A hearing used to determine whether a minor should be tried as an adult was postponed once again Thursday for a 16-year-old youth accused of shooting and killing a man for the victim's iPod.
It marked at least the fourth delay in the case of the defendant, who was 15 at the time of the April 2009 killing of Garrett Norris, 27.
If the defendant, who has not been identified because he is a juvenile, is tried as an adult he faces the possibility of life without parole if convicted on all counts.
Norris was gunned down in broad daylight while playing basketball with friends on a Saturday afternoon at Orizaba Park, located at Spaulding Street and Orizaba Avenue.
He was shot after he tried to stop two alleged gang members from running off with his belongings, which included his iPod, police said.
The USC Engineering graduate, who moved to Long Beach the previous fall after securing a job with Mercedes-Benz of Long Beach, chased the suspects into an nearby alley, where he was shot in the chest, according to authorities.
Norris was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
The 15-year-old defendant was arrested within a few days of Norris' slaying and has remained incarcerated at a juvenile detention center since that time.
His fitness hearing is now scheduled for June 15, according to court staff.
It marked at least the fourth delay in the case of the defendant, who was 15 at the time of the April 2009 killing of Garrett Norris, 27.
If the defendant, who has not been identified because he is a juvenile, is tried as an adult he faces the possibility of life without parole if convicted on all counts.
Norris was gunned down in broad daylight while playing basketball with friends on a Saturday afternoon at Orizaba Park, located at Spaulding Street and Orizaba Avenue.
He was shot after he tried to stop two alleged gang members from running off with his belongings, which included his iPod, police said.
The USC Engineering graduate, who moved to Long Beach the previous fall after securing a job with Mercedes-Benz of Long Beach, chased the suspects into an nearby alley, where he was shot in the chest, according to authorities.
Norris was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
The 15-year-old defendant was arrested within a few days of Norris' slaying and has remained incarcerated at a juvenile detention center since that time.
His fitness hearing is now scheduled for June 15, according to court staff.
I have a son this age and I can only imagine his family's pain at losing him to such a tragic crime.Hindsite would have been to take the loss,you could always get more stuff but then again it seems to be human nature to fight for what is ours because of our hard work.In closing all I have to say to this criminal is that you will know at some time in your selfish that "Karma is a #%&*!.
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