Group Home Closes After Beating Death

A group-home for troubled youngsters that housed a 12-year-old boy and two teenagers charged with his beating death will be closed permanently.

Passageway’s decision to close the home and four others came the same day Los Angeles County removed all children in its custody from the homes. The county contracted with Passageway to house the youths.

Rodney Haynes Jr. was killed last month while staying at the Passageway home in Calabasas, about 40 miles nrothwest of downtown Los Angeles. He apparently sneaked out the night of Aug. 26 with some older boys and later was found dead in a trash bin. Two boys, ages 16 and 17, have pleaded innocent to killing him. Prosecutors say they beat him with rocks and sticks becuase they thought he was a “smart aleck.”

The killing prompted investigations by the county and the state Department of Social Serivces. Last week, the state cited Passageway for employing too few administrators.