2 Teen-Agers Arraigned in Zuma Slaying

Two New Mexico teen-agers accused of fatally stabbing a Northridge woman at Zuma Beach were arraigned Friday on murder charges and face juvenile court hearings to determine whether they should be tried as adults.

Guillermo Bustos, 16, and Michael Loretto, 17, were charged with the May 28 slaying of Jacqueline Kirkham, 43, before Judge Lawrence J. Mira at Malibu Municipal Court. They did not enter pleas, pending the outcome of their Sylmar Juvenile Court hearing, which has not yet been scheduled, Deputy Dist. Atty. Harvey Giss said.

“We expect to be able to try them as adults,” Giss said after the arraignment.

If convicted of murder as adults, the two teen-agers could be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, Giss said. Because they were under 18 at the time of the crime, they could not be sentenced to death, he said.

The teen-agers, who had been held in a Santa Fe juvenile detention center, gave up their monthlong extradition fight and were returned to Los Angeles Thursday.

Bustos and Loretto, both of Pojoaque, N.M., and a third youth, Jason Alexander, 17, initially traveled to Los Angeles after allegedly robbing a liquor store in their hometown. After their money ran out, the youths decided to steal a car to get home, police said.

Kirkham, a French-born saleswoman who frequented the popular beach on Tuesday afternoons to relax and sunbathe, was chosen at random, police said. No charges have been filed against Alexander, but Giss said Friday that he still intends to do so.