Matricide Suspect May Be Tried as Adult

The arraignment of a 14-year-old Glendale boy charged with murder in the shooting death of his mother was postponed Wednesday pending a decision on whether the youth should be tried as an adult.

The boy, who appeared before Judge Raymond Mireles during a brief closed hearing at Pasadena Juvenile Court Wednesday, is charged with shooting his mother, Tinann Turner Davidson, 52, in the forehead while she sat at the family dinner table last Friday.

No motive for the shooting has been revealed, although prosecutors consider it premeditated.

“We will seek to try him as an adult,” Hayden Zacky, the Los Angeles County deputy district attorney handling the case, said outside the courtroom Wednesday.

Authorities said the boy, who authorities declined to identify because of his age, was smiling and grinning when he was taken into custody by Glendale police shortly after the shooting. Friends, neighbors and police said the youth, who called 911 to turn himself in, admitted shooting his mother.

Investigators recovered a .38-caliber revolver from bushes outside the Sinclair Avenue condominium complex where the boy’s family lived.

The boy is scheduled to return to court Oct. 16. Another hearing will be scheduled at that time to determine whether he should remain in the juvenile court system.

Zacky said that if the youth is tried as an adult and convicted he would face a minimum sentence of 25 years to life in state prison.

Deputy Public Defender Mark De Wit said he spoke with the boy for only a few minutes before the hearing. They did not discuss guilt, innocence or remorse, De Wit said.

“Everything is extremely preliminary,” De Wit said. “Of course he’s pretty traumatized and emotional.”

Several of the boy’s relatives attended the hearing but declined to speak to reporters.

Authorities said the boy’s father, an uncle and a clergyman were allowed into the courtroom Wednesday.

“He’s got a very supportive family,” De Wit said.