Oct 23, 2009 1:14 pm US/Eastern
Teen Murder Suspect Said Gun Came From 'Older Man'
Reporting
Lou Young
BRONX (CBS) ―
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Jamal Blair, 18, is accused of firing the shot that killed 92-year-old Sadie Mitchell in the Bronx.
CBS
The teenager arrested in the stray bullet death of an elderly neighbor says the gun belonged to "an older man" on the block. Jamal Blair, 18, is accused of murder in the death of 92-year-old Sadie Mitchell.
Prosecutors say Mitchell was hit in the hip by a single shot, allegedly intended as a warning in a street confrontation on E. 244th Street Wednesday night. She was able to call for help, but died later at the hospital. The bullet came through her apartment window.
In his confession to police, Blair allegedly said the weapon was borrowed from the unidentified older man who said the teen could "use it if he ever needed to."
Blair is being held without bail pending a court appearance next week. His attorney, Angelo MacDonald, says the charge of second-degree murder is inappropriate to the circumstances because a single shot fired in the air is more reflective of a negligent manslaughter charge.
"It doesn't excuse what happened," he says, "but the DA is overcharging by calling this murder."
MacDonald also says that his client is a troubled young man who was a crime victim himself at a very young age. "In 1993 he was 2 years old and witnessed his father murder his mother. He stayed with his mother's body until his grandparents found discovered what happened almost a day later. It still stays with him," he said.
Blair is described as a slow student who is in either the ninth or tenth grade at Lehman High School, and lives with his grandparents on his mother's side. He has had previous brushes with the law, but neither the DA's office or his attorney provided any details.
In his confession Blair allegedly told detectives he threw the handgun away after firing the single shot. The weapon has not been recovered.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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