Father Takes Blame After 12-Year-Old Arrested in Connection With Deadly Shooting

— -- The imprisoned father of two boys charged in connection with a deadly shooting in Omaha, Nebraska, says he shoulders the blame for his children’s struggles, but that his 12-year-old son did not commit murder.

Javaris Milton, speaking to ABC affiliate KETV, said he set a negative example for his children by getting involved with gangs and violence.

"If he's guilty as the picture has been painted, I'd say it's my fault. I take the blame,” Milton, serving a life sentence, told KETV. “I'd say I probably have been the biggest influence of anybody in [the boys'] life when it comes to gangs.”

The boy was scheduled to appear in juvenile court at 1 p.m. today. He will be charged with first-degree murder, as will brother Jamar E. Milton, 17, and 15-year-old Shuntayvious Primes-Willis, according to officials, who say they expect to try the two teens as adults. A Nebraska statute that went into effect Jan. 1 states that suspects younger than 14 must be tried in juvenile court.

The three juveniles allegedly attempted to rob Jamymell Ray, 31, during a drug deal and shot Ray at close range, police said. Ray died from his injuries at Nebraska Medical Center, police said. One other person, Charles Fisher, 30, was also injured in the June 29 shooting, police said.

The 12-year-old boy, whom ABC News is not naming because he is being tried in juvenile court, was arrested in Minneapolis.

Bond was denied for both Primes-Willis and Jamar Milton, authorities said, adding that a preliminary hearing for them has been scheduled for July 31. It was not immediately clear whether the three suspects had attorneys.

Javaris Milton said he spoke with his younger son before the boy was arrested. "I asked him, 'Is it true? Did you cause injury to those guys?'" Javaris Milton said.

"He said, 'No. No, I didn't. I was there. I was scared, but I didn't cause injury to them, dad.'"

Javaris Milton is serving a life sentence in Minnesota for his role in a 2010 murder. He had been a gang member since the age of 15, he said.

"Probably the biggest mistake I ever made was not realizing at the time the damage I was doing to my kids by exposing them to what I was doing daily," Milton told KETV.

"As I got older, I realized too late that, you know, the damage I had done. I exposed them to too much."

Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine, speaking earlier to KETV, said “there is no question in my mind that there are gang connections” to the deadly shooting.

The father declined to tell KETV how his 12-year-old traveled from Omaha to Minneapolis, but said his son wasn’t brought to Minnesota to run from police, only that they had relatives in the area.