Boy, 12, Reportedly Had Crush on Girl He’s Accused of Killing

A 12-year-old boy, identified by friends as the one who shot and killed a classmate in the Mall of Orange in Orange County, had a crush on the girl and sometimes brandished a pistol to act tough, his friends said Tuesday.

Classmates and acquaintances said the boy, a seventh-grader at Cerro Villa Middle School in Villa Park, was infatuated with Jacalyn (Jackie) Calabrese, 12, of Orange, whom he allegedly shot in the head Monday evening.

One youngster, Matthew Palmer, also 12, said the boy had been showing a .25-caliber handgun to friends for more than a month. A relative said he did not know where the boy got the weapon.

Matthew said that the boy showed him the weapon again on Monday evening--before he visited the mall with Jacalyn and several of her friends.

“He showed me there were bullets in it,” Matthew said. “It scared me. It was the first time I had seen bullets in the gun’s chamber.”

The boy was arrested Monday night after he allegedly shot the girl and fled from the mall. He sought refuge at a friend’s home, where a member of the household eventually persuaded him to call his parents.

Orange Police Sgt. Art Romo said a .25-caliber semiautomatic pistol was found near a house in a residential area west of the mall.

A decision regarding prosecution is not expected until after police and prosecutors meet today, said Orange County Deputy Dist. Atty. John D. Conley, who handles juvenile cases. The boy is being held without bail at Orange County Juvenile Hall on suspicion of murder.

Although police said it was premature to advance any theories about the shooting, witnesses said it appeared that Jacalyn’s death was a bad joke gone awry. The boy reportedly shot the girl once in the forehead after he displayed the weapon and she voiced doubts that it was a real gun.

“He was just all mellow and trying to be cool in front of Jackie,” said Keli Edwards, a seventh-grader who was with the two youngsters when the shooting occurred. “He looked at me like, ‘Oh, my God! I didn’t mean to do that!’ ”

“I don’t think that this boy did this deliberately. Kids do foolish things,” the victim’s mother, Gloria Calabrese, said Tuesday, fighting to hold back her tears. “This act . . . it’s senseless and I don’t think there ever will be an answer for anything so senseless.”

Angie Calabrese, 15, said her sister had talked to the boy earlier in the evening and he had come by their house to take her to the mall. Before Jackie left for the mall, Angie said, her sister was in the “best of moods.”

“I do feel sorry for him,” she said of the boy. “I don’t know what would have made him do such a thing. They’ve known each other since fourth grade.”

Flag at Half Staff

At Cerro Villa school--where the victim and the boy attended--the American flag flew at half staff Tuesday. Nine psychologists were present to help students deal with the tragedy, said Roger Duthoy, an assistant superintendent of the Orange Unified School District. Dozens of students met with the psychologists throughout the day, some merely to talk about their feelings about Calabrese and the unidentified boy.

“For these 12- and 13-year-olds, there was a lot of soul searching. They wonder how could this possibly happen to a friend,” said David Bastin, a psychologist for the district. “They want a way to blame somebody so the whole incident can be resolved immediately. Some side with Jackie, some side with the boy.

“But we’re trying to tell them, don’t place blame like this.”