. >> weekdays on ktvu, channel 2 news at 5:00, complete bay area news coverage. [ music ] teenagers and gun violence. they are too often the victims and too often the perpetrators. tonight what really what happens when a bullet rips through your body. it is not like the movies. a football coach tries to move boys away from the streets before the violence can claim them. and the debate over trying juveniles as adults all straight ahead on "second look." good evening, i'm julie haener. and this is "second look." late last month berkeley police responded to a call that has become all too common, not just in the bay area but across the

country. a 14-year-old boy was shot in the head and died a week later. he was a promising athlete whose life ended before it really began. and his family joins so many others mourning for a lost child and lamenting the easy availability of guns. ktvu's janna katsuyama first brought us this report on november 1st, two days after the shooting. >> reporter: this home video shows larry malik greyson several years ago. the family says he was a budding athlete with a big future and a big smile. but saturday afternoon the 14- year-old boy was brought too highland hospital after being shot once through the head. >> my baby is just laying un there. >> reporter: his parents say their son has never been a trouble maker. always been kindhearted and well loved. >> at the school he worked with the children and he went to the practice and came home. and everybody loved my baby because they know he is a good kid. everybody loved my child.

>> he don't like guns. he is not into the streets. you know, he is an average kid. still liked cartoons. >> yes. >> he is just a big baby. >> malik's parents say he went to visit his friend at the friend's house. it appears he was shot inside an apartment on the 1500 block at 3:30 saturday afternoon. neighbors say police searched the area for a gun but didn't know where to find one. >> nobody even know where the gun is coming from. there are more guns than pencils and books. >> reporter: they a 17-year-old in custody and plan to talk to the attorney tomorrow. the football coach know both teams and there are only questions. >> it is really sad. nobody really know what him and the league happen. we know his family, too. >> reporter: malik's family and friends say they hope young people will realize just how dangerous guns can be. >> it is not like video games.

if it hits somebody you are not going to get right back up. malik got shot in the head. >> reporter: perhaps the most troubling aspect of urban violence in the bay area is the age of in of the victims and of many of the perpetrators. authorities say they are seeing an increasing number of teenagers getting shot or doing the shooting. but some point have dedicated themselves to try to set young people straight. ktvu's david stevenson first brought us this report in september. on a blazingly hot afternoon in emeryville adults at this practice said the game could mean the difference between life and death for these pint- sighed players. >> we have got to hold this together. >> reporter: 14 years ago johnson lost an adult son to gun violence. today she is trying to keep her grandchildren alive and safe. >> i try to work hard and keep them in programs, youth programs as much as i can and participate as a parent and do what i can to keep them off the streets. >> reporter: the street is where oakland police and the

social service groups say more and more children are being shot or shooting each other. police say that with about 405 shootings in oakland so far this year, 115 of the victims were minors. police say 156 of the suspects were underaged 18. and there is more fire power on the street. >> some of the guns that they are using now, i mean, they used to be maybe a revolver. you know, maybe 10 years ago. now these kids are in possession of automatic weapons. rifles. >> reporter: police and teens say part of the problem is guns are too easily available. >> can i buy a gun right now if i really wanted to. you can just go ask around if you know some people in gangs or something. i need to buy a gun. i've got $200. okay. i've got you. i will hit you back later. >> teenagers know exactly where they can go and get a gun. but it would take them days to figure out how to enroll in school. >> reporter: stanley visits young shooting victims in the hospital. the goal of her promise caught

in the cross-fire is to help them recover and to help prevent retaliation. this summer her clients were as young as 13-year-old. >> i have never heard of kids i am going to beat up somebody else. i will go back and shoot someone. >> reporter: stanley looks for adult mentores to help children caught up in violence. >> if there is a parent available there may not be a caregiver available and nothing but friend. a lot of times these are other people that are often involved in the same criminal activity that they are involved in. so there is definitely been a breakdown in the family structure. >> one of the challenges about the age group of 10 or 11-year- old is that that is the group where some of the gangs start their recruiting. >> reporter: alameda county district attorney nancy says gangs often use the children to carry drugs or guns. she says the priority is keeping children in school and identifying those at risk. >> the das office work closely with the police department and the school district particularly is starting to identify kids in second and third grade. because that's a place where we

