NEW CASTLE -- An 11-year-old boy accused of killing his father's pregnant girlfriend likely will be moved from the Lawrence County Jail to a juvenile detention center in Beaver County today, according to the boy's attorney.

Lawrence County President Judge Dominick Motto yesterday approved the move for Jordan Brown, a fifth-grade student who was arrested over the weekend and charged with two counts of homicide, including the killing of an unborn child.

"Our Lawrence County Jail is not really equipped to meet the needs of an 11-year-old," District Attorney John Bongivengo said. "I know he's considered an adult under the law. But he is an 11-year-old."

On Friday morning, the body of Kenzie Marie Houk was found at the New Beaver farmhouse she shared with Jordan, his father and her two daughters. She had been shot in the back of the head, and investigators discovered the suspected murder weapon -- a 20-gauge shotgun -- in Jordan's bedroom.

State law requires that a juvenile accused of homicide be charged as an adult.

Since Saturday, Jordan has been housed in a 10-foot-by-10-foot jail cell, segregated from about 300 adult inmates.

"He's upset. He's crying. He doesn't want to be there," said Dennis Elisco, the boy's defense attorney, who has been meeting with him daily.

Authorities planned to place Jordan at the Allencrest Juvenile Detention Center in Beaver County. Lawrence County will cover the costs of his stay there.

Mr. Elisco also will ask Judge Motto to shift Jordan's case to juvenile court. He will then request that the boy be released into his father's custody on bond.

A counselor met with Jordan at the jail yesterday to start a psychiatric evaluation, which could show if he understands the severity of the charges against him.

Mr. Elisco said it was hard to determine how much Jordan comprehends based on his own conversations with the boy.

"Our goal was to get him out of jail for now," Mr. Elisco said.

A preliminary hearing in the case is tentatively scheduled for tomorrow, but Mr. Elisco said it likely will be delayed, as will a bond hearing set for Monday morning.

Mr. Bongivengo yesterday said he would oppose allowing Jordan to go free before a trial. He has said the evidence in the case suggests that the killing was premeditated.

Jordan apparently tried to hide the gun with a blanket when he brought it from his room, Ms. Houk's 7-year-old daughter, Jenessa, told police. Jordan's own account about the morning of Ms. Houk's death changed several times when investigators interviewed him.

Mr. Elisco said there had been a "rush to judgment" in the case, and, so far, there is little physical evidence of Jordan's involvement with the killing. Investigators are still awaiting the results of forensic tests on his gun and the blanket, which had a hole that seemed to be singed from a shotgun blast.

Pennsylvania law doesn't allow a murder suspect to be released on bail, but Jordan, as a minor, doesn't face the death penalty, and he probably wouldn't spend his life in prison even if convicted, Mr. Elisco argued in a court filing.

The boy also isn't a flight risk because he has no source of income and his family lives in Lawrence County.

Jordan's father, Chris Brown, has taken a leave of absence from his job at a local factory, and he has been visiting the boy regularly.

Mr. Brown was at work on the morning of the shooting.

He's "devastated," Mr. Elisco said.