THOUSAND OAKS : Prosecutors Seek to Try Youth as Adult

Ventura County prosecutors said Wednesday that they will seek approval to file adult murder charges against the 17-year-old youth accused of stabbing a Thousand Oaks nurseryman in April.

Jose Luis Navarro of Thousand Oaks is scheduled to appear in Juvenile Court on Friday to determine whether he should stand trial as an adult in the slaying of Jose Narvaez, 49. Narvaez was stabbed three times in the abdomen and back as he took an evening stroll near his apartment in the 800 block of Warwick Avenue in Thousand Oaks on April 19.

Witnesses testified last month that, before the stabbing, Narvaez was making romantic advances toward Navarro, who also lived on Warwick Avenue.

Navarro pleaded not guilty on July 2 in Ventura County Superior Court to charges of murder and use of a knife. But Deputy Public Defender Steve P. Lipson produced Mexican birth and baptism certificates that showed Navarro to be 17--too young to be tried as an adult without a special court order.

On Tuesday, Superior Court Judge Charles R. McGrath ruled that Navarro was indeed 17 and ordered the case transferred to Juvenile Court.

However, Navarro testified that he had been living on his own, independent of his family, for at least a year, Deputy Dist. Atty. Richard E. Holmes said Wednesday. This contributed to the decision by Holmes and Chief Deputy Dist. Atty. Kevin J. McGee to seek an adult trial for Navarro.

Navarro is being held at the Ventura County Juvenile Hall in lieu of $250,000 bail.