Central Arkansas teen out of second chances, to be tried as adult, judge says

A 16-year-old Jacksonville boy, accused of shooting another teenager in February, must stand trial as an adult, Pulaski County Circuit Judge Barry Sims ruled Friday after hearing testimony that the teenager has already been afforded almost every opportunity available through the juvenile justice system.

Travon Rice is charged as an adult with aggravated assault and two counts of first-degree battery over accusations that he shot teenage brothers Braylen Penney and Brian Penney on Feb. 6 at 3316 Wynne St. He's scheduled to stand trial next month.

Rice had petitioned the judge to transfer the case to juvenile court where he is already on probation for fleeing and theft convictions. Deputy prosecutor Lauren Eldridge argued that Rice had used up all of his chances in juvenile court, having committed 25 juvenile offenses and detention infractions between 2013 and 2018.

At the time of his February arrest, Rice had been wanted on a juvenile release revocation warrant since mid-July, according to testimony at Friday's hourlong hearing. He was expelled from the C-Step boot camp program last year for behavioral issues.

Testifying at Friday's hearing Little Rock detective Roy Williams said the Penney brothers and a friend had gone to meet with a boy Braylen Penney knew so he could buy an Xbox video game set.

Braylen Penney said he'd met the boy a couple of weeks earlier and they'd exchanged Instagram contact information, using the photograph-sharing social media networking service to exchange messages, the detective said.

But when the teens arrived on Wynne Street, they were greeted by three men, one of whom pulled a gun on them. Braylen Penney grabbed the weapon, and he and the gunman scuffled over it until the gunman pulled out a second weapon, and the three teens fled as the man started shooting, Williams told the judge.

Braylen Penney was shot in the right calf, a wound that required surgery, while Brian Penney was grazed on the right shin, the detective said. The brothers were driven to a hospital, and police found a 9mm pistol in the car that took them there.

The Penney brothers' friend told police that he had exchanged gunfire with the shooter, and investigators collected 18 shell casings at the scene, seven from a .40-caliber pistol, five from a .45 and six from a 9mm.

Braylen Penney provided investigators with the gunman's Instagram account, Williams told the judge, describing how he used the information to find Rice's Facebook account. Rice, who was living in Little Rock at the time, was arrested about 2½ weeks later after Braylen Penney recognized him as the gunman, the detective told the judge.

In custody, Rice told police that someone in the Penney group had been the first to pull a weapon and fire it, and that he had returned fire with his own weapon, Williams testified. But Rice's story changed during questioning, with Rice initially telling police that he had two guns, a .40-caliber and a .45-caliber, and later saying he had only a .40-caliber, the detective said.

Williams also showed the judge photographs that he found on Rice's social media accounts, one showing the teen with a gun in his pocket. Two others showed him making gang signs while posing with men making gang signs who also were holding guns. His Facebook page indicates that he is at least affiliated with the Bloods street gang, Williams testified.

Endorsing Rice's juvenile-transfer petition were Cassandra Green, principal of the Hamilton Learning Academy, and Andrew Bennett, a social studies teacher from the school who described him as an immature boy looking for a group to fit in with. Rice attended the school for about 11 months between 2016 and 2017.

Defense attorney Maryann Furrer told the judge that testimony showed that Rice could be rehabilitated in the juvenile system, if he could be incarcerated in the Division of Youth Services, which would provide him with the stability he needs.

Rice has had a traumatic childhood with his father murdered when he was 3 and his sister murdered last year, Furrer said. She told the judge that Rice has received the appropriate counseling, citing testimony from Rice's mother, 38-year-old Latanya Rice.

Metro on 09/28/2019

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