13-year-old arrested in fatal shooting of 11-year-old in Newburgh home
The 11-year-old was shot in the head and later pronounced dead on scene.
More Stories
A 13-year-old boy was arraigned Friday in the youth part of Orange County Court on one count of second-degree murder, a felony, in connection to the fatal shooting of an 11-year-old boy on North Miller Street in Newburgh.
Careful with his words since this is a case involving children, Orange County District Attorney told News 12 Friday afternoon there was more to the shooting than simply unsupervised children playing with a gun.
"This case is terrible," Hoovler said of the tragedy. "What we are seeing is terrible."
News 12 has learned the 11-year-old victim and three other children were in a room of the home when the shot was fired just after 8 a.m. Thursday.
The 11-year-old was shot in the head and later pronounced dead on scene.
The three other boys left the home and were later located by police.
One of the boys — a 13-year-old — was arrested.
He was arraigned Friday on the murder charge before Family Court Judge Victoria Campbell, who granted an application by the boy's attorney to seal the proceedings.
Without elaborating, Hoovler said the boys' use of social media is a factor in the investigation.
"They have no personal contact with people," Hoovler said, generally, of young people who spend too much time on social media. "Therefore, when they use guns, there's no personal connection to understand the finality that lives are lost, that people's lives are changed forever, that the families are changed forever."
The 13-year-old seemed solemn just ahead of his arraignment, in handcuffs.
His assigned attorney for the arraignment, James Monroe, could not say much about the proceedings as he left the courthouse.
"For today's purposes, this doesn't really matter if this was an accident or a crime," Monroe said. "An 11-year-old is sadly dead today. Nothing can change that fact."
Hoovler said an indictment should come within the next two weeks, after which News 12 may learn more about the circumstances of the tragedy.
The 13-year-old is being held at a local jail away from the adult population.
A representative of Hoovler's office said if a child is convicted of crime as a youth offender, the court considers different sentencing ranges based on the offense and the child's age.
