The teen accused of firing the stray bullet that killed a 92-year-old former religion teacher was portrayed yesterday as a troubled kid whose problems began at the age of 2 when he saw his mother murdered.
Jamal Blair, 18, watched from his crib as his father gunned down his mom, defense attorney Angelo MacDonald said at an arraignment in a Bronx court.
The father disappeared and was never charged — and Blair was raised by his grandparents, MacDonald said outside court. Police said the mother’s murder case is still open.
The judge yesterday ordered Blair held without bail on charges of firing the shot Tuesday that killed Sadie Mitchell as she sat in her living room on East 224th Street.
He has admitted firing a shot in the air and is charged with second-degree murder.
But the defense maintains Blair should only be charged with negligent manslaughter. MacDonald questioned Blair’s statements, saying they were made only after his “educationally disadvantaged” client — an 18-year-old ninth-grader — spent hours in custody.