A 10-year-old boy was arrested as the suspected killer of a 79-year-old man who died from a head injury in Leeds, England.
The man, who has been identified as Victor Hepworth, was found lying in the street in Back Hill Top Avenue, Harehills, on Sunday evening, according to the BBC. Witnesses called authorities who rushed him to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival. Coroners who preformed an autopsy on Hepworth's body reported that the cause of death was not the head injury he'd sustained. The man may have died from natural causes, but no definitive statements have been made, pending autopsy results. West Yorkshire Police told the BBC that experts were doing "further medical examinations" to determine the reason why the 79-year-old man who lived in the area died.
Although it has not yet been confirmed, some neighbors said that the deceased man lived on the street where the event occurred.
According to the Guardian, Hepworth was a like a grandfather figure to residents of the neighborhood.
"He was such a nice man. I can't believe what has happened," a 26-year-old woman who preferred to remain anonymous told the Yorkshire Evening Post. "He was like a granddad to a lot of the kids. I don't think anyone would want to hurt him on purpose. He was part of us."
Manager of Abubakar supermarket on Roundhay Road Liaqat Ali told the BBC that the deceased often shopped at his store, and that he'd just seen him on Sunday.
"The old gentleman used to come to the shop all the time," Ali said. "I saw the old man walking around yesterday afternoon, but I didn't speak to him. He was quite well known in the area. Everyone's surprised that this has happened. I'm shocked they've arrested a little kid."
The 10-year-old has not yet been identified. According to the Associated Press, children 10 and over can be charged with criminal offenses in England.
