Friends and family held a memorial service today for Jonathan Hoffman, the 17-year-old Oakland County high school student killed this week by his grandmother.
The Jewish service at West Bloomfield's Ira Kaufman Chapel featured rememberances from friends and family members, including Jonathan's sister. She called him "the kind of big brother that every girl wishes for." Friends remembered the young man as a prankster with a passion for building homemade computers and as a gifted writer.
The topic of Jonathan's death was avoided as mourners said they were committed to remembering how he lives as opposed to how he died.
Sandra Layne, Jonathan Hoffman's grandmother, is charged with murder. A pretrial conference is scheduled for Thursday morning in Oakland County Circuit Court. Layne's attorney hinted to ABC News that they may pursue a justifiable homicide defense.
ABC News: Hoffman been busted in March for drug possession and [her attorney Mitchell] Ribitwer says that Layne had called police after Hoffman had behaved erratically, threatening her and using profane slurs.
"It might be a justifiable homicide, a person has the right to defend themselves," Ribitwer said.
