2 Teenagers Confess to Killing Boy

Two teenagers admitted beating to death a 12-year-old boy with whom they lived at a Calabasas group home because he was “a wise guy,” authorities said Thursday.

The victim, whose body was left in a trash bin behind a strip mall Tuesday night, was identified Thursday as Rodney Haynes.

The alleged assailants, ages 16 and 17, were arrested early Thursday at Passageway, a private boys home that contracts with the Los Angeles County Department of Probation to house delinquents and abused and neglected youths.

“The only [motive] we have is that the suspects did not like the kid and referred to him as a wise guy and a smart-aleck,” said Deputy Steve Sciacca, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

Sciacca said the boys confessed to the crime.

All three boys, wards of the county, had been placed in the home by the county, leading some authorities to question how well the Probation Department supervised them.

“The first question is what’s going on over there? How did this happen?” said Joel Bellman, a spokesman for county Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, who has a field office in the strip mall where the body was found. “You have to ask, what were the conditions at the home? What kind of oversight was there?”

County probation officials launched an inquiry into the case. All three boys had run away from the home, according to a source.

“We regret the tragic death of this minor,” said Walter Kelly, the acting chief probation officer for the county, in a statement. “While the Sheriff’s Department is conducting an investigation, we are conducting an administrative investigation regarding placement procedure and group home practices in relation to this event.”

Lt. Joe Brown of the sheriff’s homicide division said he did not know how the boys had ended up in the parking lot behind the shopping center in the 26500 block of Agoura Road.

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The teenagers were booked at the Lost Hills sheriff’s station and later transferred to an undisclosed juvenile facility, where they were being held without bail, Brown said.

An autopsy was pending to determine the exact cause and time of the death, said Scott Carrier, a spokesman for the county coroner’s office.

The body was found Wednesday about 9:30 a.m. in the parking lot behind KwikMart, a convenience store in the strip mall about 200 yards from the Las Virgenes Road exit off the Ventura Freeway.

A janitor first noticed blood on the trash bin and notified a KwikMart employee who had worked all night.

The worker told his boss, Eli Adrabi, that he did not hear anything unusual during the night.

Haynes was a ward of the court who was on probation, according to authorities. He had been placed at Passageway, which helps teenagers find work and master everyday living skills.

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Children are placed in group homes for a number of reasons, such as abuse, neglect or delinquency, said Craig Levy, a spokesman for the Probation Department.

Calls to the home Thursday were referred to the Sheriff’s Department.

Calabasas Mayor Lesley Devine said group homes are licensed by the county and state, and cities are not notified when homes are opened. Devine said she had not heard of any problems with Passageway, located in the 25000 block of Mureau Road.

“We have never had a complaint before about this group home,” she said. “Are we looking for more information about it now? Of course we are.”

Wednesday, no teenagers could be seen around the three Passageway buildings, located near Round Meadow Elementary School.

Parents bringing children to soccer practice at the elementary school said they had never heard of problems at the home.

Levy said he was prohibited by law from discussing the minors’ criminal cases or releasing other background information.

“Even though he is dead, we still have to await court permission” to release information about the victim, Levy said.

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“Any time there’s an incident with placement we’re going to do an internal investigation to determine the factors involved and then make any necessary decisions,” Levy said.

The two alleged assailants were on probation, according to sources. Their cases were being handled by the county’s Centinela probation office and a probation office in Ventura County.

After the body was discovered, investigators gathered enough evidence to trace the boy to the group home, Brown said.

When or whether the three boys were reported missing could not be determined.

Several group homes under the supervision of the Probation Department have come under criticism recently for failing to properly care for children.

In November, state officials closed Pride House, a group home in Van Nuys for abused youngsters and juvenile offenders on probation.

The state Department of Social Services said in an accusation filed against Pride House that its teenage residents appeared drunk in public, flooded the home by setting off a sprinkler system, pelted police with debris and beat a fellow resident.

The county removed 68 teenagers from Pride House, whose owners were paid $3,245 a month for each child living there. The state’s attorney said the residents “run amok” and the home failed to adequately supervise and care for them.

Earlier this year, state officials, police and children’s advocates charged that some children at the Star View Adolescent Center in Torrance were punished with injections of a powerful tranquilizer after they ran away, and a boy’s collarbone was reportedly broken during a “takedown” by youth counselors. Children’s advocates and authorities also said that a girl was reportedly groped in a “timeout room” by the facility’s maintenance man.

Times staff writers Eric Slater and Sharon Bernstein contributed to this story.