Boy Killed in Fight Started It, Authorities Say

The boy killed in a fistfight with another student at a middle school last month picked the fight with the other boy during class and threw the first punch once they got outside the classroom, according to accounts gathered by sheriff’s detectives.

Students who saw the scuffle Nov. 19 at Juniper Intermediate School told authorities Stephan Corson slugged the other student, who has not been identified, as soon as he stepped out of the classroom, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Sgt. Barry Wish said Thursday.

The other boy fought back, socking Stephan in the face and knocking him to the pavement, where he went into convulsions, Wish said.

“From what kids told us, Stephan was the aggressor,” said Wish, the lead detective on the case.

The detective’s comments are the first clear account of how the fight started, but Wish emphasized that the case will remain open until final autopsy results are available, which aren’t expected for several weeks. The detective also said that while statements from 25 students who witnessed the fight have been consistent, what isn’t clear is how Stephan actually died.

The leading theory is that 13-year-old Stephan, 95 pounds and 4 feet 8, known for being polite, quiet and a good athlete, died by hitting his head on the pavement.

Stephan’s family can’t believe he started the fight. His brothers have said witnesses told them the other boy attacked Stephan after the scuffle had been broken up.

The Corson family has urged authorities to charge the other boy, who is 14 years old and a little bigger, with involuntary manslaughter. The family has hired Century City lawyer Melanie Lomax, former president of the Los Angeles Police Commission, to step up the pressure.

“The sidewalk did not kill this boy,” Lomax said Thursday. “A human being did.”

A decision on whether charges will be filed won’t be made until the autopsy is finished, said officials with the Sheriff’s Department and the district attorney’s office. If Stephan died by hitting his head on the ground, it’s likely his death will be ruled an accident and no charges will be filed, Wish said.

The Corson family is also pushing for the 14-year-old boy to be expelled from school. He has been suspended pending the results of the sheriff’s investigation.

The fight started in the afternoon of Nov. 19. Stephan’s class had a substitute teacher, and a bunch of kids were flicking spitballs, including the 14-year-old boy, Wish said. The teacher caught the boy and ordered him to pick up the paper he had thrown.

When the boy passed Stephan’s desk, Stephan tossed some scraps of paper on the floor, saying, “Clean that up, too,” according to Wish. The older boy refused and the two started arguing.

“That was it,” Wish said. “These kids, from what we know, were good kids, not troublemakers. They were just fighting over something stupid, just two boys trying to prove their manhood.”