Christine Chaluisan took the witness stand in Courtroom 6002 Thursday morning to testify to make sure that 15-year-old Carmelo Colon stayed in jail, where he has resided since being arrested for allegedly stabbing her son.
She began by recalling that evening, Feb. 12, 2024, when her son came back to their apartment at the Camelot Arms complex in Springettsbury Township.
“He came through the door and collapsed,” she said, “bleeding out profusely.”
Her then-14-year-old son, Benjamin, had been stabbed multiple times in the neck, abdomen and back.
The next day, township police charged Colon with attempted criminal homicide and aggravated assault and placed him York County Prison. Bail was denied.
Thursday’s hearing was called to determine whether York County Judge Amber Kraft should set bail and let Colon await further court proceedings or trial, if it comes to that, under house arrest instead of in a jail cell.
In another high-profile case involving a juvenile offender , Nolan Grove, a 14-year-old Red Lion boy accused of shooting and killing 12-year-old Kain Heiland in April 2023, had been granted $50,000 bail after being held without bail. Grove has been charged with homicide and will stand trial as an adult. In that case, the judge, Maria Musti Cook, said she did not believe the York County Prison was an appropriate space for a 14-year-old. “We don’t build prisons for that age group,” she said when rendering her decision.
The circumstances are different in Colon’s case.
According to the criminal complaint filed in the case , Colon met the victim to smoke marijuana in the woods near the apartment complex. There, the complaint states, Colon began stabbing Benjamin. When police questioned Colon about the incident, he denied stabbing Benjamin. Further, he denied leaving the apartment that day and said he hadn’t seen or spoken to Benjamin recently. The criminal complaint describes video surveillance footage from the apartment complex that shows otherwise.
Previously: 15-year-old boy faces attempted murder charges in stabbing of a 14-year-old classmate
Related: Nolan Grove, 14, charged with killing a 12-year-old in Red Lion, can be released on bail
Since he has been in jail, Colon has continued his schooling and has had no major disciplinary problems.
If he is released, his mother, Sofia, testified that he would live with her and other family members at their home in North York. The family moved from the apartment complex. Sofia Colon, who has a degree in education and works with learning support students in the West York Area School District, said she would oversee his continuing education.
She described her son as “open and honest” and said his peers would turn to him for advice and help. She said he has never been a disciplinary problem. She said he had smoked marijuana but that they had a conversation about it, and she believed he listened.
She also said the family has had other tragedies. His stepfather died last November, and in December his older brother died. “He’s gone through some things,” she said.
Chaluisan then took the stand and described the emotional toll the assault has had on her son. When he got home from the hospital, she said, they moved in with her sister in Dover because they were “terrified” to stay in the apartment. They returned to the apartment after six weeks and have to stay until her lease runs out next January.
At first, she said, her son could not sleep and was very anxious at nighttime. “He wouldn’t go outside at night,” she said.
He’s doing “a lot better now,” she said, and has returned to school, where he plays on the lacrosse team. He also plays on a traveling team, she said.
But if Colon were to be released from jail, she said, “I’m just worried it’s going to set him back. I’m worried he’ll be afraid. I worried he won’t sleep.”
She said, “I’m terrified,” she said. “I’m a single mother and I can’t be there 24-7.”
Under cross examination, she said Colon sent her son a get-well-soon card from prison, writing in it “I’m praying for you, brother.”
Her son’s reaction? “He asked me if he could burn it. I allowed him to do it. I felt that’s how he had to deal with it.”
At the conclusion of the hearing, Colon’s lawyer, Michael Fenton, asked the judge to allow supervised house arrest, saying his client is doing well in school and hasn’t had any disciplinary problems in prison.
Prosecutor Jenna Strausbaugh argued that Colon’s mental state is not known and that the results of a psychiatric evaluation are pending. She also argued that Colon remain incarcerated because of the “nature and circumstances of the offense” and “the impact...it would possibly have on the victim and his family should he be released.”
Kraft temporarily denied bail, saying she was “inclined not to release” Colon until the psychiatric evaluation is complete. “I need more information before I make a decision,” she said.
The next hearing in the case is scheduled for Nov. 7.
Colon, who sat through the hearing cuffed and shackled and wearing an orange prison jumpsuit, was returned to the jail.
Columnist/reporter Mike Argento has been a York Daily Record staffer since 1982. Reach him at mike@ydr.com.
This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: York County judge denies bail to 15-year-old accused of stabbing friend, 14 - for now
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