Two teenage girls are charged with kidnapping a teenage boy after allegedly luring him into a basement and beating him for three hours in early November.
The defendants, Nailea Leverette and Albert Mlala, both 17, invited the boy to Mlala’s Altoona home on Nov. 2, where they allegedly led him to the basement and confronted him about alleged sexual abuse, according to court filings for both girls.
They then allegedly tortured and beat the 17-year-old with a baseball bat and whipped him with a cut vacuum cord for three hours, leaving him with significant injuries, according to criminal complaints. The boy also stated that Mlala had a gun he believed to be real, court documents say.
The criminal complaints state the boy could not access his phone and was unable to leave the basement until he made up an excuse that is not detailed in court filings.
Leverette and Mlala are both charged as adults with first-degree kidnapping.
Judges have denied waiver requests from both defendants seeking to transfer their cases to juvenile court, court records show.
The attorneys for Leverette and Mlala declined to comment on the cases.
A pretrial conference for both defendants is set for Jan. 22, and a jury trial for Feb. 23.
Kyle Werner is the Breaking News & Public Safety Reporter for the Register. Reach him at kwerner@registermedia.com
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Two teenage girls charged with kidnapping, beating boy in Altoona home
Reporting by Kyle Werner, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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