MILWAUKEE — A 10-year-old Milwaukee boy is being charged in adult court for allegedly shooting and killing his mother.
State law says children ages 9 and younger cannot be charged with a crime, but that changes once they turn 10. If prosecutors charge them with homicide, the case is automatically sent to adult court.
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The 10-year-old boy in this case faces up to 60 years behind bars if convicted on the charge of first-degree reckless homicide.
"In Wisconsin, it's almost unheard of that a 10-year-old involves themselves in a homicide so this is incredibly unique,” said Jonathan LaVoy.
LaVoy is a local defense attorney who isn’t affiliated with the case. He says Wisconsin law lays out criteria based on age as to when a child is charged in adult criminal court.
Back in 1996, the state passed several laws to create a harsher punishment for juvenile offenders.
First, it requires 17 year olds are automatically charged as adults. Then it becomes more complex. LaVoy says teens between the ages of 14 and 16 can be waived from juvenile to adult court depending on the severity of a felony-level crime.
When it comes to being accused of murder, LaVoy says a tenth birthday makes all the difference in Wisconsin.
“The prosecutors have discretion as to whether to charge in the first place or what the charge would be, but if the state chooses to charge a first-degree intentional homicide or a reckless homicide like they did in this case, once they make that charge, it automatically starts in adult court,” LaVoy said.
“Will this case remain in adult court given the circumstances?” TMJ4 asked. "I think there will absolutely be a very detailed reverse waiver hearing in this case where the child is going to be assigned probably an attorney or attorneys to present the case that this matter should be reversed, and he should be sent back to juvenile court,” LaVoy replied.
Marsha Levick is the chief legal officer for the Juvenile Law Center, a national organization that advocates against charging children as adults.
"Under no circumstances can I, speaking on behalf of Juvenile Law Center, imagine a scenario where it would ever be appropriate to prosecute a ten year old in criminal court,” she said.
Levick points to studies that show a child’s brain development and maturity levels barely change from the age of 9 to 10. She thinks it’s past time for Wisconsin and other states to raise the age in which a child can be charged and tried as adults.
"One of the things that jumps out at me is that it sounds like this child has some very serious mental health issues and that's a system that should be providing services to him, not a justice system that really has nothing to offer a ten year old."
LaVoy says children who are charged and convicted of homicide in Wisconsin are typically sent to a juvenile detention facility until they are 17, then they go to prison for the remainder of their sentence.
