Detention Sentence Extended Six Months for Grandson of Malcolm X

YONKERS, N.Y. — The grandson of Malcolm X who set a 1997 fire that killed the civil rights leader’s widow will spend at least another year in detention for escaping, a judge ruled Tuesday.

Malcolm Shabazz, 14, pleaded guilty to the juvenile equivalent of third-degree escape, a misdemeanor. His sentence, which had been scheduled to end in February, was extended by the judge to a year from Tuesday--a 6-month extension.

But as before, the sentence can be extended yearly until he is 18.

Shabazz was 12 when he set the fire that killed Betty Shabazz, his grandmother and a civil rights leader herself, in her Yonkers apartment. He was staying with his grandmother because his mother said she was having trouble handling him. Since the fire he has been in detention.

“Malcolm is a troubled youngster who needs a lot of help, educationally, socially and mental health-wise,” said Westchester County Atty. Alan Scheinkman.