15-Year-Olds Charged in Beating Death

Two 15-year-old Brooklyn boys who are accused of killing a homeless man by pelting him with more than a dozen bricks were ordered held without bail Friday.

The youths were arraigned as adults on charges of murder and criminal possession of a weapon.

Police said the two were roaming the streets early Thursday looking for someone to rob when they came upon William Pearson sleeping in an abandoned car in a gas station parking lot.

Police said the boys allegedly pulled Pearson, also known as Billy, out of the car and tried to rifle his pockets. Pearson fell and the teens began laughing at him, police sources said.

Pearson, 51, who was well known and well liked in the neighborhood, threw a bottle at the teens, the sources said. The boys began beating Pearson, who fled, the sources said, and the beating continued over several blocks.

Pearson eventually ducked into an alleyway by a church. Eneida Lopez, 45, a secretary at the church where Pearson often went for food, said the Rev. Marcello Navarro, the church’s pastor, was sleeping in the rectory when he heard screaming and went to the window. He said he spotted two boys throwing bricks.

Lopez said the priest yelled at the boys to stop and they left. Navarro then spotted a man lying on the ground and called 911.