On Saturday night, a 15-year-old boy was rushed to the hospital after he was stabbed at the corner of Cemetery Road and West Collet Canal. According to the police, the injury was a result of a fight that broke out between the victim and the alleged attacker, who is also a minor aged 14. Since then, the police have detained the suspect, though no charges have been levied.
And that's one of the reasons why the suspect's attorney, Norman Rodriguez, has concerns over the police's investigation. The accused minor was taken into custody yesterday and Rodriguez presumed he would be taken to court today, but as of this afternoon, that hadn't been done. Rodriguez explained that under the law, first time offenders who are also minors shouldn't have to endure the same level of treatment as hardened criminals. He also told us that the police's investigation may have some gaps, since their report goes against the eyewitness' statement.
Here's what he told us today.
Norman Rodriguez, Attorney
"There's a 14-year-old who is presently detained by the police. I took him in yesterday morning, I expected that he would have been charged by now and taken to the Magistrate Court for his arraignment. Unfortunately, that has not happened and it goes against what the juvenile offenders act says as to how you detain, charge and arraign children or young persons. However, he's being held pending the investigation I believe and to be charged for attempted murder because he allegedly stabbed another young man who is 15 years old. The issue that I have here is that one person that claims to be an eyewitness has been giving a different version from what the police had in its bulletin that the 14 year old was the aggressor or the person who approached the person who was stabbed. That is not what the eyewitness is saying, the eyewitness is saying that the 14 year old was standing having his own conversation when he was approached by the person who was stabbed, the 15 year old, and his younger brother, and there was some words shared between them, exchanged between them, when the younger brother said that he's going to ten, and if they don't fight, he will beat up two of them. Anyway, it ended up that the 15 year old punched the 14 year old a number of times, and when he went down, he either tried to get away or tried to defend himself and they chased him all the way into the park. It's very sad because we're dealing with a very young person here and the kind of investigation that is going on, if you're dealing with a 14 year old, even the laws dictate that you wouldn't handle that person the way you'd handle a normal, hardened criminal or somebody who goes before the court often to it is a shame that better investigation has not been done especially if you have eyewitnesses who the police has the authority to interview and get the truth as to what happened. In addition, there is allegedly video footage that can be obtained by the police, so it is poor investigation and then on top of that, the irresponsible reporting of one media person who spoke conclusively that it was the 14 year old who approached and aggressed the 15 year old when the eyewitness is saying otherwise."
