2 Teens Plead Not Guilty in Killing of Boy

Two teenagers charged with beating to death 12-year-old Rodney Haynes appeared briefly in court Wednesday as friends of the victim again castigated the county for mixing younger and older kids in the same group homes.

“Rodney was 85 pounds, he was a little kid,” Jim Lampley, whose wife was the boy’s guardian, said after attending the hearing, from which press photographers were barred. “Those were two grown men in there.”

The two defendants, wearing jumpsuits and blank stares, were identified as Brandon Sewell, 16, and Gregory Jones Smith, 17. Each was charged with murder under state juvenile laws.

Both entered not guilty pleas. Their court-appointed attorneys declined to comment.

Los Angeles County Juvenile Judge Morton Rockman said he will decide next month whether the two should be tried as adults, as prosecutors requested.

“We have looked at the underlying facts of the case, the status of the minors, including their age and their criminal history as well as whether there have been previous attempts at rehabilitation,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Shannon Presby said. “Based on that evaluation we believe they would be more appropriately dealt with under the jurisdiction of the adult court.”

Presby declined to say why the boys were being held in the Calabasas group home and refused to say whether they had prior criminal histories.

The killing has focused attention on how well the county monitors the children it sends to group homes, such as Passageway in Calabasas, where Rodney joined Smith and Sewell six days before his death.

Investigations of Rodney’s death--and how his case was handled--are now underway by the California Department of Social Services, Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and the Los Angeles County Probation Department.

Andrew Juels, who runs five Passageways group homes, said he is cooperating with investigators and has agreed not to accept any more children into the five homes he operates until he hears otherwise.

He insisted, however, that Rodney’s death was an “aberration,” and said there were no signs the two teenagers under his care were capable of such dangerous or violent behavior.

“Hindsight is always 20/20,” Juels said. “You have to understand that a juvenile judge orders kids to be suitably placed, and if a kid is dangerous and on probation there are other options such as home probation, boot camps or youth authority.”

Sewell and Smith beat Rodney to death with sticks and rocks because they considered him a “wise guy,” police said they were told by the two youths. The body was dumped in a trash bin behind a Calabasas shopping center.

The attack shocked many local residents, more than 200 of whom turned out for a contentious three-hour community meeting Tuesday night. Many bemoaned what they called the home’s “lax supervision” and called on officials to close the facility or run it in a way that addressed community concerns.

Also, residents complained the group home was a source of crime in the community, including several robberies in the nearby Saratoga Hills and Saratoga Ranch housing developments.

Police reported that the slaying, which occurred two miles from the home after all three youths had run away, was “entirely inconsistent with the history of that home.”

“We have had about 20 criminal reports emanating from that property over that past 11 years, ranging from minor property crimes to the tragic incident which occurred last week,” said Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Capt. Bill McSweeney of the Malibu-Lost Hills station. “We have some single-family homes in this area which have generated more crimes than this property has.”

Nevertheless, McSweeney acknowledged that two weeks before the slaying, a juvenile from Passageways was arrested in the theft of a camera and video equipment from a nearby home. Four days later, sheriff’s detectives found the stolen items inside the Passageways facility and arrested the youngster, who is custody at Sylmar Juvenile Hall, according to McSweeney.

Meanwhile, outside that same facility Wednesday, Lampley said Rodney will be buried at the Citizens Mt. Zion Church in Los Angeles on Monday.

“What could have he said to make them do that to him?” Lampley said in trying to make sense of his loss. “What could he have done?”