A second teenager has been taken into custody in the fatal stabbing of a 14-year-old boy at a middle school in East Los Angeles, authorities said Wednesday.
The unidentified 14-year-old was arrested about 10:20 p.m. Tuesday at his L.A. home, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
He was accused of providing a knife to the first suspect arrested in the stabbing — a 13-year-old who was taken into custody Saturday.
The second suspect was booked on suspicion of murder, as the first suspect had been, the Sheriff’s Department stated.
The 13-year-old first suspect on Wednesday denied the murder charge against him, as well as gang and weapon allegations, in a hearing at Eastlake Juvenile Courthouse, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. He was ordered to remain at Juvenile Hall and was slated to return to court Feb. 10 for a pretrial hearing.
The stabbing, which occurred about 3 p.m. Jan. 23 at D.W. Griffith Middle School, left 14-year-old Steven Cruz dead. A student at Garfield High School, Cruz was identified to KTLA by friends.
He died at the a hospital after being transported from the school.
Shortly after the stabbing, a Los Angeles Unified School District spokeswoman told KTLA that scissors were used in the attack; the Sheriff’s Department did not provide details about a weapon until Wednesday, when authorities said a knife was used.
It was not clear if the weapon had been recovered.
The boy arrested Tuesday allegedly gave the knife to the other teen suspect shortly before the stabbing, the Sheriff’s Department stated.
