Accused Boy to Remain at Juvenile Hall : Crime: Request to put teacher poisoning suspect under house arrest is denied. He could face eight years in detention.

A 15-year-old Littlerock High School student accused of poisoning his teacher by putting cleaning fluid in her Diet Pepsi broke into tears Friday after he was ordered to remain in custody at Sylmar Juvenile Hall.

Prosecutors have charged the boy, whose name is being withheld because of his age, with one count each of adulterating a beverage and assault with a deadly weapon. If convicted of the pair of felonies, the youth could face a maximum sentence of five to eight years in detention.

In a hearing before Commissioner Antoinette Liewen, an attorney representing the high school sophomore asked Liewen to place the boy under house arrest and release him into the custody of his parents.

“He believed it was a practical joke that had occurred,” said attorney Ronald V. Taylor.

Liewen sided with prosecutors when she denied the defense request and ordered the boy to remain in custody.

“Practical jokes can lead to people’s death,” Liewen said. “This is a very serious matter.”

Moments later the boy’s father reached over and squeezed his son’s leg in a show of support. Then they both began wiping tears from their eyes. Visibly shaken even before the hearing began, the boy’s father declined to comment on his son’s case except for a single sentence.

“I just love him a lot,” he said.

The events leading to Friday’s hearing began April 7, when Susan Ennis, 32, an English teacher at Littlerock High School, became violently ill after taking a sip from a can of Diet Pepsi that had been laced with cleaning fluid, authorities said.

Sheriff’s detectives began interviewing dozens of students and subsequently arrested a boy from Ennis’ second-period class after some of his peers told authorities they had heard the youth boasting that he had poured cleaning fluid in the soda can as a joke.

Ennis was released from Palmdale Hospital Medical Center in stable condition on Tuesday, ending a five-day stay. She has been recuperating at home and school officials say it is uncertain when she will return to work.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Andy Reynolds said his office chose to file felony counts against the youth based on the seriousness of the crime, noting that it remains to be seen whether Ennis has suffered permanent damage to her kidneys and esophagus as a result of the poisoning.

“You have a teacher who was vomiting in class and writhing in pain,” Reynolds said. “I don’t consider the pain she suffered for at least five days to be a prank.”

The case is scheduled to return to court April 22, when a probation report will be presented that will recommend to the court how the boy should be punished if he pleads guilty or proceeds to trial, Reynolds said. The report could also recommend that the youth be sentenced to six months of informal supervision.

Ultimately, the judge presiding over the case will decide. If the case goes to court, a trial date has been set for May 2.