D.A. Won’t File Charges in Death of Boy in Fight

The district attorney’s office said Friday that it would not file charges against a Palmdale boy who threw a punch that killed a 13-year-old classmate, saying the boy was acting in self-defense.

Stephan Corson died after being punched in the face by a 14-year-old boy in a schoolyard fight Nov. 19. After reviewing witness accounts, prosecutors concluded that Stephan had started the fight.

“While there are inconsistencies in the statements of a few of the witnesses, the weight of the evidence demonstrates that the conflict was initiated by the decedent,” the district attorney’s office said in a statement.

“It cannot be proved beyond a reasonable doubt that [the 14-year-old] . . . used any force beyond necessary to defend himself,” the statement said, adding that the boy’s actions “constituted excusable homicide.”

The father of the 14-year-old, whose name is being withheld because of his age, said Friday’s decision ended weeks of anxiety.

“I knew my son hadn’t done anything wrong, but we hadn’t heard anything, so of course I started to worry,” the father said. “We’re both pretty relieved now.”

Both families had complained that the D.A.’s office was taking too long to resolve the case. Sheriff’s investigators concluded their interviews four months ago, and the case file had been sitting in a prosecutor’s office since mid-February, according to a district attorney spokeswoman.

The Corson family had been expecting the other boy to be charged with manslaughter. On Friday, they were devastated by the district attorney’s decision. Stephan’s mother, Mary, was too distraught to talk and his older brother, Jay, was furious.

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From the beginning, Stephan’s family and others have raised concerns that racism was playing a role in how authorities were handling the case. Stephan was black and the other boy is white.

“You know that if a black boy killed a white boy in a fight, that black boy would be locked up right away,” said Jay Corson, 26. “My brother’s life was worth a hell of a lot. This is completely unfair.”

According to Los Angeles County sheriff’s reports, Stephan and the other boy started arguing in class after a paper-throwing incident at Juniper Intermediate School.

Once class let out, Stephan threw down his backpack and charged the other boy, according to 11 students who witnessed the fight.

One student, whose statements clashed with the other witnesses, told authorities the other boy threw the first punch, not Stephan, according to the district attorney’s report.

The two rolled around on the ground slugging each other before a teacher intervened. The teacher said that, after she pried the two apart, Stephan “reached around her and punched [the other boy]),” who “punched back and the decedent fell, striking his head on a concrete surface,” according to the report.

A coroner’s report determined that Stephan died of acute spinal cord injury from blunt force trauma.

Stephan’s family does not believe he started the fight and said the other boy must have provoked him.

Students in the classroom, however, told detectives that Stephan picked the fight after the other boy had been ordered by the teacher to pick up scraps of paper. As the boy cleaned up the mess, they said, Stephan threw more paper on the floor--and started an argument with the other boy when he refused to pick it up.

Stephan’s mother has blamed teachers for not stopping the fight earlier. Last month, she filed a $10-million wrongful-death lawsuit against the Palmdale School District, contending that the fight was a result of poor supervision.

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The other boy was at home in Palmdale, doing a book report with his father, when the phone rang Friday afternoon. The father, a teacher in the Palmdale School District, said he felt an immense sense of relief wash over him when he learned no charges would be filed. Then he broke the news to his son.

“I said to him: “The district attorney decided that you didn’t do anything wrong,’ ” the father said.

“And then he asked me: ‘Who’s the district attorney?’ ”