Boy, 11, Who Cut Throat of Woman, 83, Gets Probation

An 11-year-old boy who cut the throat of an elderly neighbor after beating her with her cane won’t be locked away, a judge decided Thursday.

The Juvenile Court judge rejected a request from prosecutors to send the youngster to a secure facility and sentenced him instead to five years’ probation in his parents’ custody.

The boy was 10 when he broke into the apartment of 83-year-old Anna Gilvis. She surprised the intruder, struck him with her cane and locked herself in the bathroom, but he forced the door open, beat her and cut her throat with a 10-inch kitchen knife, police said.

“He stated that he hated her; he denies any other motive,” said James Maurer, deputy chief of detectives.

Judge Stuart F. Lubin ordered the boy to undergo therapy. The child’s name was not released because of his age.

The boy lived next door to Gilvis and had been interviewed by detectives as a potential witness shortly after the slaying Oct. 5, 1993. Nearly 11 months later, when other leads failed to materialize, he was questioned again and confessed, Maurer said.

“He’s clearly a danger,” Assistant State’s Atty. Eileen O’Neill said after the sentencing.

The boy’s attorney, Stephen Broussard, said he may appeal the conviction. Broussard argued before the sentencing that the boy had no prior arrest record.