A 10-year-old boy is suspected of stabbing and killing his 12-year-old friend with a kitchen knife in El Cajon, California, according to an article on Yahoo News.

The 12-year-old boy died Monday morning after he after he was taken from the 10-year-old boy’s home just 15 miles east of San Diego. The suspects mother was at home at the time of the killing.

The boy has since been taken into custody and the case will be governed by the juvenile justice system. The police will not release the boy’s ages because they are under the age of majority.

A neighbor of the younger boy, 18-year-old Derek Gorton, said that the he had “emotional issues” and something small such as losing a video game or tapping him on the shoulder could spark a tremendous amount of outrage in the young boy.

Nonetheless, Gorton stated that although the boy had frequent temper tantrums he never would have expected him to do this.

Gorton’s father, Brian Richeson, relayed his son’s observations, but noted that the young boy generally lashed out or retaliated verbally not physically. Richeson also revealed that the young boys mother knew how to take on the boys problem head-on and he said that she was “the best mother I’ve ever met.”

This is an extremely unfortunate case. I feel for both sets of parents. 1 Lost a promising young boy at age 12, while the other’s mother will have to come to grips with the fact that her ten-year-old son is a killer.

Because the younger boy will be tried as a juvenile it is likely that he will be confined in a juvenile detention center until he is 18 and will be free to go soon thereafter. This is assuming that the boy demonstrates that he is rehabilitated through good behavior while he is locked up.

Another question is whether the suspected killer suffered from some sort of mental disease. After looking at witness statements such as the neighbor Gorton there is a chance that the boy may need to be institutionalized in lieu of a juvenile detention sentence.

Finally, there is the question of whether the mother could be liable in this case. It is unlikely that she would be tried criminally. However, the deceased’s family could try to sue the mother for negligence in civil court in order to try to obtain monetary compensation for their son’s death. The basis of their argument would be based on the mother’s knowledge of the son’s propensity for overreacting and the fact that the mother was at home at the time of the murder.

Even if the deceased’s parents had a civil case against the mother filing the lawsuit would ultimately depend on whether the mother had money. That does not seem to be the case here.

It will be interesting to see the answers to these questions as the investigation matures in the coming months.

What do you think?