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10-Year-Old Ohio Boy Charged With Mother’s Murder

(AP/The Blaze) — A 10-year-old boy is in juvenile custody after telling a neighbor that he had shot and killed his mother, an Ohio sheriff said Monday.

Deborah McVay, 46, was found dead of a single gunshot wound to the head Sunday night in Big Prairie, located about midway between Cleveland and Columbus, said Holmes County Sheriff Tim Zimmerly. Paramedics found McVay lying facedown on her living room floor, and she was pronounced dead at the scene, Zimmerly said.

Authorities went to the home after a neighbor called a sheriff's dispatcher to say McVay's son had come to her home and said he had just shot his mother.  Holmes County juvenile assistant prosecutor Sean Warner has told ABC News that the boy is being charged with one count of murder.  "I can't divulge any statements by witness or the alleged delinquent child. But as charged it does not appear to be accident," said Warner. "There is no indication that there are any other suspects."

When he appeared in court Monday afternoon, the 10-year old defendant denied the murder charge.

Meanwhile, police are trying to determine what kind of motive the young boy had for shooting his mother with a .22 rifle. Nathan Fritz, chief deputy sheriff for Holmes County says that the boy has been involved in at least two cases of unruly behavior in the past, both in school and on the school bus.

Also at home during the time of the shooting was the boy's 15-year-old sister who ran out of the house after the crime took place, Fritz said.  It's unclear at this point whether she actually witnessed the shooting and she has since moved in with relatives while her young brother is reportedly being held at the Richland County Juvenile detention facility.

McVay's body was transported to the Stark County Coroner's office for an autopsy.

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