RESEDA : Boy, 17, Pleads Not Guilty in Attack on Neighbor, 74

A 17-year-old Reseda boy on Wednesday pleaded not guilty to charges that he stabbed an elderly neighbor 20 times with a butcher knife and then handcuffed her to a drainpipe in the kitchen of her home during a robbery that netted less than $10.

The teen-ager, whose name has not been released, was arraigned in San Fernando Valley Juvenile Court in Sylmar on felony charges of attempted premeditated murder, residential robbery and residential burglary in connection with the Dec. 29 attack on 74-year-old Edith Aline Rose.

However, prosecutors will seek to try the youth as an adult and a hearing on that matter was set for March 15.

If convicted as a juvenile, the youth could be incarcerated only until his 25th birthday. If convicted as an adult, he would face a maximum sentence of life in prison, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Bernadette de Barajas.

Gerson S. Horn, the boy’s attorney, said he will attempt to keep the case in Juvenile Court.

The teen-ager, who turns 18 in March, remains in custody at the San Fernando Valley Juvenile Hall in Sylmar.

Rose, who was stabbed in the neck, hands and torso, suffered complications from her injuries over the weekend but doctors were able to stabilize her condition, authorities said.