Louisville, Ky. (WHAS11) - Joseph Cambron's denial lasted more than five hours during an interrogation with police, claiming he had nothing to do with a 12-year-old boy's murder the day before.
It wasn't until the end of that police interview on Oct. 1, 2014, that Cambron confessed, for the first time, to the crime.
It happened on the evening of Sept. 30, 12-year-old Ray Etheridge was found unresponsive in a wooded area of Cherokee Park, near the Hogan's Fountain Pavilion. The 7th grader from Clark County, Indiana had suffered fatal stab wounds.
"I'm trying to figure out why you're in this situation," the homicide detective in the interview said.
"I didn't murder him. I'm not an accomplice in it, and I sure as hell wasn't in range of seeing him," Cambron said.
Surveillance video from Mid-City Mall captured Cambron with Etheridge, just hours before his death. But even with that knowledge, Cambron denied what happened next.
"I don't think you could ever understand me. I burn bridges and then walk across them only to set fire to them again," Cambron said.
It wasn't until after he took a polygraph test that Cambron sat back down with detectives, began to cry and confessed.
"I just killed him. I didn't mean to," Cambron said.Cambron says the two were sharing a cigarette near his makeshift campsite, when out of nowhere, Etheridge punched him in the face and grabbed Cambron's wallet.
Cambron says Etheridge only got a few feet away before Cambron reacted.
"Chased after him and stabbed him in the back. He fell down, and I fell down, and he still tried to fight me," Cambron said. Cambron says the two struggled on the ground, where he stabbed the boy once more.
"Next thing I know, the knife was in his chest, and my hand is shaking, and I pulled it out."-- "Did he say anything?" The detective asked.--"He said he was sorry, and I let him go," Cambron said.
Cambron told police he never thought Etheridge's injuries were life-threatening. He remains at Metro Corrections on half a million dollars bond. His next court date scheduled for Feb. 19.
