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Steve Babcock holds a
framed senior portrait of his daughter Trisha Babcock, who
was 24 when she was killed Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2009 in
Davison, Mich.. Demarco Harris, a 12-year-old Detroit boy
accused of shooting a 24-year-old woman to death during a
street robbery could face an adult murder sentence of life
in prison without parole if he's convicted, authorities said
Wednesday (AP Photo/Detroit News, John T. Greilick) |
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Detroit
boy, 12,
faces
life
murder
charge
in death
By DAVID
N.
GOODMAN
Associated
Press
Writer
A
12-year-old
Detroit
boy
accused
of
shooting
a
24-year-old
woman to
death
during a
street
robbery
could
face an
adult
murder
sentence
of life
in
prison
without
parole
if he's
convicted,
authorities
said
Wednesday.
Demarco
Harris
was
being
held
Wednesday
at the
Wayne
County
juvenile
detention
facility.
Police
said
officers
contacted
the
boy's
father
Friday,
and the
man
brought
his son
in to be
arrested.
According
to
police,
the boy
tried to
rob
Trisha
Babcock,
24, of
Davison,
just
after
midnight
on Aug.
1. She
had come
to
Detroit
seeking
work as
a dancer
and was
sitting
in the
driver's
seat of
a parked
car when
the boy
pointed
his gun
at her
and a
struggle
ensued,
police
said. He
shot her
once in
the
chest,
police
said,
and she
later
died at
a
hospital.
Harris
is
charged
with
felony
murder,
armed
robbery,
having a
firearm
during a
felony
and
violating
curfew.
He is
too
young to
be
charged
as an
adult
under
Michigan
law, but
the
prosecutor's
office
filed
the case
with an
adult
designation.
That
means
the
judge
can
choose
to
impose
an adult
sentence.
For
felony
murder,
that
would be
mandatory
life in
prison
without
possibility
of
parole.
Steve
Babcock,
father
of
Trisha
Babcock
who was
shot and
killed
in
Detroit
shortly
after
midnight
on
August
1, 2009
is seen
Wednesday,
Aug. 19,
2009 in
Davison,
Mich..
Demarco
Harris,
a
12-year-old
Detroit
boy
accused
of
shooting
a
24-year-old
woman to
death
during a
street
robbery
could
face an
adult
murder
sentence
of life
in
prison
without
parole
if he's
convicted,
authorities
said
Wednesday
(AP
Photo/Detroit
News,
John T.
Greilick)
"I could
not have
been out
at night
when I
was 12,"
police
Chief
Warren
Evans
told
reporters
Wednesday.
"Things
have
changed."
Police
have not
said how
Harris
got the
gun,
which
they
have not
found
yet. But
Evans
expressed
frustration
at the
widespread
presence
of guns
on the
city's
streets,
particularly
in the
hands of
young
people.
"There
are days
when the
shootings
—
everyone
(victim
and
suspect)
is a
juvenile,"
he said.
"There
are too
many
guns out
there."
In
Michigan,
cases
with an
adult
designation
are
tried in
juvenile
court.
After a
conviction,
the
judge
has a
choice
to
sentence
the
juvenile
as an
adult or
as a
juvenile,
or to
defer
the
decision
until
the
child
reaches
adulthood.
"It's
the most
responsible
way of
charging
in this
case,"
said
Maria
Miller,
spokeswoman
for
Prosecutor
Kym
Worthy.
Defense
lawyer
Jeffrey
G.
Schwartz
represented
Harris
during
his
brief
arraignment
Saturday
but said
the
family
planned
to hire
a
private
lawyer.
Schwartz
said he
knows
little
about
the
circumstances
but said
there
are many
directions
such a
case
could
take.
"The
bottom
line is
in an
adult
designation
case,
the
judge
can
sentence
the
defendant
as an
adult,
as a
juvenile
or
(give) a
blended
sentence,"
he said.
"There
could be
a plea
bargain."
Michigan's
law
allowing
life
prison
terms
for
children
first
drew
widespread
attention
when
Nathaniel
Abraham,
then 11,
was
charged
with
murder
in the
sniper-killing
of an
18-year-old
Pontiac
neighbor
in 1997.
He was
convicted
of
second-degree
murder
and
released
after
his 21st
birthday.
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