Teen-Ager Held in Boy’s Murder

Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies arrested an 18-year-old Azusa man Friday on suspicion of murder in the death of his 7-year-old neighbor.

Deputy Hal Grant said Kevin Demarco Neal was linked to the slaying through “physical evidence found at the crime scene.” He said he could not elaborate.

The body of Carlos Adame was found Aug. 9 by workers at a neighborhood plant nursery. They discovered his bruised and battered body beneath a stand of trees. He was wearing little clothing, and what clothing there was was in tatters, according to a law enforcement source.

An autopsy showed that the child died of “traumatic injuries” inflicted during a “homicide assault,” a coroner’s spokesman said.

Sheriff’s detectives said Neal, who was booked at the sheriff’s East Los Angeles station and was being held without bail, had shown an unusual interest in the case, stopping to talk with detectives several times during their investigation.

On the day the body was found, Neal, who was unemployed, was observed riding a bicycle in the vicinity of the nursery while detectives investigated the crime scene, investigators said. He repeatedly rode the bike inside an area that had been roped off and was admonished by a detective, an onlooker said.

Neal was also interviewed that day by a Times reporter. He told the reporter that he and Carlos had played video games at a neighborhood market on the evening of Aug. 8--the day before Carlos’ body was found.

Neal told the reporter that he then left Carlos and traveled to Los Angeles. He said he returned about midnight to find police combing the area, searching for the child.

Carlos’ parents, Mario and Sixto Adame, had reported him missing to Azusa police about 9:40 p.m. on Aug. 8. They said he had last been seen at Valleydale Park near his home.

Azusa police searched for Carlos, the eldest of four children, throughout the night. Then they appealed for public help. Less than two hours later, his body was found.

Neal was arrested at his residence in the 5200 block of Banewell Avenue, several blocks from the Adame home, Grant said.