Saying she “struggled” with the decision, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy has designated a 13-year-old boy as an adult in charging him with shooting his father in the back before stealing his car and then fleeing with the family dog — all of which police say stemmed from the dad trying to discipline the boy.
The father survived the shooting, though his son could get up to life in prison if convicted of the most serious charge, assault with intent to murder, under the adult designation. While the boy has not been charged as an adult, the adult designation gives a judge the option of sentencing him as a juvenile, an adult, or fashioning a blended sentence with the option of imposing an adult sentence if the boy is not rehabilitated.
“It is highly unusual for the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office to adult designate a respondent that is 13 years old. We struggled with this decision, and it will ultimately be the decisions of a judge as to whether, if convicted, there will be a juvenile or blended sentence,” Worthy said in a statement on Tuesday, Aug. 18. “We have carefully considered the alleged horrific facts and evidence in this case, and we are convinced that this is the best course of action, as well as being in the best interest of justice.”
The case stems from an Aug. 11 incident at about 6:42 p.m., when Detroit police were dispatched to a house in the 18600 block of Bretton Drive for a shooting. When the officers arrived, they found a 42-year-old man on the front porch of the house suffering from a gunshot wound to the back. Medics arrived on the scene and transported him to a local hospital for treatment.
While at the scene, police learned the victim was a father who allegedly had been shot by his teen son.
“I believe there was an instance of discipline, and he took offense — he being the suspect,” Dietrich Lever, commanding officer of the Detroit Police Department’s 8th Precinct, told reporters at a news conference. He said the boy took offense when his father came home, and “shot at him two times, striking him in the back.”
According to police, the teen boy was located in Troy, Ohio later that same day. He remains in custody in Miami County, Ohio and is awaiting extradition back to Michigan to face charges. The family dog, a French Mastiff, has been recovered and was not harmed.
The boy is charged with one count of assault with intent to murder, one count of discharge of a firearm in or at a building, one count of unlawfully driving away an automobile, and three counts of felony firearm.
Contact Tresa Baldas: tbaldas@freepress.com
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroiter, 13, gets adult treatment for allegedly shooting his dad
Reporting by Tresa Baldas, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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By Tresa Baldas, Detroit Free Press | USA TODAY Network
