Boy Who Shot Friend Faces Murder Charge

A 17-year-old Lancaster boy was charged with murder Tuesday for fatally shooting a close friend in the head while apparently playing with a rifle Saturday night, authorities said.

The youth, whose name was withheld because of his age, will be arraigned today on one count of murder with the special allegation that a firearm was used, said Richard Taklender, a Los Angeles County deputy district attorney.

Taklender, the filing deputy at Sylmar juvenile court, said that although the shooting appeared to be accidental, the youth’s conduct leading up to the gunshot was considered reckless.

“It does look as though it was not an intentional killing,” Taklender said. “That’s not being disputed. There are just different ways to get to a murder.”

Authorities said Frederick Gajete, 17, of Lancaster, was believed to be talking on the telephone at his friend’s home when the suspect jokingly pointed the rifle at him. When Gajete tried to push the gun away, it discharged and a bullet struck him in the head, authorities said.

Gajete, who had been talking to his girlfriend when he was shot, was pronounced dead early Sunday at Antelope Valley Hospital Medical Center.

Several friends and relatives said they were stunned by the shooting because the two boys treated each other like brothers. It was possible that the suspect, who remained in custody Tuesday at the Sylmar juvenile detention hall, was simply showing Gajete the gun, they said.

But Gajete’s aunt, Cheri Castillo, said Tuesday that the victim’s relatives were having difficulty believing the shooting was an accident. Although there seemed to be no evidence of a dispute between the two friends, they were both old enough to know better than to point a loaded gun at someone, she said.

The victim’s girlfriend, Mary Jane Fernandez, 15, said she was confused about what to think of the shooting. Gajete, who was talking to her on the phone when he was shot, apparently thought his friend had a BB gun, she said.

“He was saying, ‘No, don’t point that at me,’ ” Fernandez said as she tried to hold back tears. “It went off and his friend was screaming on the phone, like, ‘Oh my God. I shot him.’ ”

Taklender declined to discuss details.

Castillo said the Gajete family was “angry, hurt and devastated.” The victim, a junior at Desert Winds High School, wanted to pursue engineering and perhaps join the Air Force, friends and relatives said.

The suspect’s father wept over the murder charge. His son, a junior at Quartz Hill High School, never meant to kill his friend, the father said.

“It was accidental,” he said through sobs. “It was accidental. Oh my God.”