Filing of Charges Delayed in Slaying of Boy, 8 : Crime: Ventura County prosecutors are waiting to see if tests show that the child was burned alive.

After a weekend of intense investigation into the gruesome death of an 8-year-old Northridge boy, prosecutors decided Tuesday to postpone charging Gregory Scott Smith in the slaying until investigators can finish testing the evidence.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Peter D. Kossoris said he was prepared to file charges against Smith in Ventura Municipal Court on Tuesday if Smith’s attorney had not agreed to the postponement.

Smith, 21, of Canoga Park, appeared before Judge Thomas Hutchins after the postponement had been worked out and agreed to wait until Monday for arraignment in the death of Paul Bailly, whose burned, bound body was found Friday in a field south of Simi Valley.

Prosecutors are awaiting tests that may reveal whether the boy was burned alive, said sheriff’s Lt. Joe Harwell, supervisor of the department’s Major Crimes Bureau.

Harwell said Tuesday that technicians are testing samples of Paul’s blood for carbon monoxide, the presence of 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 the boy and is examining other evidence such as hair and fibers, Harwell said.

Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury vowed that the case will be filed, and Kossoris said he was prepared to file it Tuesday if defense attorney Barry F. Hammond had not agreed to the postponement.

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

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

State law requires that a suspect be charged within two court days of arrest or released. If Smith had not agreed to waive that requirement, prosecutors said, they would have charged him or rearrested him to give themselves another two court days to investigate the case.

Wearing prison blues and appearing cleanshaven, Smith stood with his hands folded in front of him before the judge as Kossoris and Hammond worked out details of the postponement.

When Hutchins asked whether he agreed to the postponement, Smith replied “yes” in a soft voice.

As news photographers snapped Smith’s picture inside the courtroom, Hammond stepped in front of him to block the cameras.

Hammond and Kossoris told Hutchins that they agreed that Smith be held without bail in the sheriff’s custody until Monday.

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. He feels that he is innocent.”

Bradbury said prosecutors delayed charging Smith because they are still awaiting test results, some of which will not be available until next week.

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.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen an important case that didn’t have loose ends two or three days after the crime occurred,” he added.

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

Times staff writer Michael Connelly contributed to this story.