2 LIVES, 2 LIFE TERMS DEFENDANT, 16, PUNISHED AS ADULT.

Byline: Mariel Garza Staff Writer

SAN FERNANDO - Still proclaiming his innocence, 16-year-old Michael Demirdjian was sentenced Monday to life in prison for the ``animalistic'' bludgeoning deaths of two other teens on a Glendale playground.

With his own parents and the parents of his victims watching tearfully, Demirdjian denied killing and torturing Blaine Talmo Jr., 14, of Glendale, and Chris McCulloch, 13, of La Canada Flintridge, in a drug deal gone awry.

``I didn't kill no one,'' Demirdjian testified softly.

But Superior Court Judge Ronald Coen imposed the maximum sentence of two consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole for the Glendale youth's conviction on two counts of first-degree murder, along with the special circumstances of torture and multiple murder.

Coen also denied a request for a retrial and found that Demirdjian was not fit to be sentenced as a juvenile, although the defendant was just 15 when the murders were committed.

``Sir, you committed a crime as a man and now you will be treated and punished as a man,'' Coen said. ``The crime was not only tragic, it was heinous, atrocious and bordered on animalistic.''

The brutalized bodies of the Talmo and McCulloch boys were found July 23, 2000, on the playground of Valley View Elementary School. They had been beaten to death with rocks, and McCulloch had been smashed with a 12-foot-long bench.

Investigators testified that they found traces of McCulloch's blood at Demirdjian's home, along with Talmo's empty wallet.

The victims' relatives also testified during the hearing, saying the sentence will bring them some measure of relief.

``Nothing will take away the pain or help the families with the loss,'' said Blaine Talmo Sr., a sergeant with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

``Blaine and Chris are gone,'' he said. ``This is what I would hope, that by this sentencing that this will never happen to another family.''

Aileen Bristow, McCulloch's mother, showed the judge a framed photograph of her dead son as she described the impact his slaying has had on her and her other son.

``It does not fill me with joy to see another boy's life ruined,'' she said.

Throughout the hearing, Demirdjian's mother, Sossi, cried as she watched her son, who was clad in a red jail jumpsuit.

As Demirdjian was taken from the courtroom at the conclusion of the hearing, he looked at his parents and gave his mother a little wave. She waved back.

After the sentencing, Sossi Demirdjian lashed out at prosecutors and the police, saying her adopted son was a victim of racism because his father was African-American and mother was white.

``He is not the monster that he has been described in this courtroom,'' she said. She recounted a gentle boy who loved animals and wanted to be a professional basketball player.

Defense attorney Charles Mathews said he has already appealed the guilty verdict, which came during Demirdjian's second trial; the first ended with a deadlocked jury.

Mathews maintained during the trial that another teen, Adam Walker of Glendale, killed the boys while a drunk Demirdjian simply watched.

Demirdjian's parents are determined to fight forever for Michael's release.

``He is our son,'' father Gary Demirdjian said. ``Even though he's adopted, he's our son.''

CAPTION(S):

5 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Alana Talmo, left, comforts her mother-in-law, Hope Talmo, during Monday's sentencing for the teen-ager who killed her son, Blaine Talmo Jr.

(2 -- color) Michael Demirdjian, left, sits with defense attorney Charles Mathews as he's ordered to spend life in prison for the brutal slayings of two other teen-agers.

(3 -- color) Gary Demirdjian comforts his wife, Sossi, during Monday's sentencing of their adopted son, Michael. The 16-year-old was ordered to life in prison for the murder of two other teens.

(4 -- 5 -- color) Blaine Talmo, left, reacts as a life sentence is given to Michael Demirdjian, the teen-ager who killed his son. At right, holding a picture of Chris McCulloch, Aileen Bristow describes the painful effects the loss of her son has had on her family.

Gus Ruelas/Staff Photographer