Derek Brown told the judge he's guilty of attempted murder. Back in January, Brown brought a navy seal knife to school and stabbed a classmate in the lunch room. The Judge also decided not to move, now 15 years old, Derek Brown, up to adult court. The decision is based on a psychiatrist assessment of the boy's mental health.
Michael McAlexander, the Chief Deputy Prosecutor for Allen County says “They found that he was suffering severe depression at the time of this. Doctor Ross talked about he has significant anger issues. They did not feel though he had more severe mental illnesses that made him incapable of receiving treatment.”
The doctor also said he isn't stable enough to be out of jail. Brown was charged with Battery, Aggravated Battery and, Attempted Murder. But the Prosecuting attorney agreed to drop the first two charges. McAlexander says “They all were different ways of describing the same incident. So we went with the strongest of the 3 charges, the most serious, and the juvenile admitted to the attempted murder count this morning.”
Brown's admission of guilty plea means there won't be a trial. All that is left now is sentencing.
The Prosecutor told FOX Fort Wayne how the victim is doing. McAlexander says “He's in school at IU. He still has paralysis on his face. He has a thumb that he will probably have permanent damage and lack of mobility on. He has some difficultly with his right eye and being able to close it and smile and do those things.”
Doctors say the injuries to the young man's face could still heal.
Brown will be sentenced on September 24th.The juvenile courts don't assign an exact number of years a criminal must serve for a particular crime. The Prosecuting Attorney says Brown will likely by out of jail before he's 18.
