Teen Charged In Fellow Student's Death

BOSTON -- One student died Friday after an altercation between two students enrolled in a special education program at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School.

The victim, 15-year-old James Alenson, was transported to Emerson Hospital in Concord and pronounced dead at 8:12 a.m. Alenson, of Sudbury, was a freshman at the school.

John Odgren, 16, of Princeton, Mass., pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in Framingham District Court and was held without bail. During his arraignment prosecutors said that Alenson died of a stab wound to his heart, and his throat was slashed.

"The defendant stabbed him twice in the abdomen," prosecutor Daniel Bennett said. "He stabbed him first through the abdomen and then through his heart. There were cut wounds above his neck."

Bennett said that Odgren was heard saying, "I did it. I did it," when police arrived at the school.

Odgren's attorney, Jonathan Shapiro, called into question Odgren's state of mind at the time of the incident. He said Odgren has Asperger's Syndrome, a form of autism, and has been taking medications for many years.

"I know that my client and his family feel for the victim and his family, and it's a tragedy," Shapiro said.

"We believe that this is an isolated incident between two students," Middlesex District Attorney Gerald Leone said. "There is no belief that anyone else is (in) danger at this time."

Police were called to the school at 390 Lincoln Road early Friday to investigate an incident between two teenage boys in the bathroom of the school at about 7:45 a.m. Classes were canceled, and the students were sent home as officials continued their investigation.

"We're obviously heartbroken dealing with this," said John Ritchie, the school's superintendent and principal. "I want to tell you that the entire administration, myself included, have been just amazed at the way our other students cooperated, the way the faculty cooperated."

The defendant's father is a cell biologist at UMass Memorial Medical Center, and his mother is a registered nurse.

News of the stabbing traveled fast. Some students used their cell phones to call their parents and alert them of the incident. Two parents called NewsCenter 5 to say their children had informed them an announcement was made over the intercom that a stabbing had occurred.

"I feel sick to my stomach. There is no way to describe that feeling," one parent said.

"When my kids got to school at 7:50 a.m., they said there were fire trucks and ambulances in front of the school, so I am not sure what time it happened, but it was before school started," parent Andrea Oster said.

Leone said that grief counselors would be at the school during the weekend.

The school has about 1,600 students and is located about 17 miles west of Boston.

Camp Director Remembers Stabbing Victim

Alenson went to Camp Mi-Te-Na in New Hampshire's Lakes Region. The camp is owned and operated by the Manchester, N.H., YMCA, and camp director Rick Ross said that Alenson loved the four summers he spent there.

"He was a great kid," Ross said. "It's very shocking to see something like that."

Ross said the loss of one of the campers he has guided over the years is tough to take. He said he was surprised to hear that Alenson was stabbed because, he said, Alenson never caused problems or fought with anyone.

"The kids in the cabin always pointed at him: 'You're the one who never gets in trouble,'" Ross said.

Alenson was one of the older boys at the Alton, N.H., camp. Ross said he was going to train to be a counselor this summer.

"He was too nice of a kid to get picked on," Ross said. "He always worried about his brother and asked the counselor if he could check on him."

Ross said Alenson started going to Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School this year, having just moved from Natick, Mass.