Teen Arraigned in Girl’s Slaying

A 17-year-old boy arrested in the slaying of former Ventura resident Melinda “Mindy” Carmody was arraigned on a murder charge Thursday.

Police arrested the teenager Tuesday during a raid at his Northridge apartment.

He remained in police custody after his arraignment in Sylmar juvenile court, and faces a fitness hearing next month to determine whether there is sufficient cause to try him as an adult, officials said.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Richard Taklender said the “severity of the crime and the fact that he is 17 years old” prompted his office to seek adult status.

Despite numerous witnesses to the girl’s slaying, Taklender said he still expects the case to encounter some hurdles.

The teen’s brother, 23-year-old Juan Manuel Lopez Hernandez, is being held in Los Angeles County Jail on charges that he assaulted and then kidnapped 16-year-old Mindy on March 13. Mindy, who attended De Anza Middle School in Ventura in 1993 and 1994, had ended their relationship shortly before she was killed.

Before being shot to death a week ago outside a Northridge apartment building, Mindy had testified against Hernandez at a preliminary hearing. She told the panel she feared for her life if Hernandez went free.

Prosecutors hope their evidence can show that Mindy’s slaying was very likely a retaliation for her testimony against the suspect’s brother.