Contra Costa County Sheriff's officials say William "Billy" Shultz, arrested for stabbing a 9-year-old boy Sunday, was briefly hospitalized the day before after his family requested an evaluation of his mental health status.
Deputies on Monday said they responded to Shultz's residence in Discovery Bay on Saturday when his family requested that they evaluate his mental health status, but determined he did not meet the criteria to be placed on an involuntary mental health hold, according to the Contra Costa Times, which the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office confirmed.
But Shultz, 18, voluntarily agreed to be taken to the hospital and was later released by a doctor, deputies said. He went to sleep at the Almgren home, where he is friends with 9-year-old Jordon "Jordy" Almgren's older brother, on Saturday night.
On Sunday morning, deputies say Shultz stabbed the boy about 10 a.m. at his Discovery Bay home in the 1800 block of Frost Way, according to the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office.
9 year old Jordon Almgren teammates left baseballs @ makeshift memorial.Baseball was big part of slain boys life. pic.twitter.com/6e1Ysc3JTp
— Jodi Hernandez (@JodiHernandez01) April 27, 2015About 3 p.m. that same day, Shultz, who friends say attends Liberty High School, was arrested at a Kaiser hospital in Antioch in connection with the brutal death after an alert nurse recognized him from social media, Contra Costa County Sheriff's Deputy Ken Westermann said. She told authorities that he was in the emergency department. He suffered two stab wounds on his wrist, according to the Contra Costa Times.
In an exclusive jailhouse interview with the Contra Costa Times Monday, Shultz said he stabbed Jordon to "see what it was like." "I wanted to see what it was like to take a life before someone tried to take mine," Schultz said in the interview.
When a reporter asked Shultz whether he felt any remorse about his actions, he said sobbing: "I wish that I hadn't. I think about what if that was my little brother." "In that sense, I do feel bad. I do have remorse for what I did ... But there's a reason for everything that happens."
Attempts to interview Shultz's parents were unsuccessful.
On Monday, amidst the growing mounds of candles, flowers and teddy bears, were a San Francisco Giants balloon or two — a nod to the game of baseball that "Jordy" loved during his short life.
"This little guy was the most energetic on the team," Jordy's Little League coach Mike De Lambert told NBC Bay Area. "Great smile. And he was infectious, in a positive way, to everybody that he came in contact with."
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"He was really kind, really nice," said Kiran McWilliams, a longtime family friend.
The third grader at Timber Point Elementary School and avid "Angels" baseball player.
Neighbors said Shultz was always at the Almgren's home and may have been living here temporarily. Some say Shultz was kicked out of his own home, and may have been kicked out of the boy's home at some point as well.
One of Shultz's friends, Robbie Jones, said Shultz seemed OK to him. "I just saw him at the gym," Jones said. "It didn't seem like anything was wrong with him."
Anyone with information about the incident is encouraged to call the sheriff's office at (925) 646-2441.
NBC Bay Area's Jodi Hernandez, Bob Redell and Marianne Favro and Bay City News contributed to this report.
