Boy Under Home Detention Pending Trial in Slaying

A 9-year-old Bellflower boy, possibly the youngest person in the county to ever face a murder charge, was released from a juvenile facility and will await trial at home, the district attorney’s office said Thursday.

The boy, who has not been identified because of his age, was released to his mother Monday after a detention hearing. He will be electronically monitored by the court and will attend a home school program.

The boy had been held at Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall since Sept. 14 after detectives took him into custody on suspicion of killing his 11-year-old brother.

Sheriff’s detectives initially believed that the older brother accidentally fell on a steak knife as the two were rough-housing. But after interviewing the boy, they arrested him.

Shawn Snider Chapman, the boy’s attorney, said: “It’s outrageous that the district attorney’s office would charge someone so young with such a serious crime. There’s no question that he did not form the intent to kill his brother. He shouldn’t have been charged with second-degree murder.”

The boy faces a pretrial hearing Oct. 19.