Police in a small eastern Arizona community arrested an 8-year-old boy on premeditated murder charges for shooting and killing his own father and another man.

The shocking episode occurred Wednesday. Two days later, the boy was charged with two counts of premeditated murder in the deaths of 29-year-old Vincent Romero, his father, and Timothy Romans, 39, of San Carlos. 

"This is precedent-setting,” said St. Johns Police Chief Roy Melnick Friday. “Who would think an 8-year-old kid could kill two adults?" According to prosecutors, the boy didn’t have disciplinary record at school. Although experts agree that children who commit murder are usually products of abuse, there was nothing to point at the fact that he had problems with his family.

Melnick said police officers arrived at the house several minutes after the homicide took place. Some neighbors called the police and reported the sound of gunfire. Whereas one of the men was found outside the front door, the other was found in an upstairs room. Both men, who were employees at a construction company, were already dead.

At first, the boy denied involvement in the crime, but later admitted having killed his father and Romans.

The boy's defense attorney claimed on Friday that police mustn’t have questioned the culprit without a lawyer or a parent present. He also said that police officers didn’t advise the boy of his rights, as law prescribes.

Since she started her career as a prosecutor, 23 years ago, County Attorney Criss Candelaria has never seen a similar crime, she said.