Attorney for Las Vegas 13-year-old arrested in fatal beating of classmate questions murder charge
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LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — The attorney for a 13-year-old accused of murdering a classmate says his client may be too young to understand his charges and requested a competency exam.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department arrested nine teens in connection to the killing of 17-year-old Jonathan Lewis.
Four teens appeared Wednesday morning before Clark County Juvenile Justice Judge Amy Mastin as she weighs whether they will be tried as adults.
“He is not competent at this time to understand the procedures. The roles of the people involved in the process, including his attorney, prosecutor, the judge, and so on,” defense attorney Anthony Wright said.
Wright is representing the 13-year-old accused of murdering Lewis.
At the heart of Wright’s argument on Wednesday is whether 13 years old is too young for prosecutors to charge someone with murder
“He doesn’t have a basic understanding of the criminal procedure,” Wright said.
That argument received an immediate pushback from the prosecutor.
“It is the district court and the district court only who can make the decision regarding competency, once a review of the competency evaluation is done by a mental health professional,” Clark County Deputy District Attorney Summer Clarke said.
8 News Now is withholding the identity of the teens since they’re considered juveniles under the Nevada criminal justice system.
Yet, the Clark County District Attorney’s Office is seeking to try them as adults.
District Attorney Steve Wolfson previously discussed the challenges of prosecuting a 13-year-old.
“I don’t disagree that it’s not an easy thing to understand how a 13-year-old could commit murder. But I don’t want to exclude it from being possible,” Wolfson previously said.
According to LVMPD, ten teenage students fatally beat Lewis near Rancho High School in November. The fight was reportedly over a stolen marijuana vape pen.
At a hearing in adult court on Dec. 14, prosecutors said they believe the 13-year-old and his 15-year-old brother may have delivered the fatal blow to Lewis. A death that has shattered his family.
“Violence just begets more violence and these children don’t even know what they’re doing half the time,” Jonathan Lewis Sr, said.
Judge Mastin ended up granting a competency exam for the 13-year-old. He and the other three teens are expected back in juvenile court on January 31st.
Metro also continues to search for a 10th “ person of interest” in regards to the beating death of Lewis.
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