Teen murder suspect appears in court; prosecutor weighs in on if case will move to adult court
A 16-year-old accused of stabbing and killing a man and then causing an hours-long standoff in Sidney made his first court appearance on Friday.
The teen, who has not been identified, appeared for a detention hearing in Shelby County Juvenile Court.
>> PHOTOS: SWAT standoff in Sidney neighborhood
News Center 7 filed a request to be in the courtroom Friday morning, but the judge denied it with an order saying that “the media request must be presented at least 24 hours in advance of a court proceeding.”
As reported on News Center 7 at 5:00, Shelby County’s prosecutor, Tim Sell, said his office is having “preliminary” discussions about whether to ask a judge to move the teen’s murder case to adult court.
“We have had conversations about moving it up,” Sell said.
Sell said his age and juvenile criminal past will both play “large” roles in the decision.
“He’s been around, so we know who he is. And not only that, there are other activities that he’s been in recently that we’re aware of. So all of that will play a role in how we, proceed,” Sell said.
>> PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Teen homicide suspect in custody after hours-long SWAT standoff in Sidney
Police said the 16-year-old allegedly stabbed a 23-year-old, identified to News Center 7 by his mother as Christian Vaughn, at Brown Park after a large fight broke out early Thursday morning.
A juvenile male was also stabbed in the fight and is in critical condition.
As News Center 7 previously reported, the teen was taken into custody around 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, after a roughly nine-hour standoff at a home on Second Avenue.
