CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : SAN JOSE : 11-Year-Old Killer Released to Parents

An 11-year-old boy who fatally shot a playmate and bullied neighborhood children with guns, knives and rocks was released to his family during an emotional Juvenile Court hearing. Despite a tearful warning from the mother of the dead girl that “he killed once and he might kill again,” Judge John T. Ball placed the youngster on “community release to his family.” “He takes my beautiful little girl and they are not going to do anything about it,” said Denice Aldama, mother of the victim. The sixth-grader, whose name was not released because of his age, pleaded guilty on Feb. 1 to a felony charge of involuntary manslaughter involving the use of a firearm, and to three misdemeanor counts involving separate incidents of threatening his 8-year-old sister with a machete, disturbing the peace and battery against neighborhood children. Carmella Aldama, 11, died of a gunshot wound incurred when the boy brandished a .22-caliber rifle, investigators said.