Instead of returning to campus, however, the boy detoured to a quiet residential street. She said he appeared anxious, and she became increasingly alarmed. He told her that he was thinking of committing suicide. She urged that they return to school to get help from a counselor. He told her: "It isn't going to happen that way."
He also said that he was going to kill himself and that he wasn't going to do it alone. She reached for the backpack, believing that he had a gun inside, but he pulled out a claw hammer instead and began striking her on the head and face.
She used her arms and hands to try to cover herself while fending off the blows. With her legs, she pinned him to the driver's side door.
A witness who was walking on the street with a neighbor said, "Arms were flying. It looked bad. We couldn't believe it."
As police were called, the boy got out of the car, went to the passenger side, pulled the girl from the car by her hair and continued the assault until the hammer broke. He then began to choke her. To save her life, she bit his finger. He screamed and said "I'm done."
The boy got back in the car and sped off, said the witness, who asked to remain anonymous, fearing reprisal. As the girl sought help, her shattered leg gave way, and she collapsed in the street.
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carla.rivera@latimes.com
andrew.blankstein@latimes.com
