Slain Teacher May Have Flunked Brazill

Student's Grade May Be An 'F'

WEST PALM BEACH -- Slain teacher Barry Grunow may have given Nathaniel Brazill an "F," according to a source from the school.

WPBF Eyewitness News 25 has learned that the 13-year-old student accused of shooting language arts teacher Barry Grunow may have failed Grunow's class.

Lake Worth Middle School principal Sharon Walker principal would not confirm Brazill's grade, but did say that report cards have not been sent out yet.

Meanwhile, Brazill made his first apperance before a judge.

Brazill was scheduled to go before a judge Tuesday morning, but the hearing was rescheduled after his parents didn't they show up.

Prosecutors said that the teenager?s parents knew about the hearing Tuesday morning in West Palm Beach, but a spokesman for the state attorney?s office said that they were appearing on a national talk show.

Palm Beach Circuit Judge Sheree Cunningham told a dazed-looking Brazill and his lawyer that the hearing would be delayed until Tuesday afternoon. Cunningham also made it clear that the boy?s parents were required to attend the hearing.

This latest development came after Monday's decision by a grand jury to try the teen as an adult.

Despite support from protest marchers who paraded up and down the sidewalks surrounding the Palm Beach County Courthouse, Brazill will stand trial as an adult for killing Lake Worth Middle School teacher Barry Grunow.

If convicted as charged, Brazill would face life in prison without hope of parole. Brazill's mother and father sat motionless in the front row of a courtroom after Chief Circuit Judge Walter Colbath Junior read the indictment on Monday.

VIDEO: Parent's reaction to failing grade.

The grand jury charged Brazill with first-degree murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

The 21-member panel met for 15 minutes before handing down their recommendations. During such deliberations, defense attorneys do not present their side of the case. Sources said that the quick decision by the grand jury, which had previously met for five hours before the deliberations, showed that they believed the teen acted with premeditation.

A crowd protesting the expected charges marched around the courthouse banging on bongo drums and shaking tambourines. After the indictment was handed down, they gathered in a hallway outside the courtroom and sang the civil rights spiritual, ?We Shall Overcome," while leaving the building.

Brazill is charged in the May 26 slaying of Lake Worth Community Middle School teacher Barry Grunow. The teacher was killed just minutes before school let out on the last day of the school year.

Related stories:

• June 10, 2000: Nathaniel Brazill's Cousin In Police Custody
• June 06, 2000: Brazill May Testify Before Grand Jury
• June 05, 2000: Lawyers Say Teen's Gun Accidentally Fired
• May 31, 2000: Police Say Teen Suspect Planned Shooting
• May 30, 2000: Lake Worth Teacher Remembered
• May 29, 2000: Suspect's Family Offers Condolences
• May 28, 2000: 13-Year-Old To Young To Face Death Penalty

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