3rd attempt : Boy’s Lawyer Says Slaying Was Accident

The lawyer for a 12-year-old Antelope Valley boy, accused of murder in the shotgun slaying of a 10-year-old playmate, entered the equivalent of a not-guilty plea for him Wednesday, saying the shooting was an accident.

At a hearing in Sylmar Juvenile Court, attorney Frederic J. Warner entered a denial of the murder charges, the equivalent of a not-guilty plea for adults, in the shooting death of Thomas Hernandez. The Pearblossom boy was killed Sunday afternoon at the 12-year-old’s home by a blast from a shotgun held by the older boy, authorities say.

The blond, tanned boy sat quietly at the attorney’s table, his mother at his side, as Warner argued that after further investigation “it will come to light that this was an accidental homicide.”

“This is not a murder case,” said Warner, a private attorney appointed by the court because a public defender was unavailable, in an interview afterward. “There is no criminal intent here . . . . This is not a gangbanger, this is not a hardened criminal. I want this boy home with his family.”

Prosecutors filed the murder charge Tuesday, saying they would specify the degree and the type of homicide when the investigation by Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies is complete.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Chesley McKay said the case is clearly not one of first-degree or premeditated murder. But, he said, the facts show that the boy cocked, pointed and fired the gun at Hernandez. McKay and investigators have declined to elaborate on what occurred just before the shooting.

“Based on what we know at this point, we don’t feel it was an accident,” he said.

McKay said he does not yet know whether the charge will be second-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter or involuntary manslaughter. He said he hopes the investigation will be nearly complete by Nov. 1, when a preliminary hearing is scheduled.

At Wednesday’s hearing, Judge Lloyd J. Wiatt rejected a motion by Warner asking that the 12-year-old be released from Sylmar Juvenile Hall to the custody of his parents. Wiatt cited McKay’s argument that the boy has made statements indicating that he may be suicidal and said the boy should remain in custody for his own protection.

Warner said prosecutors are misinterpreting statements the boy made that he wished he had been shot rather than Hernandez.