That's why Soccio believes the boy, now 13, would do best in the state's juvenile justice system, where he would go to school and live in a dorm-like setting at a high-security facility for young offenders, possibly until age 23.
Defense attorneys, however, say the teen has serious emotional disabilities that the state isn't equipped to handle. They want to see him placed in a residential treatment center, where security would be lighter and the therapy would be more intense.
Punam Patel Grewal, the boy's defense attorney, said he would also be at risk in a state facility because of his father's neo-Nazi beliefs.
“It is a very dangerous place for him. He's got a lot of vulnerability here,” she said. “When he comes out at 23, we've got a huge problem.”
Murders by defendants as young as the one in Riverside are extremely rare and usually involve children who have mental health issues and have lived through extreme physical and psychological trauma, said Sarah Bryer, director of the National Juvenile Justice Network.
