Student Faces Murder Charge in Shooting : Crime: The 16-year-old is accused of taking his mother’s gun and slaying a 14-year-old schoolmate.

A 16-year-old Sylmar High School youth who allegedly shot and killed a schoolmate while showing off his mother’s handgun at his home now faces a murder charge.

Laura Foland-Priver, deputy-in-charge at the Sylmar branch of the district attorney’s office, said Monday that additional interviews with witnesses to the March 10 shooting of Chris Mitchell, 14, led to upgrading the original charge of involuntary manslaughter.

“Since the time the case was presented, we have interviewed other witnesses personally and, based on that information, we believe a murder charge could be sustained,” said Foland-Priver, although she declined to disclose the additional evidence.

The suspect’s attorney, Jonathan Mandel, said there is no basis for filing the more serious charge and called the situation “a tragedy compounded by another tragedy.”

“The murder charge carries the idea of premeditation and intent, and that was the last thing he intended to do,” Mandel said of his client. “He feels totally devastated.”

The teen-ager, whose identity is being withheld because of his age, was arraigned on the new charge Friday. He has denied the murder accusation, and is scheduled to return to San Fernando Valley juvenile court on May 30 for a pretrial hearing.

The youth is under house arrest at his father’s home, and is allowed to leave only to attend school or counseling sessions.

Although state law allows a 16-year-old to be tried as an adult for murder, Foland-Priver said prosecutors will not seek to move the matter out of juvenile court.

Under state law, a juvenile convicted of murder can only be held in a California Youth Authority facility until his or her 25th birthday.

The shooting took place after the youth and four other teen-agers, including Chris, cut class and went to the Sylmar condominium where the youth lived with his mother. The youth found a .22-caliber handgun belonging to his mother. According to Mandel, the teen-ager removed a clip with bullets and pulled the trigger to show his friends that the gun was empty. But a bullet remained in the chamber and, when the gun was fired, it hit Chris in the face.

The three other boys ran from the house after the shooting. The youth called 911 and remained until police arrived. Chris died at the scene.

Mandel described his client as a good student with a 3.7-grade point average who attends church regularly and is disciplined.

“This is so out of form from what he has been,” Mandel said.