Mother of Slain Teen Tells of His Last Days

Alana Talmo wept as she described her frantic search last summer for her 14-year-old son, telling jurors Wednesday how she asked his friend, Michael Demirdjian, for help.

Unknown to her at the time, one block away at a La Crescenta playground, police were examining the corpse of her son, Blaine Talmo Jr., whom Demirdjian is accused of killing in a drug-deal double-cross.

Demirdjian “looked nervous,” Talmo testified Wednesday in Pasadena Superior Court. “He said he didn’t know where Blaine Talmo was. . . . I looked at him and said, ‘I know you were with him the night before.’ ”

Demirdjian, who later told police that he witnessed the slayings at Valley View Elementary School, cast his eyes down Wednesday as Blaine’s mother cried.

Deputy Dist. Attys. Steve Barshop and Truc Do allege that Demirdjian, now 16, robbed and killed Blaine Talmo Jr. and 13-year-old Christopher McCulloch. Blaine had introduced Demirdjian to a drug dealer, Adam Walker, who took $660 from Demirdjian without giving him the promised marijuana in return, Barshop said.

Defense attorney Charles T. Mathews said Demirdjian did not hurt either victim. Demirdjian said the slayings were committed by Walker, who was arrested last summer but was not charged in the killings, according to Mathews.

On Wednesday, Alana Talmo testified her son left home July 21 after fighting with his dad, a sergeant with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

“He said he was going to cool off and hang out with his friends,” she testified. Blaine spent that Friday night away from home, and he phoned his mother twice on Saturday night--the last call just before he was killed.

“I wanted to pick him up,” Alana Talmo said. But her son wouldn’t disclose where he was and said he wasn’t ready to come home. He then said “he had to go because he was on his friend’s cell phone,” Talmo said.

Blaine promised to call again the next day, Talmo said. When he didn’t, she grew anxious.

Among her son’s friends, Demirdjian was the only one who had a cell phone, Talmo said. She drove to Demirdjian’s house about 10:30 Sunday night, determined to find Blaine.

A block away, police had yet to identify the two dead boys, whose faces had been bludgeoned beyond recognition.

“I’m looking for my son,” Talmo told Demirdjian’s mother.

Demirdjian came out of the house, Talmo said. “He looked basically surprised that I was there,” she said.

Talmo dabbed her eyes when Do asked her to identify Blaine’s dark blue wallet and a clock she had given him as a gift, which police found in Demirdjian’s kitchen trash.

When questioned by Mathews, Talmo said her son sounded happy during their final conversation. Blaine never mentioned any trouble with Demirdjian, Talmo said. He told his mother he loved her, she testified.

Aileen Bristow, the mother of Christopher McCulloch, testified briefly Tuesday that she last saw her son the day before he was killed. She broke into sobs after she left the courtroom.