Judge weighs if boy to be tried for dad’s killing

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A New Mexico judge in Valencia County is deciding whether a 12-year-old boy is competent to stand trial on charges he killed his father nearly two years ago.

The youth was 10 when 42-year-old Byron Hilburn was shot in the head in August 2009 at their Belen home 35 miles south of Albuquerque.

KOB-TV reports defense psychologist Dr. Maxann Schwartz evaluated the boy three times and found him not competent to stand trial.

Schwartz says that even though the child understands the charges and consequences, he does not fully understand the proceedings.

KOAT-TV reported at the time that the boy told officers he thought his father was disciplining him too harshly and too often.

Police say Hilburn was divorced and had custody of the boy and his younger sister.