Prosecutors have begun the process of moving to adult court the case against a 17-year-old accused in separate shootings that left one man dead near the University of Cincinnati and another person critically injured in Colerain Township.
During a Sept. 14 hearing in Hamilton County Juvenile Court, Assistant Prosecutor Melissa Kaniaris said prosecutors are pursuing an adult-court bindover in connection with the Sept. 1 fatal shooting near the UC College of Medicine. She also disclosed new details about both cases.
Prosecutors allege the teen shot 24-year-old Jonaethyn Edwards once in the abdomen and once in the throat in the 100 block of Shields Street near the UC College of Medicine just after 5 p.m. Sept. 1, killing him and wounding Edwards'
girlfriend, who was struck in the knee.
In the second case, Kaniaris said the teen fired through the window of a home off Mullen Road around 10 p.m. Sept. 9, striking a girland a woman.One victim was struck in the spine and remains in critical condition.
The teen's attorney, Luis Godines, said the charges are only accusations, which his client strongly denies. Godines asked for the teen to be released to his family to await trial.
Godines argued that the teen only had one prior adjudication in court, a misdemeanor offense. He said the boy only has his mother and grandmother, whom he helps support by working a job. The lawyer also said his client is "desperate to be out" because his grandmother is suffering from cancer.
Godines said his client is "a responsible young man" and "not a flight risk."
The teen's mother was in court during the Sept. 14 hearing. She cried throughout the proceeding, and told the judge that if the teen was allowed to be released, she had no problem with him coming home.
Kaniaris said the teen is an "absolute danger to the community" and that a "multitude of victims" have suffered due to his actions.
Magistrate Nichole Clark agreed with the prosecution and ordered the teen to be detained at the Hamilton County Youth Center. His next court date is before Judge Stacey DeGraffenreid on Sept. 28.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Teen killed man near UC, shot 2 through window days later, prosecutor says
