ST. JOHNS, Ariz. – The state of Arizona had sought to have a court determine who should be in charge of an 8-year-old boy accused in the deaths of his father and another man but withdrew that petition today.
The state Child Protective Services files delinquency petitions when there is no parent able or willing to care for a child.
Agency spokeswoman Liz Barker Alvarez says CPS dropped the petition in agreement with all parties because there was not a legal basis for it.
Alvarez says the boy no longer is a temporary court ward.
The boy is charged in juvenile court with two counts of premeditated murder in the Nov. 5 deaths of his father — 29-year-old Vincent Romero and 39-year-old Timothy Romans.
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The boy's criminal case and dependency case were separate and handled by different attorneys.
An attorney for the boy's mother says the mother has custody of the child.
Yesterday, a judge granted a 48-hour furlough, allowing the boy to spend Thanksgiving with his mother.
The boy was living with his father and stepmother, who were married in September, in a two-story house the father built in St. Johns before the killings.
A status conference in the criminal case is scheduled for Dec. 8.
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