June 11--OAKLAND -- A 16-year-old Oakland High School student accused of killing a San Jose paramedic during an attempted carjacking in the Oakland hills pleaded not guilty to the crime Monday as his father claimed the teenager was framed.
Christian Burton is accused of killing Quinn Boyer on the morning of April 2 during an alleged attempted carjacking near the intersection of Keller Avenue and Hansom Drive. Police say Boyer was sitting in his parked car along the side of the road when Burton and five other juveniles drove up in a stolen car.
Police said Burton got out of the stolen car, walked up to Boyer, 34, and fired a gun point-blank at Boyer's head. Boyer then tried to drive away but crashed his car down an
embankment, authorities said.
Boyer was alive when police and paramedics arrived but remained unconscious for two days at a hospital and then died on April 4.
Burton's father, Richard Burton, said outside of court Monday that he does not believe his son is capable of killing another human being.
"My son is innocent in this case, I just don't believe it," Richard Burton, 39, said. "Christian is not capable of doing this, as far as an alleged killer, he is not that type of kid."
Richard Burton said he drove his son to school on April 2 and watched as he walked into the building. He said he would have been notified if his son skipped a class.
In addition, Richard Burton said that his son was routinely bullied and
believes others pointed fingers at Christian Burton as a scapegoat.
"My son knows right from wrong," Richard Burton said. "I think that it might just be a mishap in identity."
Police have said that Christian Burton admitted being at the scene of the shooting and admitted pulling the trigger on the gun that killed the off-duty paramedic.
Boyer, a Dublin resident, was in the Oakland hills after taking his father home from a doctor's appointment. He had worked as a paramedic for Santa Clara County since 2008.
Five other juveniles, including a 13-year-old boy, have been charged in connection to the killing. The Alameda County District Attorney's Office, however, has refused to release any details of the charges filed against the other teens.
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©2013 The Oakland Tribune (Oakland, Calif.)
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