Pennsylvania fifth grader still in prison
Tom Eley ■ Ten-year-old Tristin Kurilla has now been held in a solitary prison cell at Honesdale, Pennsylvania, for over three weeks. Charged as an adult, Kurilla is accused of murder in the October 11 killing of 90-year-old Helen Novak at his grandfather’s home near Scranton. There is no indication that he will be released or moved to a juvenile facility any time soon. A representative for the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office, which is trying the case, told the World Socialist Web Site that no determination has been made as to whether or not the boy will be prosecuted as an adult—in which case he could face life imprisonment. The next court date is a preliminary hearing scheduled for November 19. [...] Kurilla is charged on the basis of his own confession, gathered without the presence of an attorney. State Trooper John Decker took the affidavit, allegedly at the insistence of Martha Virbitsky, the boy’s mother. Kurilla said he did not intend to kill Novak. He was nonetheless charged as an adult with first degree murder. [...] On Friday, while millions of American children his age dressed up and went trick-or-treating for Halloween, Kurilla spent his 21st night alone in jail. Days after his imprisonment it was reported that Kurilla described his orange prison jump suit was a Halloween costume “that he would probably never wear.”