really have the opportunity to identify what is the problem. >> they can get a gun quicker than they can get a pistol now. >> reporter: this coach's nephew was blinded in a gun shooting. half of the battle towards keeping children safe is keeping them in school. >> you play sports and go to school. your grade point average will get you out of here. >> reporter: the goal is to get young people out of the cross- fire and headed towards a brighter future. >> still to come on "second look." >> he requires care 24/7. someone to wipe his back. someone to feed him. >> the gruesome reality of getting shot by a gun. it's part of teaching teens that begun violence in real life is nothing like the movies. and a bit later, the controversy over trying juveniles as adults.

. when teenagers go to the movies, gun fights look simple. someone is shot and then patched up so quickly they don't even miss the big chase scene at the end of the film. reality is different. and here in the bay area there is an effort to teach teens what a gunshot really does to the human body. bob mckenzie first brought us this report six years ago. >> reporter: another week in the bay area, another teenager shot dead. do the youngsters who do the shooting really know what a bullet does to a human body? (gunshot). >> reporter: but the end of this story they will. jason as we will call him in this report is one of the lucky ones. he can walk and talk. though he can't feel anything in his left leg, can't digest his food well because half his colon is missing and deals with pain daily. jason says he was walking in east oakland when a stranger in a passing car shot him twice with a 38 caliber handgun.

>> it just stung right away because it went in and out the first time it hit my hip. it just stung. the second one hit my stomach and i fell on the ground. and my legs went numb. i couldn't feel my legs. >> reporter: the first shrug chipped off a piece of jason's left hip and tore through his abdomen, rupturing the vena cava a large blood vessel. his stomach filled with blood. the second shrug destroyed his colon and exited through his back. doctors at highland hospital saved his life. but he will never be the same. >> anybody who has been shot can have if they survive they may be permanently injured, you know, incapacitied from a brain injury, spinal cord injury where they can never walk again. maybe in a persistent state where they never talking to their relatives again. >> reporter: if young people really understood the damage bullets do would they be less inclined to shoot? the hayward police department believes so and sponsors

meetings at the hospital for teenagers considered at risk. >> now he requires care 24/7. and someone to wipe his butt. someone to feed him. >> reporter: michael keaton a trauma nurse at eaton doesn't spare the grizzly details. >> for the most part young people, they are thinking along the line that they are invincible. and that's the problem. until someone in their neighborhood or in that group or click that they run with sustains an injury, then it brings it home. >> reporter: the youngsters in the class haven't committed any crimes. but they are showing behavior, fighting, cutting school, that makes them candidates for violence. >> you know, if you wanted a gun yourself, would you be able to get one in your neighborhood? >> yes. >> you would. >> how long would it take you? >> not very long. like a day. >> reporter: parents attend the class and even some grandparents. >> well, they were saying today that the safest place is in school. that's not all together true because there is a lot of crime in the school.

the kids are carrying weapons. they are on drugs. it's just a difficult time for kids. >> reporter: just what does a bullet do to a human body? to find out we went to the santa clara's shooting range in san jose where we hung up a 40- pound section of bev. the medical examiner i don't see self ohora would evaluate the results. don who heads the county sniper team put hollow points bullets in his 40 caliber sidearm. (gunshot). >> reporter: that ripped that right open. >> it sure did. >> reporter: it didn't just go in there. >> right. >> reporter: it kind of exploded it this way. look at this. >> precisely. >> reporter: that's what it does to your body? >> exactly. >> reporter: so those hollow point bullets just spread out. >> sure. >> reporter: and any vital organs that are there will get splattered. >> the damage done by a bullet high velocity are a temporary cavity that's formed as the

bullet goes thru the tissue. and the higher powered round it is, the larger that cavity can be. as that cavity expands as the bullet goes through the tissue, the nerves, blood vessels and any connecting blood tissue are all lacerated. >> reporter: all mangled. >> yes, sir. >> reporter: he tried out a variety of weapons some of them illegal but all available to criminals with the money to buy them, including machine guns. (gunshots). >> people they think, you know, in the movies you kind of get callous to it. but in actuality it's very, you know, devastating. >> reporter: a message that police hope will spread among the bay area teenagers. >> when we come back on "second look." >> what do you do with that? he is tried as an adult. >> are too many juveniles being tried as adults? the controversy over how prosecutors charge some young offenders. and a bit later police can

gather the evidence but what happens to the case if there aren't enough people to process the clues? ktvu, channel 2 news in the morning, local news, life drive time traffic and the weather in the area where you live. dave clark, pam cook, ktvu, channel 2 news in the morning weekdays starting at 5 a.m.

