Attorneys Challenge Account of Stabbing : Agoura Hills: Death of James Farris III resulted from a dope deal that went sour, not a burglary, they say.

SYLMAR —  A police detective’s son was stabbed to death in Agoura Hills in a fight over a marijuana deal gone wrong, not because his assailants were trying to burglarize a teen-ager’s back-yard “clubhouse,” defense attorneys for the alleged killers said Tuesday.

The defense version of the death of James Farris III was given Tuesday as a 15-year-old Thousand Oaks boy and a 17-year-old Agoura Hills youth pleaded not guilty to the killing in Sylmar juvenile court. Prosecutors are seeking to have both juveniles tried as adults on murder charges.

A third suspect, Brandon Hein, 18, of Oak Park, pleaded not guilty to a murder charge last week. A fourth suspect, Jason Holland, 18, of Thousand Oaks is still at large.

James was stabbed to death May 22 in what the prosecution contends was an attempt by the four youths to steal items from the “clubhouse” where James’ friend Mike McLoren, 16, lived in the back yard of his family’s home.

Varying accounts have been given of the fight. While James’ family and friends said James was trying to protect Mike during a robbery attempt, defense attorney John Franklin said the battle was the result of a marijuana deal, though he would not say who was buying or selling the drug.

Sheriff’s Detective Bill Neumann said the youths had been stealing property from the clubhouse, but said he is unsure of the details of the fight.

All three suspects in custody have also been charged with robbery.

The youths went to the clubhouse, located behind the house where Mike’s grandparents, mother and aunt live, about 7 p.m., authorities have said.

Bruce Jones, the attorney for the 17-year-old suspect, said his client waited in a pickup while the three other suspects and a fourth youth--a 17-year-old who has not been named as a suspect--went inside.

Jones said the fifth youth held James in a headlock. Jason Holland “pulled out a knife in the middle of what was a classic teen-age fistfight” and stabbed James, Franklin said.

James died a short time later at Westlake Medical Center; Mike was taken to UCLA Medical Center, where he is expected to recover.

The youths fled in the pickup, Jones said, not telling the driver--his client--what had happened. “There wasn’t any blood on anyone,” he said.

Neumann said the suspects were identified by Mike after the stabbing but Jones said the identification of his client was a case of mistaken identity.

Jones said at the arraignment Tuesday that four people can testify that the fifth teen-ager told them about his part in the stabbing. The other youth said he was going to surrender to authorities May 23, Jones said, but has vanished.

A hearing was scheduled for June 6 to determine if Jones’ client can be freed. “I have a very sweet, very clean client who is being kept in custody with a bunch of hard cases,” Jones said.

Jones said that about an hour and 20 minutes after the stabbing, the five youths were pulled over by a sheriff’s deputy in the Agoura area. The deputy frisked them and found a knife on Holland, Jones said. Unaware of the killing, the deputy returned the knife and let all five go, Jones said.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Laura Boland-Priver confirmed that the suspects were stopped by authorities at some point after the stabbings, but was not certain if a knife was found on any of them.

The knife has not been recovered.

Hein and the 15-year-old were arrested the next day, and the 17-year-old, accompanied by his family and Jones, turned himself in that afternoon.

On Tuesday, Holland’s mother, Sharry Holland, issued a statement expressing sympathy for the Farris family.

“My son Jason is still outstanding. I have not heard from him nor do I know where he is,” the statement reads. “Nothing can change a mother’s love for her children, even through such great sadness and sorrow. I don’t understand why or how something like this could have happened, but I will always love him.”