2 Boys Charged With Attempted Murder

Two 16-year-old boys were charged with attempted murder Thursday in the beatings of two homeless men in a Burbank park, authorities said.

The youths, whose names were not disclosed, are charged with beating William L. Stahl, 44, and John M. Simpson, 33, who were both known as transients in the Burbank area, Police Lt. Duane Dow said.

The men remained hospitalized Thursday in critical but stable condition, Dow said.

Motive Unclear

Neither Los Angeles County Deputy Dist. Atty. Antoinette Brown nor Dow would comment on the motive for the apparently unprovoked attacks.

The two boys live near the scene of the attacks in McCambridge Park and are students in the Burbank Unified School District, Dow said.

They are being held in Sylmar Juvenile Hall and are scheduled for an arraignment and detention hearing Friday in Pasadena Juvenile Court, Brown said. At the hearing, a judge will decide whether to keep the boys in custody, release them to their parents or release them with instructions that they stay at home, she said.

Custody Battle

Prosecutors will seek to keep them in custody, Brown said.

The boys originally were arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, but two counts of attempted murder were filed Thursday against each because of the seriousness of the attacks, Brown said.

Prosecutors also are preparing to seek to try the boys as adults, Brown said.

The beatings occurred separately in the park late Tuesday, Dow said. Witnesses provided a police artist with sketches of the attackers, and detectives used the drawings to identify and arrest the boys Wednesday morning, he said.