[Stardust]

Very sad story in the Greater Cincinnati area over the weekend:

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20090.../902010445

Boy, 11, questioned in shooting of 7-year-old

AVONDALE - An 11-year-old boy police say is responsible for the shooting death of his 7-year-old neighbor has been released to the care of a nurse, because the boy has a number of medical conditions, police said Saturday.


"He was born with severe physical disabilities," said Sgt. Gary Conner of the Cincinnati Homicide Unit. "We did not see him as a flight risk ... and he has medical equipment that he has to use."

No criminal charges were filed on Saturday, against the boy or the adult who was in the house when Earl Robinson was shot. Police have not released the identity of the 11-year-old, because of his age and because no charges have been filed against him.

The 3500 block of Purdue Street was quiet Saturday afternoon, less than 24 hours after the shooting.

Two large Rubbermaid container lids, used recently as sleds, lay at the middle of a small hill across the street from the house where an official from the Hamilton County Coroner's Office pronounced Earl dead.

Neighbors who may have been home didn't answer their doors.

Police said a handful of other children were at the residence when they arrived around 4:45 p.m. Friday. Officials would not say whether the children witnessed the shooting.

Earl lived next door on Forest Avenue, just across the street from the Cincinnati Zoo and a few blocks from Children's Hospital Medical Center, Conner said. It appeared they played together often, he said.

Police are investigating where the boy got the weapon.

"They were in the basement playroom, there were toys and games lying around and there on the floor lay a 7-year-old boy - you could feel the sense of loss in the room," said Conner, who was at the scene. "He was a beautiful kid."

Conner said they immediately took the 11-year-old into custody and drove him downtown to be questioned by two detectives.

He seemed like a "very good-natured young man," Conner said.

"You want to gauge his level of understanding and level of reasoning, you have to formulate your questions so he will understand what you're asking," Conner said. "He was open and frank. He was honest."

Because he is so young, his mother sat with him during interviews with detectives.

She cried the entire time, Conner said.

Cincinnati homicide detectives have more investigating to do, but "more and more, this is looking like a kid playing with a gun," Conner said........