Teens in court in Pitt law student’s death

The cases against three teenagers charged with the fatal shooting of a Pitt law student will go… The cases against three teenagers charged with the fatal shooting of a Pitt law student will go to court soon, and pending decisions will have a large effect on all three.

It is likely that all three teenagers arrested this summer in connection to the death of Pitt law student James Wallmuth III will be prosecuted as adults, York, Pa., authorities said, though a gag order on the youngest defendant’s case will keep much of that trial out of the press.

That is the usual process for murder cases involving minors, said Kyle King, an administrator in the York County District Attorney’s office. King said he “put the kibosh” on the murder trial as soon as he learned the age of the first and youngest defendant, 15-year-old Jordan Wallick.

Two 18-year-olds from York, Joshua Edmoundson and Kenneth Santiago-Curet, were also arrested in connection with the late-July shooting that left Wallmuth with a fatal gunshot wound to the back. Wallmuth was 28.

Following the shooting, York Police Captain Ron Camacho said his department obtained an arrest warrant for Wallick after a witness picked the teenager out of a photo lineup.

Camacho said Wallmuth was making a phone call on a bench outside a popular downtown York tavern when a group of people approached him and asked for money. Wallmuth apparently told the group that he didn’t have any, and one of them turned and shot him shortly after 11 p.m.

Witnesses observed a male wearing a red shirt and dark shorts running from the scene south on Grant Street and then east on Market Street, Camacho said.

Medics transported Wallmuth to York Hospital, where he was pronounced dead from a single gunshot wound to the back at 1:31 a.m.

All three teenagers face charges of criminal homicide, criminal conspiracy to commit homicide, robbery and criminal conspiracy to commit robbery, King said, and it is up to a York juvenile judge to decide if Wallick will be charged as an adult.

It is unclear who is representing the teens, and attempts to reach their families were unsuccessful.

If convicted of first degree murder as adults, the three could face life imprisonment or the death sentence under Pennsylvania law, according to Families Against Mandatory Minimums’ website, an advocacy group for fair and proportionate sentencing laws.

The decision to try Wallick as an adult would have a huge bearing on the 15-year-old’s future, according to the American Bar Association’s website.

“Juvenile offenders do not commit ‘crimes,’” the website reads. “They commit delinquent acts, some of which are acts that would constitute crimes if committed by an adult.

The trial phase of a juvenile case is replaced with an adjudication hearing that determines whether the child is delinquent.”

The sentencing for delinquent juveniles is characteristically more focused on rehabilitation than punishment, the website reports.

King largely agreed with the Bar Associations assessment.

“I can’t really speak specifically about this case, but in a violent crime like this we always prosecute to the fullest extent judging by the nature of the crime,” King said. “In the case of the youngest defendant, the trial will start before a juvenile judge, where the defense attorney will push for juvenile court.”

“This type of decision is about more than evaluating the maturity level of the defendant. There are many contributing factors,” King said. “We’re going to weigh the crime against the capacity for rehabilitation. Obviously, the age is a huge factor in that consideration, but we prosecute the same way we would any other homicide.”

King said Wallick already appeared in juvenile court, but the case has been postponed until late September. He said the two 18-year-olds, Edmoundson and Santiago-Curet, are old enough to face adult charges.

The pair were still waiting for their preliminary hearing as of last week, King said. Court dockets indicated that the hearings are slated for late-September.