Mom Says 8-Year-Old Charged With Murder 'Loved His Dad'
Mother says "outgoing" 8-year-old son was having no trouble at home or school.
Nov. 24, 2008 — -- The mother of an 8-year-old accused of murdering his father and another Arizona man said today that her son is a good boy who had no problems with his dad.
"He had a very good relationship with his father. ...You know, they did everything together. He loved his dad," Eryn Bloomfield, who shared custody of the boy with her ex-husband, said in an exclusive interview today with "Good Morning America."
Bloomfield also said that her son was not having trouble at school.
"He's very outgoing," Bloomfield said of her son. "He loves animals. He loves to ride his dirt bike, skateboarding, outdoor things."
The child faces murder charges in the Nov. 5 shooting deaths of his father, Vincent Romero, 29, and Timothy Romans, 39, who was renting a room in the family's two-story home in St. Johns, Ariz. The boy was living with his father and stepmother.
Police allege that the boy killed both men with a rifle in their home.
Prosecutors sought to dismiss the first-degree murder charge Friday stemming from the death of Romero. Attorneys could not comment on the motion because of a gag order.
In a videotaped police interrogation, the boy confessed to the killings, although he did so without his mother or an attorney present.
Bloomfield, who is not allowed to comment directly on the case or police investigation, said when she watches the tape she hears "a scared little boy, that's what I hear. Someone who's afraid of what's going on."
Bloomfield, who lives in Mississippi, also said she didn't see the interrogation video until it was released publicly and shown on the Internet and television.
The 8-year-old, whom ABC is not naming because of his age, is being held in Arizona's Apache County Juvenile Detention Center in a private cell. Bloomfield, who has moved to Arizona since the shootings, said she visits her son every day.
Bloomfield is allowed to visit him for a half-hour each day and two days a week they are allowed physical visits.
"We sit in a room and he will come and sit on my lap pretty much the whole time, just hold on to me in that half-hour I get," Bloomfield said. During the other visits, she speaks to her son through a pane of glass.
The boy will be released from the detention center for 48 hours to spend Thanksgiving with his mother. Bloomfield said he has already picked out a movie to watch, "Kung Fu Panda."
Bloomfield said she wants those hours to be as normal as possible for her frightened son.
"I tell him every day that I love him," she said. "And I don't know how much more I can express that, but I definitely plan on doing that, just to let him know I'm here for him and how much I do love him."