A 16-year-old Little Rock murder suspect whom prosecutors charged as an adult was ordered tried as a child on Monday with the condition that he could be sent to prison if he's not found to be rehabilitated by age 21.
After a 52-minute hearing, Pulaski County Circuit Judge Herb Wright concluded that Marquese Gay, who will turn 17 in December, could be rehabilitated in the juvenile justice system.
Gay was ordered to be prosecuted under the Extended Juvenile Justice Act, which requires a judge to determine whether he has been rehabilitated before he turns 21, when the juvenile justice system must release him.
If he is not deemed to be reformed, he can face prison.
The teen was charged with first-degree murder after witnesses, many of them friends and acquaintances of the defendant, identified Gay as the person who shot 20-year-old Mark Mosley in July near the intersection of Cedar and 17th streets in Little Rock. Mosley regularly stayed at a home on the corner.
Witnesses told police that Mosley was part of a group of friends gathered at the intersection when he confronted Gay about the way the teen was staring at him, "mean-mugging," and being disrespectful, police detective Matt Hoffines testified.
Gay was sitting in a car , having arrived with two other men who had been invited to the gathering. The men had offered Gay a ride after seeing him walking in the heat a couple of blocks away, the detective told the judge.
Gay pulled out a gun during the confrontation and pointed it at Mosley, who dismissively pushed the weapon away a couple of times while offering to fistfight Gay, Hoffines said.
One witness said Gay told the man he'd shoot him instead of fight, the detective told the judge.
"I'm not going to fight you, just shoot you," Hoffines said, repeating the statement.
The teen fled after Mosley was shot, the detective said.
Mosley didn't have a weapon and never touched Gay during the confrontation, Hoffines said, citing witness testimony.
Police got an arrest warrant, and Gay surrendered the following day. He's been jailed ever since.
Gay's attorneys, Peggy Egan and Leslie Borgognoni, petitioned the court to transfer the case to juvenile court, saying the teen would have plenty of opportunities to participate in rehabilitative programs.
They disputed key points in Hoffines' account, noting that one witness claims to have seen Gay and Mosley "tussle."
There also is a question about where Gay was when Mosley was shot, in the backseat of the car or standing outside, the attorneys said.
The lawyers drew attention to witness descriptions of Mosley as the aggressor, "jumping" at the teen. Another witness described the shooting as accidental, they said.
Testifying as character witnesses were Gay's mother, 44-year-old Sharon Gay; her boyfriend of eight years, Lucious Baker III, 34; and her father, Gary Clemmons, the teen's 64-year-old grandfather.
They all said they were surprised by the accusations against Marquese Gay. They told the judge that it was out of character for him to have a gun and that none of them knew where he could get one.
They all promised to do whatever they could to support the teen in juvenile court.
Sharon Gay said she did not remember telling a counselor that her son has anger issues when he doesn't get his way.
The teen did not testify, but the judge also heard about how he had pushed Hall High School Principal Larry Schleicher in the chest with his forearm in October 2014 at the school.
Police had just broken up a fight between students using Mace chemical spray, Schleicher told the judge.
He was escorting Gay away from the scene when the teen, angry because the spray had gotten on his shoes, lunged at the officer who used the spray.
Gay put his forearm against Schleicher's chest to push him back, the principal testified.
Gay was stopped before he could get to the officer and was subsequently convicted in juvenile court of misdemeanor disorderly conduct. He was on probation for that conviction when Mosley was shot.
Prosecutors John Hout and Melanie Martin also showed the judge a Facebook photo of the teen that showed him curling his fingers into the shape of the letter P, which is a gang sign, Hoffines said.
Metro on 11/18/2015