FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — An Arizona teenager who was found responsible for shooting his father and another man to death when he was 8 years old is about to be freed from a court-ordered monitoring program.

On Nov. 5, 2008, a call came in to police just after 5 p.m. in the small Arizona town of St. Johns: There was a body on the front porch of a house. As Detective Debbie Neckel and Sergeant Lucas Rodriguez approached the house, Neckel fixed her eyes on two people, a teenager and an 8-year-old boy standing nearby. Rodriguez walked toward the house, Neckel toward the boy. He was in tears.

The boy’s father, Vincent Romero, 29, was found on the staircase inside. The body on the porch was Romero’s friend Timothy Romans, 39, who rented a room there.

A swirl of suspects would emerge before a truth was revealed that no one saw coming: The boy killed both men.

Nine years later, the boy is days from his 18th birthday and due to sign paperwork Friday freeing him from probation, psychological evaluations, travel restrictions, and having every move monitored.

The boy, who pleaded guilty to killing Romans, will probably stay in a foster home beyond his 18th birthday and continue treatment until he’s 21, officials said.

ASSOCIATED PRESS