SANTA ANA : Murder Trial Ordered for 2 in Boy’s Death

A judge on Monday ordered two teen-agers to stand trial for murder in the death of a Tustin eighth-grader who authorities say was shot in a dispute over a $2,500 stereo system.

The two are accused of shooting the boy in the head, then returning minutes later to fire two more shots.

The charges against Thomas Miller, 16, the alleged triggerman, and Jason Merritt, now 18, include special-circumstance allegations that the killing occurred during a robbery, which could land them in prison for life without parole if convicted.

Miller is also charged with special circumstances of lying in wait and killing for financial gain. The two Tustin youths had already been ordered to face charges in adult court in connection with the slaying of 14-year-old Carl Claes.

Defense attorneys argued that there was insufficient evidence to prove the killing was connected to a robbery. But at the end of a two-day preliminary hearing, Municipal Judge Richard W. Stanford Jr. found legal grounds to try Miller and Merritt as charged.

Prosecutors allege that the two drove Claes to a secluded Lemon Heights spot where Miller shot the boy once, then returned to fire two more shots after Merritt drove them around for a few minutes. Claes was probably still alive after the first shot, according to coroner’s testimony.

Investigators said the boy had lent his mobile sound system to Miller about a week before the slaying, and that a dispute arose when Miller refused to return it.