. in recent years, the suspects in some of the way bay area's most violent and deadly crimes have been under the age of 15. juveniles. juvenile court sentences aren't nearly as harsh as those handed out to adults and many young criminals know that. but prosecutors have fought back and charged some juveniles as adults. is it fair or does it deprive young people of the opportunity to be rehabilitated? in 2005, ktvu's reporter looked at the issues involved in trying juveniles as adults. >> reporter: many of the people who live here in richmond are all too familiar with the sights and sounds of crime in their city. richmond has the highest per capita rate of serious crime in the state. >> i have seen it so many times. it's sad. but kids are used to it. the community is used to it. >> reporter: jackson and his neighbors want a change. they want to get tough with

juvenile offenders. >> kids that commit murders alone, they are getting younger and younger and younger. >> they should be charged you know as an adult. if you do an adult crime you should get charged as an adult. >> reporter: and in contra costa, more than in any other bay area county the district attorney's office is using its authority to force juvenile suspects into adult court where sentences can be much, much longer. five years ago california voters changed the law to allow prosecutors to direct files. that is sentencing juveniles to adult court without asking the judge for permission. last month the da sent the now 17-year-old scott directly into adult court. he is accused of beating and stabbing his neighbor 53-year- old pamela to death. 16-year-old darren is one of the youngest people to be charged as an adult in contra costa county. he is accused of gunning down

an 18-year-old football star kelly last year on the streets of richmond. his attorney does not believe his client should be tried as an adult. >> he was 15 years and two months old at the time that this -- the homicide occurred. he was in the 9th grade. and he was a child. >> reporter: deputy public defender jonathan lava argues that sentencing juvenile offenders as adults does not recognize that they are immature and don't consider the risks and consequences of their actions. but richmond police say they believe charging teens as adults has helped reduce violent crime by juveniles. >> i see the way crimes used to be committed as juveniles were primarily precluded to do the dirty work to carry the drugs and the guns. with some of the sentencing and interventions now, that is no longer the case. >> reporter: lava says not true, that juvenile crime has been trending down for a decade. and he believes there is another problem.

he says in california far more minorites are charged as adults. >> african americans, asian american and hispanics are 3-4 times as likely to be charged in adult court than our whites. and that's certainly a very significant concern. >> reporter: richmond minister andre shoemake helped darren turn himself in to the police. he claims the problem was direct filing teens as adults runs much deeper. >> it's because they are coming from a particular neighborhood. and so we are going to try any and everyone coming out of that neighborhood as an adult. north richmond is the case in point. >> when i view a case, i don't -- i look at it in a color blind manner. and i look at the circumstances of the case. and of all of the case that is have been directly filed, that has been consistent. >> reporter: so how does the prosecution decide which teens to charge as adults? con extra costa county deputy district attorney dan cabral says there are several criteria. the most important is the severity of the crime. >> it is murder.

that is in and of itself the most heinous crime that there is. so we look at a murder and we're probably going to directly file that without any consideration or concern about what this individual's behavioral background is. >> reporter: in the last year, the district attorney's office has direct filed all of four of its juvenile murder cases, plus six other cases ranging from sexual assault to attempted murder to robbery. as juvenile offenders, darren proctor and scott would have rehabilitation programs available in custody. most juveniles offenders are lee released at age 25. but in adult court both face life in prison. >> the community just does not benefit from having people locked up for these very lengthy periods of time or for the rest of their life for an offense that was committed at a time when they were a child. >> reporter: and on the streets of richmond, the debate continues. >> a child is a child. and what crime or behavior changes that fact? none. >> if they don't get charged as

