13-year-old charged with murder in stabbing death of 10-year-old in Westmoreland County
DONEGAL TOWNSHIP, Pa. (KDKA) -- A 13-year-old is charged with murder after a 10-year-old was stabbed to death in Westmoreland County on Thursday, police said.
Police said the boy, identified by the coroner as Hunter Meyers, was stabbed to death at a home on Donegal Lake Road in Donegal Township around 6 a.m. According to court records, James Cali Campbell is charged as an adult with homicide and first-degree murder.
When police arrived at the scene, they said they found the victim dead with multiple stab wounds to his head and a knife next to his body. The criminal complaint says Campbell admitted to police that he stabbed Meyers. He also had blood on his pants and feet, authorities said.
"It became very apparent he was the person that committed this horrific act," State Trooper Steve Limani said.
Limani said investigators believe the two children were "acquaintances" who didn't live far away from one another and Meyers was staying over at Campbell's house.
Limani called it a "difficult scenario" for both families involved. "You're talking about the loss of a child and a child taking that life, so it's very sensitive," he said.
As for a motive, Limani said investigators are still working on it.
"One of the things as law enforcement, it's very difficult to investigate any loss of life and our sympathies and our deepest regards go out to the family of the young boy that was killed," Limani said. "It's a tragedy and we feel horrible, we feel horrible that this happened to them and we had to go down and conduct this type of investigation and go down and break this news to them."
"It breaks your heart when you walk in there when you see a child," he added. "It's very hard to not think of your children."
Limani said that Meyers was a student in the Mount Pleasant Area School District. Campbell is now in a juvenile detention center.
