MEMPHIS, TN – Shelby County District Attorney Bill Gibbons announced that, at the request of the District Attorney’s Office, a Juvenile Court referee on Wednesday transferred a juvenile to Criminal Court to be tried as an adult for allegedly shooting and injuring a fellow student at Hamilton High School earlier this month.
The referee transferred Deangelo Key, 16, for aggravated assault, reckless endangerment with a weapon and carrying a weapon on school property. Key was detained by Juvenile Court for allegedly shooting another student in the leg on February 4 inside a classroom at Hamilton High School. Key is being held in the Shelby County Jail on a $50,000 bond.
The shooting at Hamilton, and one a week later at Mitchell High School, prompted District Attorney Gibbons to amend the office’s juvenile transfer policy to include requesting that a juvenile age 16 or older be tried as an adult if the juvenile is charged with using a firearm on school grounds.
Key is the first juvenile to be transferred under the newly expanded policy. Accordingly, the D.A.’s Office intends to seek a transfer of the juvenile charged with the shooting at Mitchell High School on February 12. That transfer hearing is set for February 27.
It has been the policy of the District Attorney’s Office to request that juveniles who are 16 or 17 years old be transferred to Criminal Court if they are charged with committing a violent crime. In addition to a number of gun crimes already covered, the expanded policy specifically states if a juvenile age 16 or older is charged with aggravated assault or reckless endangerment for using a gun on school property, the D.A.’s Office will automatically request the juvenile be transferred to criminal court.
The D.A.’s Office also carefully reviews cases in which a juvenile under 16 is charged with committing a violent crime to determine if a request to transfer the juvenile is appropriate.
Assistant District Attorney Terre Fratesi, the D.A.’s lead prosecutor in Juvenile Court, handled the transfer hearing. |