an adult they are getting away with it. >> reporter: and in con extra costa county that opinion appears to be the one that's prevailing. a little over a year after that report, a jury in adult court found darren proctor guilty of murder. the judge gave him the maximum sentence the law allowed. ktvu brought us that news in january of 2007. >> reporter: last october the injure found proctor guilty of first degree murder. today the defense attorney pleaded for leniency given the defendants age. he is now 17. but judge laurel brady handed down the stiffest penalty possible. 50 years to life behind bars. hugging outside the courthouse, the victim's father and the prosecutor said justice was served. >> you take a life, your life needs to be taken. because if you was in my shoes, you would expect the same result. he acted like a grown man and he killed like a grown man. and he is not a child.

chronologically age wise he may be young. but his maturity level and getting a gun and gunning down a person is not the act of a child. >> reporter: kelly was killed just days before he was supposed to leave for the university of oregon on a football scholarship. what would have been his university jersey was on display at his funeral. after seeing his son's life cut short, the elderly kelly started a foundation in his slain son's name, trying to help troubled youth stay off the streets. >> but i just ask the people in the community, we got to do something to save these kids. form programs, form togetherness, get back that -- bring back that village that we lost. >> reporter: the shooter's mother and father say they will help their son appeal the sentence. and that while they do not in any way condone what he did, they stand behind their son. >> always going to be there. i will never turn my back on him. i am in prison, too. i will always be there.

>> reporter: when we come back on "second look" find out how oakland's budget crisis is delaying some criminal cases for months.

. the oakland police department has a huge problem. it's built up an enormous backlog in processing evidence. that is delaying some case investigations for months. department officials say the problem boils down to money. they don't have enough of it to hire the people they need to do the work. ktvu's john sasaki first brought brought us this report in early november. >> reporter: this is the spot in east oakland where 13-year- old clark was shot and killed two months ago. the case of the well licked inarticulate athletically gifted boy remains unsolved. >> i don't know how i feel. i really don't know how i feel. >> reporter: his mother didn't want to be identified but she talked to me and seemed to have little patience for the stalled police investigation. >> i feel like it really shouldn't take this long because they shoot the police

and they find out within a matter of second. they shoot a child, a 13-year- old child and it has taken months. >> reporter: her complaint has a familiar ring to it, especially considering how bad things are inside one of the police department's most important divisions. >> one thing that we do is a trigger pole test. so that's how much force is required to pull the trigger. >> reporter: this is the firearms testing area of the police crime lab. like several other sections it has a major backlog of cases. >> the backlog right now is about 1500 requests. >> reporter: also backed up are the dna testing sections, about 900 cases. and the fingerprint section. >> backlog in this area is about 900 cases. >> reporter: that all adds up to a crime lab back lock of 3300 cases which can lead to delays of six to 12 months. >> you want to help everybody at the caldwell police department. but in actual reality we are not able to did that.

>> reporter: this isn't just car burglary and vandalism cases. >> we are dealing with sexual assaults. you have lots of homicides, shootings and a lot of drug cases. >> reporter: the police department is counting a $371 federal grant it is receiving to catch up on sexual assault cases because currently it can take months for those to receive attention. this was the scene after a recent police chase of a stolen car. the car was totalled and the suspect was taken into custody. crime scene evidence technicians feel first hand the financial difficulties and the major backlog the department faces. >> it's impossible for our technicians to even catch up without having to break for another call. like i left the office to come here. i broke from another call. >> having more personnel in the crime lab would be ideal for our investigators to be able to have that quicker turnaround so we can prosecute people or actually go out there and arrest the perpetrators. >> reporter: so what would it take to catch up on all of the case inside the crime lab

manager says more than $2 million in additional funding to double the staff would help. >> and we would probably be doing pretty well then. >> reporter: that would be going from a current staffing level of 24 people to 48. but the department doesn't even have the money to fill four authorized positions. >> i think if we were able just to fill the authorized positions that we have, we would be a move in the right direction. >> reporter: this is just one more case that could get caught up in the backlog, 6, 9, even 12 months. right now the police say the solution is nowhere insight. [ music ] >> and that's it for this week's "second look." i'm julie haener. thank you for watching.