Minor detained in stabbing death of six-year-old

AMMAN — Police are questioning a minor who allegedly killed his six-year-old nephew in Ajloun late Saturday night, official sources said Sunday.

The 17-year-old suspect reportedly turned himself in shortly after slashing the victim’s neck and stabbing him repeatedly in an area near a deserted house, a senior official source said.

“The suspect confessed to luring the boy to a deserted area where they engaged in an argument that resulted in the child’s murder,” the source said, quoting initial confessions of the suspect.

“The suspect covered the victim’s body with tree branches, rocks and clothes in the hope of concealing the murder and hiding the body,” the source explained.

But when police were called in to search for the missing child and brought sniffer dogs with them, “the suspect feared that he might be exposed and turned himself in,” he added.

The source did not reveal the nature of the argument, only saying that police were still questioning the suspect.

A committee formed by Ali Shotar, head of Irbid’s National Institute of Forensic Medicine, determined that the boy died of a deep cut to his throat, a senior medical source said.

Shotar and his team also established that the child received multiple stab wounds to his chest and stomach, the source added.

The medical team “did not find any traces of sexual assault”, the source told The Jordan Times.

According to another source, the suspect’s family was temporarily living at the victim’s home.

“The suspect’s family was separated, with his father in prison and his mother living in another city, so the victim’s family offered them refuge until a solution could be found,” the source told The Jordan Times.

The criminal prosecutor issued orders for the suspect to be detained at a correctional and rehabilitation centre for 15 days pending further investigation into the case.