The 12-year-old boy charged with fatally stabbing his sister in Central California is doing “well” considering going through “really difficult times,” his lawyer said.
The boy is accused of murdering his sister, Leila Fowler, who was found stabbed to death in her family’s Valley Springs home last month.
Lawyers Mark Reichel and Steve Plesser described the boy’s situation to NBC News.
“He’s actually doing very well right now,” Reichel said. “As well as can be expected in these really difficult times.”
The boy is currently held at a juvenile detention facility.
Reichel said he does not know if the boy, who was arrested over the weekend, will be able to visit with his family.
The boy’s father, Barney Fowler, told The Associated Press he stands by the boy “until they have the proper evidence to show it’s my son.”
The boy told authorities he found his sister stabbed to death after an intruder broke into the house. But after a two-week manhunt, police determined there was no intruder and arrested the boy.
Residents were saddened that the boy was responsible but were relieved to hear that there was no murder suspect on the loose.
“When it first happened, it was a shock — a stranger coming into a home and slaughtering a little girl,” Fidel Taylor told the Los Angeles Times. “But the story didn’t make sense.”
