Boy, 15, to Face Murder Charges in Slaying of Mother’s Fiance

Authorities plan to file murder charges today against a 15-year-old San Marcos boy who they say gunned down Stephen William Baker, his mother’s live-in fiance.

If convicted, the boy will avoid the harsh penalties facing an adult murderer because of his age. At most, he could be held in a juvenile detention facility until age 25, Deputy Dist. Atty. Raymond Avila said.

He cannot be tried as an adult--a path prosecutors sometimes seek for youths who commit serious crimes--because he is under 16 years old, Avila said.

“It kind (of) makes you shake your head when you see people this young using a gun to deal with problems in their life,” Avila said. “You don’t have that many people that are this young (accused of murder).”

The charges, murder with a firearm, are set to be filed at 8:30 this morning in San Diego County Juvenile Court at a detention hearing, the equivalent of an adult arraignment.

Avila said prosecutors haven’t decided whether to argue for a first- or second-degree murder conviction.

San Diego County Sheriff’s Department homicide detectives say the shooting marked the culmination of the teen-ager’s longstanding hostility toward Baker, who was engaged to his mother, Trina Tomlinson.

Detectives said the teen-ager, his mother and his 10-year-old sister were sitting in the living room of their Grandon Avenue apartment early Sunday evening when Baker entered the room and confronted the boy about having used Baker’s stereo.

The two began to argue, and the youth pulled a semi-automatic handgun from his waistband and started shooting, detectives said.

Baker, 36, died 45 minutes later at Palomar Medical Center in Escondido.

The boy, a student at Twin Oaks continuation high school, was arrested Monday as he walked along a Carlsbad street with a 14-year-old female friend. Authorities say the boy was involved with a gang.

Acquaintances said Baker had worried about his future stepson’s unruly behavior and feared that his friends were gang members. They said Baker had vowed to spend more time with him to forge a relationship.

Jim Vanderheiden, Baker’s boss at Hunter Industries, a San Marcos sprinkler manufacturer, said Baker altered his work hours so that he would have time in the afternoon to see the boy. The new schedule was to begin Monday, a day after Baker died.