AUSTIN TAPIA - 12 yo - / CCharged: Half brother, Andrew Ward - Phoenix, AZ

by twinkletoes Fri Mar 14, 2014 3:05 am

Police: Arizona Man 'Just Felt Like Killing' Boy

PHOENIX March 13, 2014 (AP)

A 27-year-old Arizona man charged with fatally stabbing his 12-year-old half brother reportedly told police he "just felt like killing."
Andrew Ward called 911 from a convenience store near the north Phoenix home where Austin Tapia suffered multiple stab wounds late Wednesday, police Sgt. Steve Martos said.

Ward told the dispatcher he had stabbed someone, and officers found Ward with blood on his hands and clothing and a knife in a pants pocket, Martos said.

Martos said detectives asked Ward why he killed the boy, and Ward said, "Honestly, I just felt like killing."

Other family members had gone to dinner, so Ward and the boy were the only ones home. The mother and two teenage sisters returned home to find police at what had become a crime scene.

Ward was booked into jail on suspicion of first-degree murder and child abuse, and bond was set at $1 million at his initial court appearance Thursday.

He doesn't have a lawyer yet and is facing a March 20 status conference and March 24 preliminary hearing in the case.

A Maricopa County Sheriff's Office spokesman said Ward was still being processed into the jail and was not available Thursday to be asked about a request for a jailhouse interview.

A clerk at the convenience store, Kristina Krasovich, said the man identified by police as Ward had blood on his shirt and an arm and that it looked like he had wiped his hands on his pants when he arrived at the store.

"He was real shaky and scared. I could see in his eyes something bad had happened," Krasovich told KNXV-TV (http://bit.ly/1ewfssn).

She saw him talking on the phone, Krasovich said.

"He had calmed down, but he still had this look of horror on his face," she said.

She asked if the man was OK and said he gave her a thumbs-up

A few minutes later, Krasovich said, the man started to walk toward the door where police officers waiting with guns drawn ordered him to the ground.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/police-arizona-man-felt-killing-boy-22898443