South Dakota teen to be tried as adult

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - Attorneys for a Watertown teenager charged in a fatal shooting in Sioux Falls have lost an attempt to keep the case in juvenile court.

The Argus Leader reports (https://argusne.ws/TdH2qq ) that Judge Brad Zell ruled this week that Trevor Kruthoff’s case will stay in adult court.

Kruthoff was 17 when he was charged with murder in the December shooting death of 20-year-old Jordan LeBeau. Kruthoff, now 18, also is accused of shooting and wounding LeBeau’s 48-year-old father.

Authorities said the shooting resulted from a botched robbery attempt tied to drug dealing, and several other people also face charges in the case.

Kruthoff’s defense lawyers argued the case belonged in juvenile court and argued that Kruthoff’s behavior was uncharacteristic of most juveniles charged with violent crimes. His parents both testified during a hearing that he’d been given a stable home, and that the problems began when he started hanging out with a different group of friends in high school.

Prosecutors said Kruthoff’s crime was too serious for juvenile court. If convicted in juvenile court, he could be held only until age 21. If Kruthoff is convicted in adult court, he could spend the rest of his life in prison.

Zell’s ruling said Kruthoff had been involved in juvenile proceedings before the shooting and hadn’t followed his probation officer’s instructions. The incidents all involved drinking and drugs, not violence, but punishments and restrictions from Kruthoff’s parents and his probation officer didn’t stop the behavior, the judge said.

“All efforts at formal and informal corrections have had little, if any, effect on Kruthoff,” Judge Zell wrote in his opinion.

Zell also said that less than three years in juvenile custody is not enough.

“This is especially true in light of the fact that while Kruthoff was being exposed to these various services prior to this offense occurring, Kruthoff, when given numerous opportunities to disengage from this highly dangerous and criminal activity, chose to go forward right up to the moments of pulling the trigger . twice,” Zell wrote.

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that juveniles are not eligible for the death penalty or for sentences of mandatory life in prison without the possibility of parole.