In Thursday, KIRO 7 got a first look at a 15-year-old boy who is being prosecuted as an adult for murder.
In a Kent courtroom, Alexander Crisostomo pleaded not guilty to shooting and killing 41-year-old Carl Phelps in a Des Moines parking lot during an argument.
Crisostomo showed little emotion in the courtroom.
A juvenile court judge previously ruled he should be tried as an adult.
On May 6, police say, Crisostomo was in the parking lot of an apartment complex when Phelps walked up with two bikes. His family told KIRO 7 he had planned to sell one.
Police say the teens got into a verbal argument with Phelps and one of the teens pushed him off a bike.
Police say Crisostomo told them Phelps punched him, so he panicked and shot Phelps with a gun he'd stolen two weeks before.
Phelps' daughter talked to KIRO 7 after the shooting in May.
"If my dad would've never run into these kids," said Marisa Phelps, "I would still have my dad."
On Tuesday, only a brother of Crisostomo was in court.
But his attorney, James Womack, told KIRO 7 anchor John Knicely of a touching moment between the families of the victim and the suspect at a previous hearing.
"I was just amazed and struck by the dignity of both these families," said Womack.
"The families came together and embraced and seemed to relate to their mutual losses in this case."
Crisostomo will remain behind bars at the Kent Regional Justice Center on $1 million bail. His next court appearance is set for April 5.
Fifteen-year-old Chris Martinez was the only other person charged in connection to the murder.
He pleaded guilty in juvenile court to burglary and stealing a gun and a car. He was credited for time served and is on probation.
Cox Media Group
