CHATSWORTH : Boy, 14, Pleads Not Guilty in Shooting Outside School
A 14-year-old boy accused of shooting and critically wounding a Chatsworth High School student while trying to steal his backpack pleaded not guilty to an attempted murder charge as prosecutors took steps to put his 17-year-old alleged accomplice on trial as an adult.
The youths are scheduled to return to San Fernando Valley Juvenile Court on Jan. 10 when the trial will begin for the 14-year-old, and the older boy will attend a hearing to determine whether he will be tried as an adult.
The 14-year-old Sylmar youth is charged with premeditated attempted murder, attempted robbery and assault with a deadly weapon. The 17-year-old, who lives in Lake View Terrace, faces charges of attempted murder, attempted robbery and robbery.
Both youths are members of a graffiti tagging crew and were on probation for other crimes at the time of the shooting, authorities said. In the hours before the Dec. 15 attack on 17-year-old Chatsworth High School senior Gabriel Gettleson, the two boys had committed several robberies, and tried to steal a backpack from another Chatsworth High student, police said.
Gettleson, who remains in intensive care at Northridge Hospital Medical Center, refused to give up his backpack as he waited in front of the school.
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