LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A 15-year-old boy in Hardin County is in custody after police say he killed his 7-year-old brother.
Hardin County Sheriff John Ward says the boy, who has not been identified because he's a juvenile, has been charged with murder.
Ward said the incident took place at a home on Trappers Ridge Court in Vine Grove, Kentucky, near Rineyville. When deputies arrived on the scene, they found an unconscious 7-year-old boy.
The child was rushed to Hardin Memorial Hospital where he died.
The preliminary investigation indicates that the 7-year-old died of "apparent strangulation," according to Ward, but he added that an autopsy must be performed in order to determine an official cause of death.
"The young man was strangled to death," Ward said. "It definitely was not an accident."
Ward would not comment on any possible motive.
The victim has not yet been identified.
"This is an unusual event in a normally quiet neighborhood," Ward said.
A neighbor of the family -- a woman who did not want to be identified -- agrees.
"It's just really upsetting, and I just don't know how that happens," she said.
She said she got a disturbing text message from one of her neighbors letting her know what happened on Thursday night.
"She just said a 15-year-old had killed a 7-year-old, but we didn't know much about it," she said.
It's a murder she still finds hard to believe.
"Very unsettling," she said. "This is a very quiet neighborhood and we never have any problems.
"It took me a while to fall asleep."
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