Suspect in Beating of Baby Could Be Freed From Custody

MARTINEZ, Calif. — A Contra Costa County Juvenile Court referee Wednesday agreed to consider releasing a 6-year-old boy charged with attempted murder from Juvenile Hall as long as he lives in a suitable environment.

The boy may be released to his mother because she has moved in with her parents. Or the boy could be released to a foster home away from his neighborhood, said Juvenile Referee Stephen Easton.

It was not immediately clear when Easton would decide the issue.

The kindergartner is charged with breaking into a Richmond apartment and beating and kicking then-4-week-old Ignacio Bermudez Jr. while stealing a Big Wheel tricycle. Charged with robbery were 8-year-old twins, who were with the boy during the attack.

Also Wednesday, Easton appointed two psychiatrists from Children’s Hospital in Oakland to evaluate the 6-year-old. The evaluation is due June 5.

That evaluation could show whether the boy knows the difference between right and wrong and help determine whether the case is handled by the courts or social services, said the boy’s lawyer, John Burris.

The boy’s mother has moved to another location in the San Francisco East Bay area, but Burris declined to say where.

He also said he was concerned that Juvenile Hall was adversely affecting the boy.

“He has sort of drifted into a level of fantasy where he is making statements beyond what typical 6-year-olds do when they talk about tigers and lions and goblins and all,” Burris said. “And no one can get . . . information from him beyond fanciful storytelling.”

The county has no objections to putting the boy in a more hospitable environment but wants a “very structured and secure” setting, whether it be at Juvenile Hall or a home program selected by the probation office, prosecutor Harold Jewett said.

“We’re concerned about the welfare of the minor and whatever brought him to do what he did,” Jewett said.

The boy is possibly the youngest in the nation to face such a serious charge.

The twins are in the custody of their parents.

Bermudez was in fair condition Wednesday at Children’s Hospital. Doctors say he probably will survive but likely will have permanent brain damage.