TEEN BOY ADMITS TO ASSAULT, HATE CRIME ALLEGATION

A teenage boy who stabbed a girl in Lakeside last year was sentenced last week to 480 days in custody in a youthful offender treatment program.

The boy was charged along with his 15-year-old girlfriend in the April 16, 2022, stabbing, which prosecutors argued was racially motivated.

According to prosecutors, the 16-year-old victim was with her family when she was stabbed in the back after the young couple confronted her at the apartment complex where they all lived. The victim, who is Black, has testified that she heard the boy hurl a slur before she was stabbed from behind.

The boy, who was 16 at the time of the incident, pleaded guilty to assault with a deadly weapon causing great bodily injury and a hate crime allegation, and was sentenced last Friday, according to the District Attorney’s Office. His name was withheld because the case was handled in Juvenile Court, where such information is confidential.

Prosecutors had sought to try the boy as an adult, but a judge rejected the prosecution’s request to transfer him to adult court.

His girlfriend was tried in Juvenile Court last year, and a judge found her guilty of assault and a hate crime allegation. She was sentenced to 120 days in an incustody Urban Camp program.

During her trial, witnesses indicated there was already longstanding tension between the teenage couple and their young neighbors, and it boiled over during the confrontation at the complex on Mapleview Street.

According to testimony presented in court, the stabbing victim, her younger sister and their mother were returning home from a family outing. As they walked upstairs toward their apartment, a group of neighbors approached, including the teenage couple.

The boy accused the sisters of attacking a member of his family. During that confrontation, his girlfriend held a drainage grate like a baseball bat. She was at the bottom of the staircase, in front of the mother.

The victim said she rushed down the stairs, jumped in front of her mother to protect her, and faced off with the 15-yearold girl. The two girls pushed each other.

That’s when the victim was stabbed from behind. She said she heard the boy hurl a slur and felt “pressure” on her back. She collapsed in nearby grass.