A Woodland Hills man will be charged with murder for allegedly shooting up a 13-year-old boy with heroin, killing the child, police said Thursday.
[Update at 2:20 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 10, 2012: Brett Michael Cronin faces one count each of murder, furnishing or administering heroin to a minor and child abuse. Both the drug count and the child abuse counts carry allegations of great bodily injury and that the victim died, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.]
LAPD Det. Dave Peteque told NBC4 that Cronin had injected himself with heroin and then administered the narcotic to the child, who died some time after.
The boy, whose name was not released, had gone to spend the night at a friend's house Tuesday night, the homicide detective said.
Cronin, who was arrested Wednesday night, is the older brother of the boy's friend, Peteque said.
The boy went into convulsions soon after the injection, Peteque said. But Cronin, apparently in a panic, did not call for help, the detective said.
The next morning, paramedics came to the Manton Ave. residence and found the boy deceased, but with no apparent cause of death.
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There were no track marks on the boy, or any indication that he had ever been injected with heroin before, Peteque said.
“It’s a horrific death,” Peteque said.
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