PITTSBURGH (AP) - One of two teenagers charged in the beating death of another teen at a group home last year should be tried as a juvenile and be provided with psychological services, a forensic psychologist said.
Malik Crosby, 17, and Yusuf Shepard, 17, have been charged as adults with criminal homicide and other offenses in the death of 16-year-old Nicholas Grant. Defense attorneys are seeking to move their cases to juvenile courts.
Authorities alleged that Shepard put Grant in a chokehold while Crosby beat him with a vacuum cleaner that Grant had thrown at Shepard during the Jan. 10 fight at Circle C Youth and Family Services Group Home in Pittsburgh.
Forensic psychologist Dr. Alice Applegate testified at a Tuesday hearing that Crosby’s chaotic childhood, low IQ and mental age of 6 to 8 years old were among the reasons she’s recommending that his case be heard in juvenile court.
Applegate spent more than 4 hours conducting psychological testing on Crosby. She said he has a long history of anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from the loss of his father, who was shot to death inside a bar when Crosby was 2.
Applegate said tests did not reveal that he’s at risk of violent behavior.
“He has a lower than average risk of re-offending,” Applegate said.
But Bruce Wright, a psychiatrist called by the prosecution, said that Malik had extensive treatment throughout his childhood, yet continued to have problems, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported.
A judge didn’t immediately rule at the hearing.
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