Elvin William Reyes Rosa, 16, charged with fatally stabbing his grandmother and wounding his brother, was brought on Thursday to Courtroom 404 of the Bayamón Court for what was to be the start of his preliminary hearing, but the proceeding did not begin. His defense said it will file a motion under Rule 240 of Criminal Procedure over his mental and/or functional incapacity, and told the court the teenager is afraid at the Correctional Medical Center.
Defense attorney Lizette Meléndez Lozada said he "doesn’t stop saying he feels afraid where he is, that he’s trembling, that the adults say things to him, bother him," and asked the court to see how the Correction Department can provide him security. Judge David G. Calderón Cordero ordered that the pertinent steps be taken with the agency, noting for the record that the teen should be among young adults, not the adult population.
Prosecutor Gabriel Redondo Miranda said Correction has an active protocol, that Reyes Rosa is in an area alone, and that provisions have been taken. Reyes Rosa is being tried as an adult on three counts of first-degree murder, attempted murder and a Weapons Law violation for allegedly killing his grandmother, Lourdes Pérez Mercado, 67, and wounding his brother, Jeremy Cabrera Rosa, 22, with a bladed weapon.
The attack occurred on the afternoon of Saturday, September 26, outside the Pepe Ganga store at the Santa María Shopping Center in Guaynabo. Police seized a knife and a car at the scene. He entered the courtroom at 9:12 AM, shackled and in a yellow inmate uniform, with nearly shaved hair, and sat at the back without speaking.