A 15-year-old boy who has admitted to police he was the robber in a Spider-Man mask who put a pistol to the head of a Little Rock store clerk will stand trial as an adult, Pulaski County Circuit Judge Barry Sims ordered Thursday.
Jaylon Deshun Holmes of Little Rock faces at least 10 years in prison on two counts of aggravated robbery and theft. He will turn 16 in less than a month.
His grandmother, Disrester Hurvey, 54, asked the judge to give Holmes another chance because of his youth. Holmes was under the sway of older men -- "a bad crowd" -- but could be redeemed if he could be allowed to take advantage of the rehabilitative programs available through the juvenile-justice system.
"He's 15 and you can't give up on him," she told the judge. "He deserves a chance."
But questioned by deputy prosecutor Matt Stauffer, Hurvey acknowledged the boy has been in the juvenile-justice system since he was 14 and was convicted last year of being a minor in possession of a handgun on school grounds for a Feb. 6, 2017, arrest at Chicot Primary School, across the street from his home.
A May arrest for leading Little Rock police in a car chase while driving a stolen vehicle led to his juvenile convictions for theft by receiving and fleeing, the prosecutor said.
Holmes hit a gas pump at a convenience store then drove the car at an officer who was approaching to apprehend him, according to a police report.
Holmes was supposed to be wearing his court-ordered ankle monitor but had cut it off a few days earlier, according to testimony.
The teen was poised to begin a rehabilitative boot-camp program for youthful offenders when he was arrested on the robbery charges, preventing him from participating in the program, which accepts only a small number of participants.
The youthful defendant did not testify. Stauffer said the teen should be judged by what he has done, not his youth.
"He looks young," the prosecutor said. "But by his actions, he begs to be treated as an adult."
The protection of society requires that Holmes face his charges in adult court, the judge said, citing the teen's criminal history. Sims said he didn't believe the teen could be rehabilitated, even considering he could be held by juvenile-justice authorities until he was 21.
According to police testimony, Holmes has admitted participating in the Oct. 15 holdup at Jimmy John's restaurant at 700 Broadway and, three days later, putting a revolver to the head of Metro PCS clerk Stephanie Teague.
Sims said he was moved by testimony about Holmes' impoverished childhood but Sims also said he had to consider the terror that Teague, an innocent woman just doing her job, felt when the store at 10402 Stagecoach Road was suddenly stormed by two gun-toting masked robbers who stole money and phones.
Store surveillance photographs presented to the judge show the gunman in the Spider-Man mask holding a revolver to the woman's head. Holmes admitted he's the one in the photograph and marked it for police.
Photographs from Holmes' Facebook page also were disturbing, Sims said.
The prosecutor showed the judge a video on the teen's Facebook page that featured at least eight photos of Holmes -- out of 10 where he can be clearly seen -- posing with guns, sometimes alone and sometimes with others.
One of the photos shows him holding a pistol with an extended clip upside down. while two are of him pointing a gun at the camera. Another is him with a handgun that has a laser sight and flashlight attached.
His attorney, Colleen Kordsmeier, pointed out that he is the youngest of the four defendants.
Donterio "Bam" Bryles is 18, while Brandon Adams, the one police believe instigated the robberies, is 19. The oldest of the four is 20-year-old Jerromond Deshun Perry of North Little Rock, and he has told police that Holmes never got out of the car during the Jimmy John's holdup and that Adams provided the revolver Holmes used in the cellphone-store robbery, she said. The other robber was carrying a BB gun that looked like a semi-automatic pistol. Police are still looking for a fifth person.
Holmes' probation officer, Jennie Promack, told the judge that Holmes had showed promise in the fifth grade but that he'd neglected his education after that, repeatedly skipping school, getting suspended for fighting and being disruptive. She said she was surprised when he graduated from the eighth grade and advanced to the ninth grade at McClellan High School, where he was enrolled when he was arrested on the robbery charges.
But at his age, given the resources available in juvenile court, Holmes could flourish, she said, "wholeheartedly" supporting his return to juvenile custody.
"He's 15 years old," she told the judge. "Absolutely I want him to get these services and an education."
Metro on 02/16/2018