Attorney questions mental health of Pomona boy charged with murder

POMONA -- The prosecution of a 15-year-old boy charged with murdering his grandfather was suspended this week after the boy's attorney expressed doubts about the boy's mental state.

Mario Sandoval is accused of fatally stabbing his 73-year-old grandfather, Bruno Rodriguez, on Jan. 11 in the 1800 block of Grier Street in Pomona's Westmont neighborhood.

On Wednesday in Pomona Superior Court, Sandoval's attorney questioned whether Sandoval is mentally fit to be prosecuted, according to a staff member in Judge Martha Bellinger's courtroom.

Bellinger then suspended criminal proceedings against Sandoval and assigned a doctor to examine the boy, the staff member said.

Before Bellinger can reinstate criminal proceedings against Sandoval, there will be a court hearing in which doctors and possibly other witnesses will testify about Sandoval's mental state, the staff member said.

Sandoval's case will proceed only if the boy is mentally fit to be prosecuted.

After he allegedly killed his grandfather, Sandoval was hospitalized for at least a week in the psychiatric ward at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center.

In an initial hearing in the case, Bellinger said Sandoval was absent because of his hospitalization. She said hospital officials reported that Sandoval was a danger to himself and others.