DNA ties eighth-grader's slaying to classmate

MIAMI - Authorities said DNA evidence released Tuesday shows that blood on a jacket and sneaker in a 14-year-old boy's backpack came from the best friend he is charged with killing in a middle school restroom.

Police also found Jaime Gough's blood on a pocket knife and latex gloves that were found in fellow eighth-grader Michael Hernandez's backpack after Jaime bled to death in a handicapped stall before classes began Feb. 3 at Southwood Middle School. He had suffered more than 40 wounds to his neck, face and hands.

Hernandez faces a mandatory life prison sentence if convicted as an adult of first-degree murder. His attorney, Richard Rosenbaum, is pursuing an insanity defense.

Rosenbaum was traveling Tuesday and not immediately available for comment on the latest disclosures.

The knife was found "inside a hidden area" in one of the compartments of Hernandez's backpack, a crime scene investigator wrote in a report two days after the killing. Blood was found on both sides of the 4-inch blade of the black-handled pocket knife.

Michael confessed on the night of the killing without offering a motive. A schoolmate in the affluent suburb of Palmetto Bay also identified Michael as the boy he saw in the restroom with Gough's body.

Another bit of information disclosed by prosecutors as part of the pretrial process: Police who went to Michael's home last month seized two cards each that he had written to his mother, father and sister. The cards themselves were not released.

Prosecutors had already released contents of three notebooks written by Michael. In one, he wrote that he wanted to become a serial killer. He had a hit list that included Jaime, another friend and his sister, and had written an eight-point plan for killing both boys in the restroom the day before Jaime died.

Florida headlines

© Copyright 2002-2004 St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved. Standard of Accuracy