WARREN, Pa. (AP) - A 14-year-old boy has been charged as an adult - for now - with setting the house fire that killed a northwestern Pennsylvania woman.
But prosecutors and the boy’s defense attorney want to move the case to juvenile court as soon as a judge allows. That’s because they agree the boy badly needs counseling and would be better served there.
Fifty-three-year-old Dorothy Bondarek was trapped in the June 12 fire in Warren and died.
The boy is charged with arson resulting in death, involuntary manslaughter, and three other arson-related charges.
Warren County District Attorney Rob Greene says state law requires homicide-related charges be filed in adult court. But his office won’t contest a defense motion to move the case to juvenile court, where jurisdiction ends at age 21.
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