Friends and family of the teenage Interstate 64 shooting suspect sighed with relief Wednesday when the judge decided to try the 16-year-old as a juvenile.
Prosecutors wanted to move the case to circuit court and try the boy as an adult because of the seriousness of the charges. The Crozet youth faces 15 felonies in connection with the March 27 shootings on I-64.
Authorities allege that he and 19-year-old Slade A. Woodson fired a Ruger .22-caliber Magnum rifle at six vehicles on the interstate. Two people suffered minor injuries in the shootings.
Woodson, of Afton, also faces other charges involving shootings in Waynesboro.
Wearing blue detention center clothes and cuffs on his wrists and ankles, the 16-year-old defendant sat quietly between his lawyer and his mother during Wednesday's transfer hearing in Albemarle Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court.
Family and friends, eight in all, sat nearby.
After brief arguments, the hearing was closed for about 45 minutes while the suspect's school records and psychological background were discussed.
Back in open court, a probation officer called by Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney Darby Lowe testified that the boy has no criminal record.
After the brief testimony, Lowe then moved to have the case transferred to Albemarle Circuit Court.
She said the defendant's age and the fact that he is charged with a violent crime involving firearms warranted the move.
If he were to be found guilty in circuit court, the teen could still be sent to a juvenile facility until he turns 21, Lowe said. He also could be sentenced to prison.
The defendant's lawyer, Dana M. Slater, said the boy should stay in the juvenile justice system.
"He's a kid," she said. "He's made very bad decisions. This is a young man who doesn't have a past in this court. ... There are positives of this young man - hooks for this court to hang its hat on."
After the judge's decision, Slater waived the boy's right to a bond hearing.
The teen has been held in the Blue Ridge Detention Center in Albemarle since his arrest.
His trial is scheduled for May 7.
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