Boy, 14, Shot to Death in Foster Home; Another Resident, 18, Held

A 14-year-old boy living in a Central Los Angeles foster home was killed by a gunshot to the head in the culmination of a series of disputes with another of the home’s teen-age foster children, police said Monday.

The boy died at County-USC Medical Center on Sunday, a day after he was admitted and declared brain-dead, Los Angeles Police Detective John Shea said. His name was withheld by police.

Tremelt Richards, 18, who shared the home in the 1300 block of East 23rd Street with the boy and three other foster children, was booked on suspicion of murder. He was being held Monday at Parker Center Jail, awaiting arraignment.

Shea said the two boys had argued Saturday after Richards threatened to spit in the younger boy’s food. During the noontime argument, Richards allegedly went to his room and got a handgun, then held it to the boy’s head and fired a shot, Shea said.

The boys’ foster mother, Mildred Gilbert, declined on Monday to talk about the incident.

Emery Bontrager, a spokesman for the county Department of Children’s Services, also declined comment.

“That child was a dependent of the Juvenile Court and, because he was a dependent child, we cannot give out information,” Bontrager said. “All matters concerning him are confidential.”

Shea said the dead youngster had been placed in Gilbert’s home in January. Richards had lived there a longer time, the detective said.