Tucson Region

Boy, 12, held in stabbing of pregnant sister

A 12-year-old Tucson boy faces an attempted- murder charge after repeatedly stabbing his pregnant sister, authorities say.

The boy has been in the Pima County Juvenile Detention Center since Nov. 14, when detectives say he stabbed his 17-year-old sister five times in the neck, head and hand. Despite the bloody scene at the family's Foothills apartment, the girl's wounds were not considered life-threatening. The boy has been charged with attempted first-degree murder, domestic violence aggravated assault causing serious physical injuries, and domestic violence aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. The Star is not identifying the boy or his family because he has been charged as a juvenile in a domestic-violence case. Arrests for murder and attempted murder at such a young age are rare, said Howard Snyder of the National Center for Juvenile Justice, a Pittsburgh-based research group. Their victims, he said, tend to be young relatives because they're too weak to kill an adult or a stranger.

Last year, 13 juveniles ages 10 to 12 were arrested for murder nationwide, according to FBI data from police departments serving 72 percent of the nation. No figures were available for attempted-murder charges filed against minors.

Reports from the Pima County Sheriff's Department describe the attack and the mindset of the boy. Relatives declined to comment for this story. According to the reports: The boy spent the night before the stabbing at a friend's house. That friend, 13, also is his sister's boyfriend and the father of the baby she is carrying, according to reports. The suspect's mother had told him not to tell anyone of his sister's pregnancy or who the father is. That secret, on top of other family arguments, was bottled up, the boy told a detective, and he was planning to kill himself to make all the problems go away. He told a detective that his family wouldn't fight if they were mourning. In the kitchen of the family's apartment on North Sabino Canyon Road, the boy found a broken 8-inch knife. He took some super glue from his model-airplane kit and glued the knife back together. He told detectives he wanted to commit suicide but took out his anger on his sister because he "just had a breaking point." As the girl stepped out of the shower, he pushed her and she fell into the bathtub, where he stabbed her. He told her that if she "told on him," he would kill her, she told a detective. The girl, three months pregnant, got away and went to a friend's apartment to call 911. When deputies found her, she was sitting on the floor holding a towel to her neck. Her hair was matted with blood, reports show. The boy left the home, threw his shoes under a car in the parking lot and hid. Deputies found him under some nearby shrubs, ordered him out at gunpoint and arrested him. In the bathroom of the family's home, deputies saw blood in the bathtub and smeared on the walls. The handle of the knife was next to the toilet, and the broken-off blade was in the kitchen trash. A 4-inch steak knife with a bent blade was lying in the middle of the kitchen floor. "He knew the actions he had committed were wrong," one detective reported, but the boy denied he was trying to kill his sister. He said he only wanted to scare her. Detectives also are investigating previous threats the boy may have made against his sister. Friends told deputies he'd said he wanted to be a famous gangster, bank robber and serial killer. He said he wanted his sister to be his first victim. Another goal was to be on a "most wanted" list, reports show. Friends told deputies they hadn't taken the boy's comments seriously because they thought he was joking.