Mother of Slain Boy Testifies She Asked Suspect to Help Locate Son

Alana Talmo wept as she described her frantic search last summer for her 14-year-old son, telling jurors Wednesday how she asked his friend, Michael Demirdjian, for help.

Unknown to her at the time, one block away, police were examining the corpse of the boy, Blaine Talmo Jr., whom Demirdjian allegedly killed after a drug deal rip-off.

Demirdjian looked nervous, Talmo testified Wednesday in Pasadena Superior Court. “He said he didn’t know where Blaine [was] . . . . I looked at him and said, ‘I know you were with him the night before.’ ”

Demirdjian, who later told police that he witnessed the killing, looked down Wednesday as Blaine’s mother tearfully testified.

Deputy Dist. Attys. Steve Barshop and Truc Do contend that Demirdjian, 16, robbed and killed Blaine Talmo Jr. and 13-year-old Christopher McCulloch after a drug deal. Blaine Talmo had introduced Demirdjian to an alleged dealer, Adam Walker, 19, who took $660 from Demirdjian without giving him the promised marijuana, Barshop said.

Defense attorney Charles T. Mathews said Demirdjian did not hurt either victim. Demirdjian alleges the slayings were committed by Walker, who was arrested last summer but ultimately not charged with the deaths, Mathews said.

On Wednesday, Alana Talmo testified that her son left home after fighting with his father, a sergeant with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

“He said he was going to cool off and hang out with his friends,” she testified. Blaine spent Friday night away from home, and he phoned his mother twice Saturday night--the last call just before he was killed.

“I wanted to pick him up,” Alana Talmo said. But her son wouldn’t disclose where he was and said he wasn’t ready to come home. He then said “he had to go because he was on his friend’s cell phone,” Talmo said.

Blaine Talmo promised to call again the next day, his mother said. When he didn’t, she grew anxious.

Among her son’s friends, Demirdjian was the only one who had a cellular phone, Talmo said. She drove to Demirdjian’s house about 10:30 that Sunday night, July 23.

A block away, police had yet to identify the two dead boys, whose faces had been bludgeoned beyond recognition.

“I’m looking for my son,” Talmo told Demirdjian’s mother.

Demirdjian came out of the house, Talmo said. “He looked basically surprised that I was there.”

Talmo dabbed her eyes when Do asked her to identify Blaine Talmo’s dark blue wallet and a clock she had given him as a gift, which police found in Demirdjian’s kitchen trash.

When questioned by Mathews, Talmo said her son sounded happy during their final conversation. Blaine Talmo never mentioned any trouble with Demirdjian, Alana Talmo said. He told his mother he loved her, she testified.

Aileen Bristow, the mother of Chris McCulloch, testified briefly Tuesday that she last saw her son the day before he was killed. She broke into sobs after she left the courtroom.