Teenage Boy Faces Life In Prison For Killing 2-Year-Old Half- Brother

A 13-year-old Florida boy whose life
was plagued with violence and
neglect went from victim to
perpetrator when he allegedly beat
to death his two-year-old half-
brother and sexually assaulted
another sibling.
A year after the vicious attacks,
Cristian Fernandez has been
charged as an adult and is now the
youngest inmate awaiting trial in
Duval County, Florida, reported
WTSP.com, and if convicted, he could face life in prison.
At age two, Fernandez was found unclad and dirty wandering a South Florida street at 4
a.m. while under the 'care' of his grandmother, who had kept him in a dirty, cocaine-
filled motel room. His mother, who was only 14 at the time, was nowhere to be found
and both she and her son ended up being sent into foster care.
Born into violence after being conceived during a sexual assault, life did not get easier
for the boy, who was sexually abused by a cousin at age eight and then severely beaten
by his stepfather, who then committed suicide before the police came to arrest him. His
only defense against the nightmarish childhood was to quash his emotions, "You got to
suck up feelings and get over it," he once told a counsellor.
Other disturbing incidences reported to the Department of Children and Families
included claims that he killed a kitten, simulated sex with classmates and
m*st*u*r*b*a*ted at school.
Now, Judge Mallory Cooper faces a legal and moral dilemma as to whether a child so
young should face life in prison, and whether he can understand the complex issues
surrounding his own case and if he understood his rights during police interrogation.
The defense wants the charges dismissed on the grounds that the U.S. Supreme Court
recently ruled that it is unconstitutional for juvenile offenders to get mandatory life
sentences without parole, and they therefore can't advise their client as to what kind of
sentence he could face.
The controversial case has sparked an outpouring of support from local residents such
as Carol Torres, who has created a Facebook page for him. "He should be rehabilitated
and have a second chance at life," said Torres, 51, whose grandson went to school with
Fernandez.