A 12-year-old boy in the US state of Arizona has been found guilty of murdering his mother.
The judge ruled that prosecutors had proved that the boy acted intentionally and with premeditation when he shot his mother eight times in a domestic argument.
The court heard that the boy shot his mother over an argument about domestic chores. He got the pistol from a wardrobe in her room, the BBC reports.
His mother's live-in boyfriend witnessed the shooting and said the boy handed him the empty gun afterwards.
Prosecutors had wanted the child tried as an adult, but the judge ruled the case should remain in a juvenile court after psychiatrists testified that he suffered physical and verbal abuse from his mother and could be rehabilitated in the juvenile justice system.
Under Arizona law, the boy can be detained only until he becomes 18. He is due to be sentenced later in January.
