOENIX (AP) - Prosecutors are charging a 14-year-old boy with first-degree murder as an adult in the fatal stabbing of his aunt.
The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office alleged in a criminal complaint filed Sunday that the boy killed 42-year-old Tonya Harper in Sun Lakes on Feb. 1 with premeditation.
Office spokeswoman Amanda Steele said Thursday she couldn’t discuss the boy’s adult prosecution but she noted that the complaint cites a state law allowing juveniles at least 14 years old to be charged as adults for certain crimes or under certain circumstances.
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The Associated Press does not generally publish the names of juvenile crime suspects and defendants.
An attorney representing the boy did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment on the prosecution’s charging decision and the allegation against him.
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