13-Year-Old Charged In Cell-Phone Robbery, Murder

BRONX --- 15-year-old Edwin Owusu Hammond was stabbed to death, say police, when two 13 year-olds stole his cell phone in February.

Edwin, who had emigrated from Ghana to attend school here and stay with his mother, was stabbed outside her apartment on Andrews avenue in Morris Heights.

He had just walked a friend to the bus stop. After he was stabbed, Edwin stumbled in and collapsed in her arms.

A baby-faced 13-year-old, Wendell Belle, has been charged with Edwin?s murder. He has been charged as the one who used a kitchen knife to stab Edwin twice while robbing him.

Wendell?s mother said, ? My son was a good boy who ended up with the wrong crowd. He stopped listening to me, stopped going to school and always wanted to hang out on the street.?

Security cameras at the suspect?s apartment building apparently helped seal Wendell?s indictment. The superintendent of the building, Edwin Gerena, says the video showed police that the 13-year-old was not home the night of the killing as he originally told them he was.

At Bronx Criminal Court, Wendell Belle was charged with two counts of second-degree murder, one count of manslaughter and two counts of attempted armed robbery. He has been charged as an adult. The other 13-year old, Joel Rivera, had been charged as a juvenile. Originally charged as an adult, sources say, 13-year-old Joel Rivera cut a dealt to turn in 13-year old Wendell Belle.