TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) - A teenager accused of killing a Tucson high school student the day after graduation this year has been found mentally fit to stand trial.
Tucson TV station KOLD reported 14-year-old Rene Manuel Yanez was in court Tuesday for a mental competency hearing.
According to prosecutors, Yanez will be tried as an adult on murder and other charges. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Yanez is accused of fatally shooting Julian Zapeda on May 24, a day after the victim graduated from Tucson High.
Dawn Priestman, Yanez’s attorney, declined to a request Thursday by The Associated Press to comment on the competency decision.
The AP does not generally publish the names of juveniles who are charged with crimes, but is doing so in Yanez’s case because of the severity of the allegations and he is being tried as an adult.
Yanez is being held in the Pima County Jail on a $100,000 bond.
His next court date is scheduled for Jan. 16.
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