Burbank Student Charged With Murder

Prosecutors filed murder charges Tuesday against a 16-year-old summer school student accused of fatally stabbing a classmate at Burbank High School and will seek to try him as an adult, authorities said.

The teenage suspect, whose identity is being withheld because of his age, will be arraigned today in Pasadena Juvenile Court in the death of 17-year-old Adam Smith.

When classes ended Friday afternoon, witnesses said, the arrested teen became enraged after Smith made disparaging comments about his girlfriend and then stabbed Smith in the school parking lot. Both boys had been students at John Burroughs High School, but were attending summer school at Burbank High.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Michael Grosbard said prosecutors would seek to try the teenager as an adult because of the serious nature of the crime. The 16-year-old is being held at Sylmar Juvenile Hall, officials said.

Meanwhile, Burbank residents remained unnerved about the attack and expressed concern for the safety of their children. At a meeting Tuesday attended by Burbank police and about 35 parents, teachers and school officials, several parents expressed outrage that a student who had been transferred because of past disciplinary problems was allowed to enroll at Burbank High for summer classes.

“He should not have been in school with my children. I’m really uncomfortable with this,” said Tammy Turk, whose teenage daughters attend Burroughs High. “There are troubled children. I understand that. But I don’t want them going to school with my kids.”

Burbank Unified School District Supt. David Aponik said the teenage suspect enrolled at John Burroughs High School in September. He violated school rules while at Burroughs and was ordered to complete the 1997-98 academic year at Brighton Community School, a county-operated facility for students with disciplinary problems.

Although the teen was eligible to return to Burroughs in September, school officials had recommended he transfer to Monterey Continuation School, a district-operated campus. But because the Monterey School does not operate year-round, he enrolled at Burbank for summer classes.

“It is my understanding that if he wants to go to summer school, we can’t stop him,” Burbank Police Sgt. Eric Rosoff told parents at the meeting.

School officials said any Burbank teenager may attend summer school unless the student has been assigned by the district to an alternative campus.

Upon learning that, several parents called for the policy to be changed so that students waiting to be transferred into continuation school would be prohibited from enrolling in regular summer school classes.

Others at the meeting called for stepped-up weapon searches at schools.

Burbank Police Sgt. Janice Lowers said she shared the concern of parents.

“My children go to school in Burbank,” Lowers said. “Every day, I send my children into the school, into the streets, and into unforeseen events, including what’s in the minds of their classmates.”

Another parent, Anita Gonzalez, said the blame lies with families.

“We can’t blame the schools,” she said. “The family needs to take responsibility to get involved. What do you expect if you don’t educate your children?”

Trustees of the Burbank school board met with city police Wednesday afternoon to review campus safety and security procedures in a session that had been scheduled long before the fatal stabbing.

Burbank Police Chief Dave Newsham said the campus slaying was an isolated attack that he doubted could have been prevented.

“If we had 100 more police officers, that wouldn’t have stopped it,” Newsham said. “If we had 100 more security aids that wouldn’t have stopped it. If we had metal detectors at every door that wouldn’t have been a guarantee to stop it.”

Chief Newsham later, however, proposed establishing a school committee that would examine campus security and make recommendations to improve student safety.

The stabbing was discussed at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting, with Mayor David Golonski calling the incident “an incredible tragedy” and urging the council to look into “what we are doing to prevent these incidents in the long run.”

He proposed allocating $1 million from the city’s general fund to support youth violence prevention programs. “If you are going to tackle something like this, you have to do it in a comprehensive way. We not only can afford to do it, we can’t afford to not do it.”

Summer school Principal Emilio Urioste said he has scheduled another parents meeting for tonight night at Burbank High School.

In addition, Urioste said, contributions have flooded the school for a memorial in honor of Adam Smith. A service for Smith is also being planned at John Burroughs High School.

“It was a terrible tragedy and so many people are offering support,” he said.

The Smith family will hold a private funeral Saturday for the teenager.

Times staff writer Boris Yaro contributed to this story.