Four Youths Convicted of Murdering Boy, 16

A jury convicted four Conejo Valley youths of first-degree murder Tuesday, a year and six days after the Agoura Hills stabbing death of Jimmy Farris, the 16-year-old son of an LAPD officer.

Farris’ killers face minimum sentences of life in prison without parole because they were convicted of murder during the commission of a felony--the attempted robbery of a few bags of marijuana from the backyard fort of another teenager in the quiet suburb. Sentencing is set July 15.

All four teenagers were tried as adults, although two were younger than 18 at the time of the crime.

As the guilty verdicts were read in alphabetical order, the four youths took turns standing, their demeanors reserved and unemotional. Brandon Hein, 19, of Oak Park was first, then Jason Holland, 19, of Thousand Oaks, who had admitted during the trial to stabbing Farris in the heart but claimed that he was protecting his younger brother, Micah, 16.

From the front row, Sharry Holland, her head shaking, watched as Micah, her younger son, was convicted of Farris’ murder. Finally, Tony Miliotti, 18, of Westlake Village stood and listened as a court clerk read through the list of counts.

Miliotti, Micah Holland and Hein were acquitted of attempted murder charges involving Mike McLoren, 17, Farris’ close friend, who was stabbed three times during the fight in his backyard fort. Jason Holland was convicted on a lesser charge of assaulting McLoren with a deadly weapon.

Defense attorneys said they will file a motion for a new trial, charging prosecutorial misconduct. They cited in particular an emotional closing argument in which they claim prosecutors accused them of lying.

Outside the Malibu courthouse, Jim and Judie Farris said they were pleased with the verdict.

The fight broke out in the early evening of May 22, 1995, while Farris and McLoren were working out near McLoren’s makeshift fort in his grandparents’ backyard. The fort was a favorite after-school hangout for many of McLoren’s friends, and it was well known among local teenagers that McLoren usually kept pot there, according to court testimony.

On that night, Hein, Miliotti and the Holland brothers climbed over McLoren’s fence and demanded pot, which McLoren refused to give them. That ignited the fight that left Farris dead and McLoren wounded.

The atmosphere in the courtroom before the verdict was tense, with every seat filled by friends or family members on both sides. Jimmy Farris’ parents held hands in the front row behind prosecutors Jeff Semow and Mike Latin.

McLoren, a key witness during the trial, had come under harsh attack from defense attorneys for his admission that he lied to police after the attack in telling them that the four youths had tried to steal his stereo and VCR instead of the pot. He admitted selling pot to many friends and acquaintances at local high schools and even confessed that he had testified under oath at one point just hours after having been high.

But defense attempts to undermine McLoren’s testimony were unsuccessful. Semow said the five-women, seven-man jury asked to meet with McLoren after the verdict.

Despite their reserve in court, the defendants were devastated by the verdicts, their attorneys said.

Jim Farris expressed some sympathy for the defendants, but said the verdicts were just.

“We don’t celebrate the misfortune of others,” Farris said. “But justice is justice.”