ST. JOHNS, Ariz. -- Prosecutors have filed a motion to dismiss one of the murder charges against an 8-year-old St. Johns boy accused in the deaths of his father and another man, according to Apache County court documents filed late Friday.

WATCH: DA Seeks To Drop 1 Murder Charge

The motion filed seeks the dismissal of the first-degree murder charge stemming from the death of the boy's father, 29-year-old Vincent Romero. The boy is charged in juvenile court with two counts of premeditated murder in the Nov. 5 deaths of his father and 39-year-old Timothy Romans.

The motion allows the refiling of the charge if it is granted. The prosecutor's office did not immediately explain its actions.

"This changes things significantly," said Benjamin Brewer, the boy's defense attorney. "What those are, I'm not allowed to discuss."

"I'm not sure if this is a situation where they're looking to get a tactical advantage or if there is a good faith reason the count should be dismissed," Brewer said.

The boy's criminal case and dependency case were separate and handled by different attorneys.

An attorney for the boy's mother said the mother has custody of the child.

A status conference in the criminal case is scheduled for Dec. 8.

The boy was given permission Wednesday to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with his biological mother.

Judge Michael Roca on Wednesday agreed to allow the boy to leave juvenile detention from noon on Nov. 26 until noon on Nov. 28. The judge's decision came over the objection of prosecutors.

Defense attorney Ronald Wood said the boy is not doing well in detention and has been having trouble sleeping. He said it was important that the boy ``have somebody to talk to.''

Although the boy is allowed time to visit with his mother, stepmother, a grandmother and an aunt, Wood said that time is limited.

The judge said that if the boy doesn't return to detention on time, arrest warrants will be issued for him and his mother.

Roca ordered that there be no guns or knives in the home while the boy is free.

Until the killings, the boy was living with his father and stepmother.

The judge issued an order that all public records are to be issued as transcripts, in an attempt to protect the boy's identity. Additional DVDs will not be released, and, he said, if the minor's image appears on TV, someone might go to jail.

The hearing comes a day after the Apache County prosecutor's office released a police interview with the boy in which he admits to firing at least two shots each at Romero and Romans.

On Wednesday, Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano called the double murder "horrible" and "terrible."

"It's a horrible, tragic situation," said Napolitano. "It's now in the criminal justice system, and we have to rely on the system to try to do the right thing."

Napolitano added, "The community of St. Johns is a very close-knit community and the impact up there has just been huge. It's a terrible, terrible case."

The governor commented in Phoenix, while the media descended upon St. Johns after authorities released a video tape in which the 8-year-old talked about the deaths of his father and another man.

Psychologists Question 8-Year-Old's Capability

Some wonder if an 8-year-old boy is capable of such a crime.

Dr. Mark Wellek of Phoenix said he cannot speak specifically about the St. Johns case; however, he said it is hard to determine what happened from the videotaped police interview of the young suspect the day after the slayings.

"A child may not remember clearly afterward what happened," he said. "Fragments of other memories may come in."

Wellek said an 8-year-old's brain is not fully developed, so the child cannot formulate intent.

"They don't grasp context," Wellek said. "All they know is an adult is asking them questions and they're not even thinking that. They're just pinned to the chair to answer the questions."

Wellek said he considers any police interrogation of a child without a guardian present unreliable.

Dr. Kevin Lehman of Tucson is also among those watching the case.

"You really need to take some time as a youngster to think that whole thing through, but in my biased opinion, this is a classic example of a kid who is working on the revenge principal," said Lehman.

He said children strike out in many different ways.

"(There is) the simple attention-getter," he said. "Then you have the power-driven kid who's going to tell you, 'You're not the boss of me,' and then you get to another level, the revengeful level, and that's probably exactly what we find in this case."

Whatever the motive, Lehman said, "It's hard to fathom charging an 8-year-old as an adult, but if the facts are that he premeditated this murder of two people, I think he probably will be tried as an adult."

Lehman said he would not be surprised if violence on television and the Internet and easy access to guns might factor into the boy's alleged actions.

"Let's face it, the world is changing," he said, "and kids are subject to viewing violence in all forms, simply by watching television."

In court, defense attorneys will probably argue the interrogation tape should not be allowed in court proceedings because the boy had no guardian and no attorney with him.

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