17-Year-Old Enters Not Guilty Plea in Deaf Man’s Slaying

Joey Paul Bellinger, a 17-year-old Long Beach boy accused of shooting and killing a deaf man and injuring the man’s brother during a traffic dispute in Granada Hills last January, pleaded not guilty Friday in adult court to murder charges.

The arraignment in San Fernando Municipal Court came after a Juvenile Court judge ruled last week that Bellinger was unfit to be prosecuted as a juvenile because of the seriousness of the charge. A preliminary hearing was set for Sept. 24.

Bellinger allegedly shot and killed Cesar Vieira, 30, and wounded Edward Vieira, 25, during the confrontation that began when Bellinger and other youths exchanged insults with the brothers at an intersection, police said.

Bellinger, who would have been released at the latest by his 25th birthday if convicted in juvenile court, now faces more than 30 years in prison if convicted of the murder and attempted murder charges and allegations that he used a firearm and inflicted great injury.

However, because Bellinger allegedly committed the crimes while a juvenile, a judge may impose the juvenile sentence if he is convicted--meaning he would be released when he turns 25--or could order him sent to state prison after serving time in a California Youth Authority facility, prosecutors said.

In the event of a conviction, a third option, though a less likely one, would be to send him to prison from the beginning of his sentence, prosecutors said.

Commissioner Gerald T. Richardson, who presided over Friday’s arraignment, ordered Bellinger held without bail at Central Juvenile Hall despite his attorney’s request that bail be set. Richardson indicated that Bellinger presented a flight risk because he sought refuge with a family friend in Upstate New York after the Jan. 28 killing.

The youth was arrested at the friend’s house on March 2 after FBI agents received a tip about his whereabouts.