Stabbed Youth to Death, Wounded Another : Pre-Sentence Study of Killer, 17, Ordered

Luis Tatenco, a father and a convicted murderer at the age of 17, has three months to contemplate his future.

Tatenco, who stabbed another teen-ager to death at a Valentine’s dance in Vista, was ordered Tuesday in Juvenile Court to undergo a 90-day diagnostic study at the California Youth Authority, which will recommend a sentence.

Judge Sheridan Reed indicated at the hearing that she was disappointed that the rules of the Juvenile Court restrict her to sentencing Tatenco to either seven years of incarceration with the state Youth Authority or eight months at an unfenced honor camp for juveniles in Campo.

Tatenco was convicted in May of second-degree murder for stabbing a 16-year-old Rafael Estrada, also of Vista, on Feb. 19. Estrada’s heart was punctured by the knife, and he died on the street in front of the union hall where the dance was held. Tatenco was also charged with attempted murder and assault for stabbing Augustin Rivera, 21, in the same fight. But Reed earlier dismissed the charges because she believed Tatenco stabbed Rivera in self-defense.

During the hearing, defense attorney Richard Potack characterized the defendant as a nice boy, with strong family ties and no history of violent behavior. Psychological reports showed that Tatenco had a “rescuer” syndrome which led him to intervene in the fight on his brother’s behalf, and that the boy had also suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder after the stabbing.

Tatenco’s family members refused comment to the press, but told Potack they were very upset that Reed did not allow their son to come home on probation. After his conviction, Reed had allowed Tatenco to live at home under house arrest to be nearer his girlfriend and his baby daughter, who was born May 4.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Cynthia Windsor applauded the judge’s action in sending Tatenco for a diagnostic study and said she still hopes to see the youth receive the harsher sentence. Although Tatenco had no criminal record, he did have ties to the Vista Locos street gang, and had been suspended from school three times for fighting, Windsor said.