Court: Brutal Murderer Cannot be Tried as Adult

A unanimous panel of California’s First District Court of Appeal has ruled that a murderer who stabbed a woman 38 times and tried to burn her body cannot be tried in adult court.   Evidence introduced at a pretrial hearing indicates On July 16, 2018, 17-year-old Kevin P. visited the apartment of 38-year-old Kishana Harley allegedly to smoke marijuana with her.  Once inside, he produced a knife and stabbed the woman to death.  He then tried to burn the woman’s body, before taking her cell phone and her car.  The defendant’s DNA was found on the murder weapon along with the victim’s blood.

Security camera footage tracked Kevin’s arrival and departure from the victim’s apartment at the time of the murder.  The stolen car was found three blocks from Kevin’s mother’s house, and a search of his bedroom uncovered shoes identified in the camera footage with the victim’s blood on them.  Kevin initially denied knowing the victim or committing the murder, but later, when confronted by the evidence, admitted killing her.  He claimed that he killed her in self defense and that he had brought a knife because she lived in a dangerous neighborhood.  A Contra Costa County Superior Court Judge agreed with the District Attorney that the brutality of the murder, and the attempt to burn the victim’s body justified the order that Kevin be tried as an adult.  The Metropolitan News Enterprise reports that the Court of Appeals reversed the lower court in a ruling concluding that, other than the murder and burglary, the defendant had been a good boy who was suitable for treatment in the juvenile justice system.  Under California law, a murderer tried in juvenile court cannot be incarcerated beyond the age of 25.  In the San Francisco appellate court’s ruling,  Presiding Judge James. M. Humes writes “While the circumstances of an offense are key to evaluating section 707’s gravity criterion, they cannot be the sole basis for concluding under the rehabilitation criterion that the minor is unlikely to be rehabilitated before juvenile jurisdiction expires.”   The problem is, whether or not this brutal killer is successfully rehabilitated, his conviction in juvenile court guarantees that he will be set free in six years.   Were Kevin P. over 18 when he killed the victim, he could have been eligible for a death sentence.