PHOENIX, Arizona - An Arizona prosecutor has asked to drop one of two murder charges against an eight-year-old boy suspected of shooting his father and another man, court records showed Monday.

"The State believes the interest of justice will be served by such a dismissal," Apache County Attorney Criss Candelaria said in a single-paragraph motion filed Friday afternoon.

No explanation was given and officials from the county attorney's office had no comment, citing a gag order imposed by a judge.

The case has shocked investigators in St John's, 170 miles (274 kilometers) north of Phoenix, since it came to light on November 5 when the boy appeared at a neighbor's house and reported his father and a boarder shot to death.

The murder charge prosecutors are seeking to drop relates to the boy's alleged shooting of his father.

A videotape of a police interview released last week appeared to show the boy, whose name is not being published by AFP, confessing to the killings.

Defense attorneys have said they will seek to have the confession barred from trial because the boy had not been read his rights after arrest.

Prosecutors are expected to announce next week whether the boy will be tried as an adult or not.

The boy is being released from juvenile detention to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with his mother.

Judge Michael Roca ordered no guns or knives be around the boy while he is free.