A Little Rock teenager accused of four armed robberies, including one in which a man was abducted and another that ended in a car crash with police in pursuit, will be prosecuted as an adult, a Pulaski County Circuit judge ruled Thursday.
Judge Barry Sims denied 17-year-old Devon Ward's motion to be tried in juvenile court. The teen, who was 16 when he was arrested, did not testify.
"The protection of society" requires that Ward stand trial as an adult, given the serious and violent nature of the accusations against him, particularly since the evidence indicates he had a leadership role in some of the robberies, the judge said.
Sims also found that the juvenile justice system would be unlikely to rehabilitate him before he turns 21, noting that Ward was on juvenile probation at the time of the holdups for misdemeanor theft convictions and had been in juvenile court for almost three years by the time he was first charged with a robbery.
The judge also said he was particularly disturbed by a series of six photographs that police found on his cellphone showing him brandishing different guns with his friends.
There was also testimony that when Ward was first arrested on April 22 at Little Rock's Hall High School where he was a student, authorities found a revolver in his backpack, although the discovery did not lead to any charges.
Ward is charged with 12 felonies: kidnapping, fleeing and five counts each of aggravated robbery and theft.
Deputy prosecutor Ashley Clancy argued that adult prosecution was the only appropriate avenue to handle the charges because of their serious and violent nature.
The first holdup that police attributed to Ward was the April 17 carjacking of 21-year-old Robert Taylor at the Sharks Fish & Chicken restaurant at 3323 Fair Park Blvd.
Detective Mike Lundy told the judge that four to five teenagers, all carrying guns, confronted Taylor, demanded his car keys and took his 2014 Nissan Sentra.
Police got a tip that Ward had the car at school, but by the time officers confirmed that it was Taylor's, the car was gone, Lundy testified. They subsequently found the vehicle in the 1600 block of Johnson Street, which is about two blocks from Ward's home, court filings show.
Lundy told the judge that Taylor picked Ward's photo out of a lineup and identified him as the robber who had demanded his car keys.
Ward initially told investigators that he had nothing to do with the robbery, but changed his story less than an hour later to say that he had just been going along with the others and was part of the group that got into the car, according to Lundy.
Ward told police that Michael White and Mark, a boy whose last name Ward didn't know, had been the leaders, Lundy testified. Ward said he'd subsequently bought the car for $500, Lundy said.
Ward spent two weeks in jail before posting bond.
On July 7, two days after 26-year-old Ralphael Johnson of Little Rock was abducted at gunpoint by two teenagers from the parking lot of the Summit House apartments at 400 N. University Ave., police arrested Ward again.
Johnson told police that the pair made him drive around in his black Chrysler 300 for about 30 minutes before they stopped at a Shell station at 4111 N. University Ave., where he was able to escape and call police, detective Julio Gill told the judge.
Johnson's abductors ran away because he was able to lock the car's transmission to keep them from stealing the vehicle, Gill testified.
Johnson subsequently identified Ward as the kidnapper who pointed a gun at him from the car's front passenger seat, according to officers. Ward denied any involvement, but told police he'd seen White driving the vehicle.
By then Ward had become a suspect in the July 2 carjacking of Trelissa Morris, who was ambushed by three armed teenagers in the parking lot of the Kroger at 6420 Colonel Glenn Road, according to officers.
Morris had just gotten off work when the teens, at least two of whom were armed, demanded her 2010 Dodge Charger. She later identified Ward as the one who did all of the talking, detective Grant Humphries testified.
Morris also said one of the other robbers showed her his gun after Ward told him to show her his "strap," street slang for gun, the officer told the judge.
Humphries said patrol officers came upon the car in the 2600 block of North Shackleford Road and ended up chasing it when the driver refused to pull over. The pursuit ended at 13th and Wolfe streets when the car crashed.
The driver ran away, but police arrested two 16-year-olds in the car, Michael White and Jacoby Robinson, both of Little Rock.
Morris chose Ward's photograph out of the police lineup, saying his hair most closely resembled the lead robber, the detective told the judge.
Police also found Ward's cellphone under the driver's seat. Prosecutors used that phone to show photographs to the judge at Thursday's hearing.
Humphries said Ward was also charged in the July 3 robbery of Laquienta Lockhart, whose Chrysler 300 was taken at gunpoint by three teenagers in the parking lot of the Bradford Place apartments at 6310 Colonel Glenn Road.
Police questioned Ward about that robbery because it was so similar to the Trellis theft, Humphries said. Lockhart's car was later found in the 1600 block of North Shackleford Road.
Ward told police that he'd been bullied into participating in that robbery by another teenager, Mike. Ward said he had only a BB gun, but that Mike had a real pistol, police said.
Lockhart could not conclusively identify Ward as the robber, but picked his photo out of the lineup as closely resembling the assailant because they had similar hairstyles, Humphries said.
Ward was also identified as one of four teenagers who robbed the Super Galleria gas station at 5103 Asher Ave. on June 25.
At least one of the robbers was armed when they ran into the store and demanded money, according to testimony. Gill said they also grabbed merchandise off the shelves before fleeing.
"They pretty much destroyed the store," he said.
When questioned by police, Ward said he'd gone into the store with the other three but only because he'd been made to participate. Ward said he was forced to serve as the driver for the other teens, and that he only got $10 and some cigarettes out of it, Gill told the judge.
Defense attorney Colleen Barnhill-Kordsmeier asked the judge to give Ward another chance in juvenile court.
She presented testimony from the teen's therapist, Jacob Grummer, aunt Renee Miles and Hall High security chief Braelon Leniear.
They each described Ward as a bright and respectful youngster with the potential to be a productive member of society if given the appropriate guidance. Grummer said Ward had likely been motivated to rob by a desire to help his struggling mother provide for their family of three.
Ward's mother, Latasha Ward, told the judge that her son was susceptible to peer pressure and acknowledged that she had not been able to provide him with a stable home life because she'd been in prison at times. Ward said she also thought that her son had been motivated by a desire to contribute to the family.
"I believe he chose those things thinking he could help me," she testified.
She teared up when the judge asked her to look at Ward's cellphone photos, saying she'd never seen them before the hearing.
"I can't explain these," she said. "This is my first time seeing these."
Metro on 03/10/2017