LOCAL : Parents Deny Helping Son Flee
The parents of a teen-ager charged with shooting two deaf Palmdale brothers, killing one of them, pleaded innocent this morning in Long Beach Municipal court to charges that they helped their son flee the state.
Phyllis Mary Goodman, 37, and Joseph P. Bellinger Sr., 40, both of Long Beach, were charged with being accessories to a felony in harboring their fugitive son, Joey Paul Bellinger, 16. If convicted, they would face a $5,000 fine and three years in state prison.
Joey Bellinger eluded authorities for nearly a month after the Jan. 28 shooting in Granada Hills. He was arrested March 2 at the home of a family acquaintance in Cassville, N.Y., and has been charged with killing Cesar Vieira, 30, and wounding his brother, Edward Vieira, 25.
He is being held at Sylmar Juvenile Hall after denying the charges against him in Juvenile Court. Goodman, who surrendered in court this morning, was released on her own recognizance. She is accused of telephoning a friend in New York to ask that the family allow her son to live with them temporarily, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Allan Fork.
The boy’s father, free on $5,000 bail, is accused of “counseling Joey to hide from police,” Fork said.
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