Youth Kills Boy, 4, Over Cigarettes, Police Say

SAN BERNARDINO —  A 15-year-old youth shot a 4-year-old to death inside a home methamphetamine lab because the younger boy didn’t get cigarettes fast enough, police said Monday.

“The 15-year-old told him to get him his cigarettes and he didn’t, and so he shot him,” said Sgt. Brad Ringnes. “It’s a strange world.”

Rudy Padilla, 4, and his 5-year-old brother were at home when the 15-year-old boy, who was not related to the younger boys, told them to find some cigarettes, Police Lt. W.D. Smith said.

The boys searched in the kitchen trash can for butts but apparently didn’t return quickly enough, Smith said.

The boy was hit in the abdomen by a blast from a sawed-off shotgun Sunday and taken to San Bernardino County Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, Ringnes said.

The 15-year-old, whose identity was withheld, was arrested on suspicion of murder and placed in Juvenile Hall. He told authorities that the shooting was an accident.

A 20-gauge sawed-off shotgun with an empty yellow casing still in the breech and duct tape on the handle was found in some weeds in an alley behind the home. The 15-year-old apparently tried to hide the gun after the shooting and returned to the house, Smith said.

The 5-year-old, who was not identified, was not hurt.

The victim’s mother, Marlene Lerma, 24, and her boyfriend, Jeremiah Koenig, 19, were arrested for investigation of child endangerment and maintaining a methamphetamine lab. They were held at the West Valley Detention Center. The shotgun belonged to Koenig, police said.