CARLSBAD, Calif. (KGTV) – The 17-year-old’s grandmother accused of stabbing Lisa Thorborg to death on a Carlsbad hiking trail in November does not believe her grandson may have committed the crime.
Christie Hernandez said she spoke to her grandson, Haloa Beaudet, shortly after Tuesday’s virtual hearing, where new surveillance images were revealed and the judge allowed the teenager’s name to be released. The images of his face were banned from being released to the public.
“[He said] ‘I’m strong. I will be positive. You are daddy [don’t need to] concern. Tell everyone in the family that I’m fine and I’ll be home soon, “Hernandez told ABC 10News.
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On Wednesday, the prosecutor’s office confirmed that it had filed a motion to request that the teenager be tried as an adult, but that it would take almost a year before a hearing was scheduled, where a judge would make the determination.
The prosecution said this week that a surveillance camera captured Beaudet running barefoot on the street, away from the trail, just minutes after Thorborg was reportedly killed.
Other images show him on the trail in the days after the murder. Detectives said his DNA was found on the victim’s shorts and a pair of sandals near her body. Her lawyers argue that he is a free spirit who often leaves his sandals behind and Thorborg may have bought them, which is how his DNA got on her.
“He wouldn’t have done that. It’s like stabbing me in the neck,” added Hernandez.
Hernandez said he had been living with her and studying online for the past two months after moving from Hawaii to San Diego. She described him as a kind young man, incapable of violence.
“We go to the store and he is helping old women to choose which watermelons are good and which grapes are the sweetest and holding the doors open. So, it really baffles me, ”he said. “They caught the wrong person. The killer is still out there.”
The teenager’s lawyers said no weapons were found with him and that he had no injuries or signs of a fight on his body.