11-year-old Ind. boy accused of murdering brother Andrew Frye pays last respects
(CBS/WISH/AP) MARTINSVILLE, Ind. - The 11-year-old Indiana boy who allegedly killed his younger stepbrother Andrew Frye was allowed to pay his respects to his brother at a private session before the funeral service for friends and family Thursday.
The boy spent 15 minutes inside where he paid his final respects to his brother and was then escorted back to the Morgan County Juvenile Detention Center, reports CBS affiliate WISH.
Three hours later, hundreds of mourners stood together outside the funeral home waiting to pay their respects to 6-year-old Andrew.
The Morgan County prosecutor has filed juvenile charges of murder against the boy's older brother for the June 30 shooting.
Due to a court order, few details have been released about the Thursday night shooting that killed Andrew at his family home near Martinsville. Police arrived on the scene after the 11-year-old called 911 to report the shooting and found the child on a bed in a bedroom with a .22 caliber gunshot wound to the head. Andrew was flown to Indianapolis hospital where he died a few hours later.
Original reports from the sheriff's department had indicated that the shooting was an accident, but Sonnega says the evidence led them to believe that this was not the case.
Steve Sonnega, Morgan County prosecutor, hasn't yet decided whether Andrew's older brother should be tried as an adult. He made his first court appearance Wednesday, wearing shackles and a Mickey Mouse T-shirt. His attorney said Wednesday that the boy is upset and remorseful - but is a child who does not understand the gravity of the charges he is facing.
"I don't think trying him as an adult's going to do any good," Schmitt said. "He needs counseling."
The two boys lived with their mother and her boyfriend, neither of whom were home during the shooting.
Martinsville is about 30 miles south of Indianapolis.
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