Arraignment of Slaying Suspect Delayed : Crime: The man accused of killing and setting fire to Paul Bailly, 8, won’t be formally charged until Monday.

Murder suspect Gregory Scott Smith waived his right to a speedy arraignment Tuesday on charges of killing an 8-year-old Northridge boy whose burned body was found Friday in a field south of Simi Valley.

Prosecutors said they postponed charging Smith, 21, of Canoga Park in the death of Paul Bailly because they are awaiting the results of evidence tests. Smith will remain jailed until the arraignment in Ventura County Municipal Court, which has been rescheduled for Monday.

Dist. Atty. Michael Bradbury vowed he will charge Smith with murder. Deputy Dist. Atty. Pete Kossoris said he was prepared to file on Tuesday if Smith and his lawyer, Barry F. Hammond, did not agree to the postponement.

Without the agreement, the prosecution would have been required by state law to release Smith Tuesday if he was not formally charged by then.

The tests prosecutors are awaiting may reveal whether Paul was burned alive, said Lt. Joe Harwell, supervisor of the Major Crimes Bureau in the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department. Harwell said technicians are testing samples of the boy’s blood for carbon monoxide, which would indicate whether he was breathing as the fire burned around him.

The Sheriff’s Department also is trying to identify the flammable liquid used to start the fire that engulfed Paul and is examining other evidence, such as hair and fibers, Harwell said.

Paul disappeared Friday morning after his mother dropped him off at a child-care program at Darby Elementary School in Northridge. His body was discovered by firefighters later that day when they were called to put out a fire in a field in the Santa Susana Knolls area south of Simi Valley.

Ventura County homicide investigators arrested Smith early Saturday morning after staking out his home in Canoga Park. He had been employed at a PTA-run program for latchkey children at Darby but recently was fired for being harsh in disciplining the children in his care, program officials said.

Wearing prison blues Tuesday, Smith stood before Municipal Judge Thomas Hutchins as Kossoris and Hammond worked out details of the postponement. When Hutchins asked if he agreed to the postponement, Smith replied softly, “Yes.”

Hammond, a Van Nuys attorney hired by Smith’s parents, said afterward that he agreed to the postponement “in the hopes that maybe they will not file charges Monday. If there is any possibility of them not filing, I would hope to go that way.”

However, Bradbury firmly told reporters, “The case will be filed.”

Hammond said, “I don’t know what evidence they have. There is nothing tying my client to the crime. I don’t even see a motive. He had no disagreements with this little boy.”

Kossoris said before the hearing, “We’d like to have a chance to do as much investigating as possible and assess the results of that investigation on a case that’s very complicated and potentially quite serious. We’d like to make as intelligent a decision as possible” about charges against Smith.

A memorial fund to help defray the cost of Paul’s burial has been set up at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, 9800 Canby Ave., Northridge.

Times staff writer Michael Connelly contributed to this story.