Sue Hartigan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
It's a rare case, but not as rare as
it once was.
A young man is accused of an
adult crime but because of his
age, he'll serve juvenile time.
The grieving mother of the victim
is doing everything she can to
change that.
CBS 2 News' Special Assignment: Adult Crime, Juvenile
Time aired
Monday, April 06, 1998 at 11:00 p.m.
Once a week, Diana Schlant brings flowers, stuffed animals and toys, and
sits
beside the grave of her youngest child -- 10-year-old Anthony.
"Oh yes, I loved him so much,"
Schlant told CBS 2 News' Jaie
Avila. "He used to tell me he was
going to take care of me until I died.
He was going to be rich, and have
five children. And he wanted to be a
football player."
But all of those childhood plans
came to an end in February at a
small house in the sleepy mountain
community of Idyllwild where Schlant, a single mother, had hoped to
raise
Anthony (pictured, below right) and his two older brothers, Chris and
Jeremy,
said Avila.
Instead, it became the scene of Anthony's murder allegedly at the hands
of a
13-year-old playmate. A murder which has caused a chill deeper than the
winter snow that still covers the small town, Avila said.
It all began with a lesser crime.
Anthony's older brother Chris and
another neighborhood boy, Paul
Gonzales, broke into a boy-scout
camp near their homes and stole a
dozen 22-caliber rifles that the boys
hoped to sell, said Avila.
They hid one of the rifles beneath a
mattress in the back bedroom of
Schlant's home.
A few days later, Paul Gonzales (pictured, below left) came over to the
Schlant's home again. And according to witnesses, he took out the rifle
and
asked Anthony and another younger friend to come into the room.
"They came in and he told them they were going to go target shooting
while he
was loading this gun up, the rifle," said Schlant.
The other boys present in the room say Gonzales suddenly aimed the rifle
at
Anthony's head and pulled the trigger, but the bullet had slipped out
and fallen
harmlessly to the floor.
"His first attempt was unsuccessful," said Schlant. "He reloaded and
said,
'stand still' while he aimed right into Anthony's head, point blank, and
the
bullet didn't go all the way through but according to there was no
hope."
Investigators say Gonzales then tried to make it look like a suicide,
placing
Anthony's own fingerprints on the rifle.
Anthony's brother Chris claims the
other boys were so afraid of
Gonzales, they played along and
called 911 to report a suicide.
"Like I was scared he was going to
shoot me too, " Anthony's brother
Chris told Avila. "So I called and
said it was a suicide."
"No offense but he's like an evil kid,
he'd pick a fight with someone, push you down a mountain for nothing,"
Chris
said.
Investigators quickly determined it was not a suicide. Paul Gonzales was
taken to juvenile hall and charged with Anthony's murder.
Schlant feels her son's murder is the type of crime that should be
prosecuted
in adult court, where the sentences are much more severe, said Avila.
But in
California, only persons 14 years and older can be tried as adults. And
at the
time of the shooting, Paul Gonzales was 45 days shy of his 14th
birthday.
If convicted, instead of life in prison, Gonzales can only be held in
the
California Youth Authority until age 25.
"I would like to see murder always tried in adult court," Deputy
district
attorney Karen Gorham told Avila. "I think if a juvenile commits an
adult
offense like murder, why bother with the juvenile justice system? Send
them
straight to adult court."
That's what Schlant is trying to
convince lawmakers to do, said
Avila. She's written letters to
Governor Wilson and local
legislators because even current
efforts at juvenile justice reform
would not lower the age for trying
offenders as adults.
"In California we had to draw a line
and this is just a tragic exception,"
Republican assemblyman Jim Battin told Avila. "But we had to draw it at
(the
age of) 14, that encompasses the overwhelming majority of the cases,
there
are a few under 14, but overwhelming majoring are 14 and up."
Anthony's murder could be a tragic exception but Schlant believes
without
adult punishment, young killers will go on to kill again, said Avila.
"Because as long as we let anyone of any age get away with murder,
they're
going to continue to do it," said Schlant.
Despite Schlant's efforts, any change in the law to prosecute children
under
the age of 14 in adult court does not appear imminent, said Avila. But
there is
legislation in the assembly and a ballot initiative in the works that
would
transfer juveniles 14 and up who commit violent crimes automatically to
adult
court.
--
Two rules in life:
1. Don't tell people everything you know.
2.
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