crime scene
© Reuters / Nancy Wiechec
An 11-year-old boy is believed to have fatally shot his 65-year-old grandmother and then himself after he was asked to clean his room, according to Arizona police.

The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office said they received a call from a man in Litchfield Park claiming his grandson killed his wife before turning the gun on himself just after 5pm on Saturday, reports the Arizona Daily Independent.

Doyle Hebert said the couple had full custody of the boy and claims he snapped after the child's grandmother, Yvonne Woodard, repeatedly asked him to clean his room and pick up after himself throughout the day.

Hebert alleges that his grandson shot Woodard in the back of the head after they had sat down to watch TV. He claims that after his wife was shot, he chased his grandson briefly before returning to help her, which is when he heard the second gunshot and watched his grandson take a few steps before falling to the ground.

Sergeant Joaquin Enriquez told KTVK that the gun belonged to Hebert, and the boy had shown no previous signs of violence or self-harm. An investigation is ongoing.

Separately, this week a Florida teenager confessed to strangling his mother before burying her in a church fire pit, following an argument about his grades in school.


The boy, 15, was charged with the first-degree premeditated murder of the 46-year-old, according to a statement from Volusia County Police. He appeared in juvenile court on Sunday. Two 17-year-olds were charged as accessories after the fact.