Youth Charged in Slaying of Friend
The district attorney’s office has filed murder charges against a 15-year-old Gardena boy suspected of shooting a classmate while they were playing with a handgun.
The teenager, whose name was not released because he is a minor, denied the charge of second-degree murder at his arraignment Thursday in Inglewood Juvenile Court, said spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons.
Sang Ho Lee, 15, died the day after he was shot with a weapon taken from his father’s gun cabinet.
According to police, the suspect thought the .38-caliber handgun was unloaded when he pointed it at the back of his friend’s head and squeezed the trigger Sept. 10.
Both boys were in 10th grade at the Narbonne Math Science Center school for gifted students.
Gibbons said the suspect will be tried as a minor. If convicted, he could be sent to the California Youth Authority until he is 25, she said.
He is being held at Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall in Downey and will return to the Inglewood court on Oct. 2 for a pretrial hearing.
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