10-Year-Old Suspect in Fatal Stabbing Charged With Murder

A detention hearing is scheduled in Juvenile Court Thursday for a 10-year-old East County boy accused of in the driveway of the alleged stabber's home.

The 10-year-old was charged Wednesday with murder and felony assault. A child under 14 can't be tried in adult court, where the objective is punishment, not rehabilitation.

The accused, described by neighbors as a troubled youngster prone to outbursts of anger and aggression, allegedly stabbed the older boy in the chest about 1:15 p.m. Monday on a driveway in the 12500 block of Royal Road in the unincorporated Winter Gardens area, near El Cajon.

Medics took the victim to Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego, where he was pronounced dead about 2:30 p.m., sheriff's Lt. Larry Nesbit said. Authorities did not release the deceased boy's name, but his family identified him to reporters as Ryan Carter, a sixth-grader at Foothills Christian Elementary School.

Sheriff's officials also withheld the alleged assailant's identity, as is standard in cases involving underage criminal suspects.

Nesbit declined to comment on what might have prompted the suspect to carry out the fatal assault in front of his home with a kitchen knife. His anger management challenges were no secret, according to neighbors.

-City News Service