Four of five Westlake High School students charged in a beating that broke a classmate's jaw and nose were released Thursday from the Fulton County Youth Detention Center, according to a source familiar with the juvenile court proceedings.
Channel 2 Action News also reported the four youths were released, citing sources who were present in the courtroom. Another hearing is scheduled Friday for the fifth defendant who, like the other suspects, has spent the last three weeks behind bars. The media was barred from attending Thursday's hearing -- typical in juvenile cases.
Despite their release, the students' legal troubles are far from over.
Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard announced recently he will seek to try the five defendants, ages 14 to 16, as adults.
They've already been charged with aggravated assault and battery for their alleged role in the Nov. 7 attack that left a 16-year-old Westlake junior hospitalized.
Whether or not the five underclassmen, suspended 10 days each, will be allowed to return to Westlake is unclear. That decision rests with a school tribunal, said Fulton schools spokeswoman Samantha Evans, and their hearing was on hold as long as the suspects, including a brother and sister, were incarcerated.
Evans could not be reached for comment late Thursday.
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