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Douglas boy, 12, guilty of killing mom

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SIERRA VISTA — A 12-year-old Douglas boy has been convicted of premeditated murder for the shooting death of his mother.

The boy was found guilty by Judge James Conlogue after a hearing that ended Friday in Cochise County Superior Court in Bisbee.

The boy's lawyer, Sanford Edleman, argued that the boy did not intend to kill her, just to get back at her for abusing him. The boy told police his mother yelled at him and sometimes slapped him.

But Conlogue ruled that prosecutors had proved the boy acted intentionally and with premeditation when he shot 34-year-old Sara Madrid eight times on Aug. 1. The shooting happened after the boy had argued with his mother over his chores.

Madrid had briefly left the family home after the argument, and the boy got a .22-caliber pistol from her bedroom closet, waited outside for her to return and then repeatedly shot her, according to court testimony.

Madrid's live-in boyfriend of 10 years, Alfonso Muñoz, witnessed the shooting and said the boy gave him the empty gun afterward.

Muñoz, who had raised the boy, said he had taught him how fire the weapon and instructed him only to use guns in an emergency and in self-defense.

Prosecutors wanted the boy tried as an adult, but Conlogue ruled the case should remain in Juvenile Court. That decision came after a psychologist and psychiatrist testified in November that the boy suffered physical and verbal abuse from his mother and could be rehabilitated in the juvenile justice system. The boy is not being identified because he is charged as a juvenile.

The victim's sister, Ernestine Huitron, testified on Friday that Madrid did not want the boy to live with her, had a temper and yelled at him. Sentencing is set for Jan. 23.

Because he was tried as a juvenile, under Arizona law the boy can be held only until he turns 18.