ST. LOUIS (AP) - Authorities say a 14-year-old suspect in the killing of another 14-year-old has turned himself in to St. Louis police.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the case against the suspect in the Jan. 19 shooting death of Timothy Lucas is being handled in juvenile court. The suspect has not been identified.
Relatives of the victim said earlier this month that he was shot in the chest while walking to a store. He died about an hour later at a hospital.
The boy’s father Theordore Lucas got news of the arrest just before Tim’s funeral was set to begin Friday.
“I am glad because that may give some peace to our family,” he said. “But I wish that boy never did this. I would still have my son and this boy’s life wouldn’t be ruined by this. They were too young for this.”
Police haven’t indicated what may have prompted the shooting. Tim’s death comes after St. Louis saw 12 children and teens killed in homicides in 2019. According to an analysis of FBI data by the Post-Dispatch, children in the city have been killed at 10 times the national rate for decades.
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