Boy Who Killed Bike Shop Owner Sentenced to Maximum Term : Courts: Judge orders the 12-year-old confined to the California Youth Authority until age 25. He will undergo treatment in a strict behavior modification program.

The 12-year-old boy convicted of first-degree murder in the shooting death of a popular Monrovia bicycle shop owner was ordered Thursday confined to the California Youth Authority until age 25.

The order, issued by Pasadena Juvenile Court Judge Sherrill Luke, is the maximum term allowed for a juvenile.

Citing a psychiatric report that said the boy has a conduct disorder characterized by physical aggression, physical cruelty and poorly developed internal controls over his anger, Luke ordered the boy sent to a youth authority facility in Stockton that has a program for behavior modification.

“I feel for the parents of this minor, who have apparently done everything within their means and power to do the right thing by way of creating an environment for a good life for (the boy),” Luke said. “Yet he has repeatedly demonstrated his intent to do the wrong thing.”

The judge also expressed sympathy for the family of the victim, “who was shot down from the back . . . without any provocation by this minor, who has expressed no remorse.”

On Sept. 13, Luke found the youth guilty of murder in the March 11 slaying of Jung Sam Woo, 49, owner of Bicycle Sam’s, a shop frequented by Monrovia-area children.

According to testimony during the four-day trial, the 12-year-old walked with two other boys to the shop after school, boasting that he planned to steal a bicycle and displaying a .22-caliber revolver taken from beneath his father’s bed.

The boy shot Woo in the back of the head, a 13-year-old testified. The boy ordered his companions to get bicycles, saying: “ ‘I didn’t shoot him for nothing.’ ”

The shooting and subsequent unruly behavior by the boy in confinement has baffled authorities, who say he had no prior criminal involvement, a stable family life and a psychological profile free of abuse or emotional problems.

In issuing his verdict this month, Luke also called the case mystifying. But the judge went on to call the boy “a depraved person with a twisted mind.”

That statement drew protests Thursday from defense attorney Ron Applegate, who filed a motion seeking to disqualify Luke for bias. Luke dismissed the motion.

The boy’s parents were visibly upset and declined to comment after the judge issued his order Thursday.

Police had investigated the possibility of filing criminal charges against the boy’s father. A 1992 state law makes it a felony to keep loaded firearms in a house where there are children. Those guilty of the offense can be sent to state prison for up to three years and fined up to $10,000.

The father told investigators that he kept the gun unloaded and the ammunition concealed on an unlighted shelf in the back of the garage, and that he was unaware his son knew about the weapon, Monrovia police Lt. Patrick Hardy said.

The witnesses who accompanied the boy to Bicycle Sam’s gave conflicting accounts, with one boy saying the gun was loaded when pulled from under the bed and another saying the boy loaded it later.

“It’s certainly possible (the father) violated the law, but we can’t prove it beyond a reasonable doubt,” Hardy said.

Pasadena Deputy Dist. Atty. Philip Wynn said his office is considering filing charges against the father.

Prosecution under the 1992 gun law has been infrequent in Los Angeles County, said Deputy Dist. Atty. David Ross. He estimated that county prosecutors have handled only half a dozen such cases.