Teens Deny Attacking Two Blacks

Two 16-year-old boys from the Antelope Valley with suspected skinhead ties denied in court Monday that they participated in an alleged hate crime attack on two black teenagers involving the use of a machete.

The two youths entered denials in Juvenile Court, the equivalent of not-guilty pleas, to one felony count each of assault with a deadly weapon, with the added special allegation that they committed a hate crime. Both were expected to remain in custody, officials said.

Sylmar Juvenile Court Commissioner Gary Polinsky set Aug. 5 to schedule a court session for the next step: hearings in which prosecutors will preview their case and the judge will decide if the teenagers are to be tried as adults.

“We’re obviously asking that they be tried as adults,” said Laura Priver, deputy in charge of the district attorney’s Sylmar Juvenile Division. She said the decision was based on “the seriousness of the offense as well as the motivation.”

The pair, whom authorities have not identified because of their ages, are accused in the July 8 attack in Lancaster on Marcus Cotton, 16, and his cousin, Angela McKenzie, 17. Cotton was slashed several times, and McKenzie was spat upon.

Authorities said the machete attack was the third racially motivated assault in just over a year in the Antelope Valley, which is 60 miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles. In its wake, three whites have reported separate attacks by blacks who made remarks about white-supremacist skinheads.

Priver said Monday’s court hearing, which was open to the news media because of the seriousness of the charges, lasted about 15 minutes and was mostly routine. The two youths were represented by Deputy Public Defender Jim Cody and a court-appointed private counsel.

Cody requested that the judge issue an order against members of the news media trying to contact family members of the accused youths, Priver said. The judge did not rule on the request and instead invited Cody to submit a formal written request.

Priver said that whether the suspects are tried as adults or juveniles, the young man who allegedly led the attack faces a maximum of 11 years in custody, including three years for allegedly inflicting great bodily injury, while his companion faces a maximum eight-year sentence.