Cristian Fernandez charged in death of half-brother.
BRUCE LIPSKY/The Times-Union
Cristian Fernandez is scheduled to return to court for arraignment on Wednesday.
By 
Cristian Fernandez, the 12-year-old indicted for murder and aggravated child abuse of his brother, will continue to be held without bond in the Duval County jail until at least Wednesday, a Jacksonville judge ruled Saturday.
Fernandez, arrested in March on charges he beat his 2-year-old brother to death and indicted by the Duval County grand jury on Thursday, made his first appearance in adult court Saturday before Circuit Court Judge Waddell Wallace.
The boy made his entrance into the courtroom among 80 fellow inmates, all recently arrested or transferred to the jail.
He was conspicuous both for his garb — he wore bright orange amid of sea of drab green and gray — and his size. The inmate seated next to him in the front row bench appeared to be more than a foot taller than the 5-foot, 1-inch Fernandez.
He was represented by Assistant Public Defender Rob Mason, who asked the court to transfer the 12-year-old from the jail back to juvenile facilities.
Mason said Fernandez, whom psychologists have found emotionally and psychologically immature, had been doing well in the juvenile facility before being moved to the jail late Friday.
But Wallace, who is not overseeing the case, said he would defer to Circuit Court Judge Elizabeth Senterfitt, before whom Fernandez is scheduled to appear for arraignment Wednesday.
Fernandez is charged with the March 14 beating death of his 2-year-old half brother David Galarriago at the family's Southside apartment.
His mother, Biannela Susana, 25, who gave birth to Fernandez when she was 12, is also being held in jail on charges of culpable negligence in the aggravated manslaughter of the younger boy.
charlie.patton@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4413
Fernandez, arrested in March on charges he beat his 2-year-old brother to death and indicted by the Duval County grand jury on Thursday, made his first appearance in adult court Saturday before Circuit Court Judge Waddell Wallace.
The boy made his entrance into the courtroom among 80 fellow inmates, all recently arrested or transferred to the jail.
He was conspicuous both for his garb — he wore bright orange amid of sea of drab green and gray — and his size. The inmate seated next to him in the front row bench appeared to be more than a foot taller than the 5-foot, 1-inch Fernandez.
He was represented by Assistant Public Defender Rob Mason, who asked the court to transfer the 12-year-old from the jail back to juvenile facilities.
Mason said Fernandez, whom psychologists have found emotionally and psychologically immature, had been doing well in the juvenile facility before being moved to the jail late Friday.
But Wallace, who is not overseeing the case, said he would defer to Circuit Court Judge Elizabeth Senterfitt, before whom Fernandez is scheduled to appear for arraignment Wednesday.
Fernandez is charged with the March 14 beating death of his 2-year-old half brother David Galarriago at the family's Southside apartment.
His mother, Biannela Susana, 25, who gave birth to Fernandez when she was 12, is also being held in jail on charges of culpable negligence in the aggravated manslaughter of the younger boy.
charlie.patton@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4413
Read more at Jacksonville.com: http://jacksonville.com/news/crime/2011-06-05/story/judge-rules-jacksonville-12-year-old-remain-jail#ixzz1OPuuBzYu
No comments:
Post a Comment