VENTURA : Boy Sent to CYA Over Fatal Fight
A Ventura teen-ager convicted of starting an Oct. 9 fight that led to the fatal stabbing of his 14-year-old friend has been committed to the California Youth Authority, a Ventura County prosecutor said Thursday.
Hector Hernandez, 16, was found guilty in Juvenile Court last month of assault with a deadly weapon for joining Ricardo Hernandez in a rock and chain attack on a youth in Grant Park. When a friend of the attacked youth came to his aid, Ricardo Hernandez was stabbed and killed. Hector Hernandez was sentenced to nine years and two months in the juvenile facility, which can hold him until he is 25 or until he is determined to be eligible for parole, prosecutor John Vanarelli said.
Vanarelli said internment at the Youth Authority was the only alternative for Hernandez, a habitual offender with a lengthy record of crime and local attempts at rehabilitation.
“I think it was an appropriate sentence for him. He’s already tried all the facilities we have available in the county,” Vanarelli said.
Hernandez will probably serve three to four years, Vanarelli said.
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