DELTONA, Florida. – A 12-year-old boy accused of joining a 14-year-old girl in a shooting with an assault rifle and shotgun against Florida MPs from a house they broke into earlier this week will last for 21 days The facility held in safe custody pending a hearing, a judge ruled on Thursday.
During a virtual hearing, Judge Michael Orfinger told the boy he was being charged with attempted first degree murder of a law enforcement officer and armed burglary.
“I reviewed the arrest report and based on my review there is a likely reason that these acts took place and that you are the person who committed them,” Orfinger said.
The judge appointed a public defender for the boy, who was silent during the seven-minute hearing and looked slightly dazed in a dark blue shirt.
Prosecutors said in a statement that prosecutors and investigators would conduct a “thorough” review of the case and, once the review is complete, make a final decision on the charges against the couple.
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The 14-year-old girl and 12-year-old boy left the Florida United Methodist Children’s Home near Deltona on Tuesday and broke into a house where they found guns and ammunition. They began shooting at the Volusia County Sheriff’s Deputies who were looking for them. MPs eventually shot and wounded the girl, who was in critical but stable condition after the operation, said Mike Chitwood, sheriff of Volusia County.
MPs had received nearly 300 calls for service last year and made 89 visits to the youth home so far this year, and in March a Florida United Methodist Children’s Home security guard died after being repeatedly hit on the head of a teenage boy who was staying at home .
Chitwood said the recent events were symbolic of a bigger issue that lawmakers and Florida Department of Juvenile Justice officials needed to address.
“We’re arresting these children in Florida for violent crimes and the juvenile court is trying to take them to places they can’t,” Chitwood said Wednesday. “People have to face the facts … instead of pampering themselves.” Those kids, and pat Johnny on the head, hug Jane and tell her everything will be fine, we have a lot of violent criminals who are teenagers. “
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The boy had previously threatened to kill another student and throw a brick at a school administrator, and the girl was arrested three years ago for stealing puppies. She was sent to a teenage court but failed to meet requirements and set five fires on a wooded lot last April, Chitwood said.
She was sent to her mother’s home, then placed in foster care, but kept running away, so she was sent to the youth home, the sheriff said.
Juvenile justice officials said in an email that the children’s home they escaped from is not part of the program. “When a youth is arrested in Florida, the courts will decide whether to keep them in custody or release them into the community,” the statement said.
The agency “does not tolerate any violence that endangers the public safety of our communities,” said a statement by the agency on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the children’s home announced a 30-day moratorium on the admission of “at risk” children, according to which they will only be admitted if they can properly care for them. The home’s emergency shelter care program currently houses three such children, the statement said in the statement.
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“The number of children sometimes sent to us through shelter is beyond our ability to provide the care we need and the limits we can serve as part of our mission,” said Kitwana McTyer, President and CEO Home, it says in the statement.
McTyer said Tuesday’s incident was “the result of the failure of our children’s system”.
The 113-year-old facility is a children’s aid home, not a safe care facility, the statement says.
“We just cannot continue to be ‘all for all’,” the McTyer statement said. “From a personal point of view, this incident is shocking to me. I’ve never experienced anything like it in my 25 years in the youth welfare office. “
Chitwood said law enforcement efforts to control violent juveniles will be further hampered by laws passed by Florida lawmakers coming into effect next month. Before a juvenile can be remanded for no-show, the new law requires judges to ensure that a representative or attorney has provided the child with the information or that a notice has been sent to the juvenile’s address.
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“In their infinite wisdom, they say it is a technical violation,” the sheriff said sarcastically. “It’s absolutely ridiculous.”
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