Questions remain after shooting death of boy
BY VINCENT TODARO
Staff Writer

EAST BRUNSWICK - Last month's shooting death of a 12-year-old boy was tragic for family and friends of the involved parties, but it also left the community wondering how and why it happened.

The June 26 death of Alexander Khoudiakov sent shockwaves through the community, particularly since the alleged shooter was his 11-year-old friend. The incident occurred at the friend's condominium on Cypress Lane.

Last week, the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office brought charges including aggravated manslaughter against the 11-year-old, identified only as "MG," and charged his father and grandmother with child endangerment for failure to secure firearms from children. Authorities reportedly confiscated 98 guns from the house and more than 1,600 rounds of ammunition.

Residents told the Sentinel there's no way an adult should have left a loaded gun in a place that could be accessed by a child.

Walter Decker, a retired state police captain, called the incident "a tragedy" and said the gun "should have been under lock and key."

MG is accused of firing the shot from a .38-caliber revolver, though authorities said the boy did not know it was loaded. The boy's father, Michael Guerriero, 46, was at work at the time of the shooting. The shooter's grandmother, Josephine Guerriero, 72, was home at the time. The shooting occurred in one of the bedrooms in the home.

In addition to the manslaughter charge, MG faces an aggravated assault charge and a hindering charge for allegedly stating that the gun was fired accidentally.

If convicted, the boy could face up to four years in a juvenile detention center, while the father and grandmother would face a maximum of 17 years in prison and a $176,000 fine.

Decker said many people make the mistake of thinking the gun they're in possession of is not loaded. He said he knows of many people, including police officers in the past, who thought their gun was empty and accidentally shot themselves when they went to clean the weapon.

Township Council President Nanny Pinkin agreed the guns should have been locked up, away from the reach of children.

Pinkin, who said she is opposed to gun possession in the first place, said the whole incident should never have happened.

As for the charge against the boy, she said, "11 years old is 11 years old," and that the adults need to be held responsible for the boy's actions.

Lawrence Bitterman, a New Brunswick attorney representing the alleged shooter, has declined to comment to the Sentinel, but told The Star-Ledger that the shooting was an accident altogether. He said the gun was fired inadvertently during horseplay between the boys.

"There was no intention on [his client's] part to pull the trigger at all," Bitterman told the newspaper. "The victim reached out for the gun," causing the trigger to be pulled accidentally.

Authorities said, however, that the crime scene and forensic evidence suggested that the boy pointed the gun at Alexander's face and pulled the trigger, although he was under the impression the gun was not loaded.

Township resident and local attorney Daniel Brown said he would not want to be the one responsible for determining the charges. On the one hand, the parent of any child killed would want the perpetrator to be punished severely. On the flip side, no amount of jail time will bring the deceased child back, he said.

He said adults do have a responsibility to keep guns away from the reach of children.

"It was an obscene amount of ammunition," he said of the reported 98 firearms in the house. "It almost sounded like a military stockpile. [The adults] can't turn around and be surprised."

Decker said the charges against the boy seem harsh, but he would not be surprised to see a plea bargain result if MG is indicted. The harsher charges give the Prosecutor's Office some leeway in negotiating such an agreement with the defense, he said.