Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard will seek to try as adults five Westlake High students accused of severely beating a classmate, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has learned exclusively.
"[B]ased on the severe and egregious nature of the crime, the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office has filed a motion to transfer the case to superior court in an effort to potentially prosecute the juveniles charged in this crime as adults," Howard said in a statement late Wednesday.
A hearing on that motion is pending. The five underclassmen, including a sister and brother, are being held at the Fulton Youth Detention Center. Charges against them include aggravated assault and battery for their alleged role in breaking the nose and jaw of a 16-year-old Westlake junior.
The victim's attorney, Esther Panitch, said she is "very pleased with the direction the district attorney is taking on this case."
The teen's mother, who wanted to be identified only as Meredith, said her son is not returning to Westlake.
It's still unclear whether his alleged attackers, suspended 10 days for the Nov. 7 beating, will be welcomed back to the south Fulton campus. Typically they would appear before a school tribunal to determine their fate, but that hearing is on hold as long as the students, ages 14 to 16, remain incarcerated, said schools spokeswoman Samantha Evans.
Family and friends of the suspects were visibly upset following a hearing Tuesday at Fulton juvenile court. One mother was in tears while other relatives refused requests for comment.
Before their arrests two of the students allegedly boasted on Facebook about their role in the assault.
"[H]is teeth gone, both his eyes was leakin' and his nose," posted the lone female suspect. Wrote another, in all caps: "He got beat bad."
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