Boy, 11, Who Killed a Playmate Is Released to His Family

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 Tuesday.

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.

The involuntary manslaughter charge stemmed from the shooting death Aug. 2, 1989, of Carmella Aldama, 11. The girl died of a gunshot wound incurred while the boy brandished a .22-caliber rifle in the bedroom of his parents’ home, investigators said.

Ball, noting that “this is not an easy case to resolve,” issued the release order after reading the reports of a psychologist and a psychiatrist who both said the boy would not be a threat to others. Further incarceration, they said could make the youngster suicidal and would be of little value in rehabilitating him.