Reseda Teen-Ager Charged With Attempted Murder

Prosecutors on Tuesday filed three felony charges, including attempted premeditated murder, against a Reseda teen-ager accused of attacking his 74-year-old neighbor. And prosecutors said they will seek to try him as an adult.

The 17-year-old boy, whose name is being withheld by authorities because of his age, was scheduled for arraignment today in Sylmar Juvenile Court.

The youth was also charged with one count each of residential robbery and residential burglary in the Dec. 29 assault on Edith Rose, who was beaten, repeatedly stabbed, handcuffed to a drainpipe and finally abandoned after she pleaded with her attacker to let her die in peace.

Rose remained hospitalized Tuesday while her alleged attacker, arrested within hours of the crime, was being held without bail at Sylmar Juvenile Hall.

Deputy District Atty. William Ryder said Tuesday he had filed a motion to try the youngster as an adult, which means authorities believe the crime was so serious that there is little hope of rehabilitating the perpetrator.

In practical terms, being tried as an adult could also mean a longer sentence for the youth if he is convicted. The matter will have to be decided by a judge at a hearing, Ryder said.

As police have described it, the attack against Rose was vicious even by Los Angeles standards.

A 30-year resident of Strathern Street well-known for acts of kindness, Rose let the boy into her home after he asked for a glass of water and the use of a telephone.

Then, police say, he demanded money. When the widow refused, he allegedly attacked--punching her at first, then grabbing a butcher knife, chasing her around the house and stabbing her 20 times.

Rose was found hours later, bleeding but conscious, by a concerned neighbor who crawled through an unlocked window looking for her. She managed to tell police the boy’s first name and that she had seen him around her neighborhood.

Police said the boy admitted to buying the handcuffs and led them to a dumpster where they found Rose’s credit cards. Police also say they have found the knife used in the attack.

Rose’s neighbors have described the teen-ager, who worked at a McDonald’s restaurant on Sherman Way, as a loner.

His defense lawyer, Gerson Horn of Beverly Hills, declined to discuss whether his client would plead guilty or innocent this morning, saying he had not had a chance to review the evidence.

Horn said the youth had “never gone through the Juvenile Court process before,” but he would not say whether the boy had been in trouble with police before.

“Let me just say that both the minor and the family are totally devastated by this tragedy,” Horn said, “and that hopefully we’ll be able to resolve this matter in a judicious manner that will be of benefit to all concerned.”