Teen charged in soccer ref’s death in court

The teenager accused of punching a soccer referee in the head, and ultimately killing him, will make his first court appearance Monday.

The 17-year-old is charged with homicide by assault, meaning an attack was caused unintentionally. Prosecutors said it’s a very serious charge, so the teen should be certified as an adult.

The teenager is accused of punching Ricardo Portillo after Portillo issued the boy a yellow card in a game. That punch put Portillo in a coma, and he died a few days later. During sentencing in June, Portillo’s three daughters sat in the front row of the courtroom as lawyers made their arguments before the judge.

“It was bad,” Johana Portillo said. “It was a lot of mixed emotions. I was like, I couldn’t believe I met the person who took my dad’s life.”

The judge denied a request by defense attorneys to have the teen released from juvenile detention to his family. The judge said the fact that prosecutors want him charged as an adult is reason enough to keep him in custody.

If the teen is certified as an adult, he’s looking at five years in prison if convicted. If the case stays in the juvenile courts, the teen could be confined until he’s 21.