Cops Charge 10-Year-Old Boy as Adult in Slaying of 90-Year-Old Woman
Police claim a 10-year-old boy confessed to murdering a 90-year-old woman near Scranton, Pa. Saturday. But because Pennsylvania law doesn't allow for juveniles to be charged with homicide, authorities have charged the boy as an adult.
On Saturday, the boy, Tristen Kurilla, visited his grandfather, Anthony Virbitsky, who lived with the victim, Helen Novak, working as her caretaker.
From the Scranton Times-Tribune:
While visiting Virbitsky, of 349 Sky Lake Road, Tristen went into Novak's room around 10 a.m. to ask a question. Tristen told police Novak yelled at him to leave the room.
Tristen, "very mad" at Novak's response, left the room and grabbed a wooden cane, police said. The boy told police Novak was sitting upright at the end of her bed when he came behind her, hooked the cane around her throat and pulled back.
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Tristen said he pushed the cane into Novak's throat for four to five seconds. He took the cane off her throat then punched her five times in the throat and five times in the stomach.
"I killed that lady," Tristen reportedly told police."I was only trying to hurt her."
According to the Times-Tribune, Wayne County District Attorney Janine Edwards said that Tristen was charged as an adult because juveniles aren't allowed to be charged with homicide in Pennsylvania. The 10-year-old also faces aggravated assault charges as an adult. Tristen's mother said the boy "had a history of 'mental difficulties.'"
Tristen is being held in Wayne County Prison without bail. He's due in court on October 22, when he can petition to have his case moved to juvenile court.
