San Gabriel Valley : Murder Charges Sought in Fatal Beating of Boy at Park

Authorities are seeking murder charges against a 17-year-old Fontana boy in connection with the weekend beating death of a teen-ager at Raging Waters amusement park in San Dimas.

Robert Livingston Jr., 16, of West Covina, never regained consciousness after the Friday night attack, in which he was punched until he began having seizures and fell into a coma, said Sheriff’s Detective Robert Taylor.

Taylor said the two boys, dressed in oversized shirts and cutoffs, mistook each other for gang members and began exchanging taunts.

“As [Livingston] turned to walk away, the other kid punched him three or four times in the head and then again as he went down on one knee,” Taylor said. Neither of the boys is believed to have been in a gang, he added.

A spokesman for Raging Waters said Monday that it was the first such incident in the park’s 12-year history.

Contradicting the police version of the beating, an attorney for the Livingston family, Charles Frisco Jr., said Robert was dressed in regular swim trunks, not gang attire. Frisco said the family is exploring legal action against the theme park.