Juvenile judge to rule if Lorain boy, 17, should be tried as adult in mom's killing

ELYRIA — A ruling on whether a 17-year-old Lorain boy should be tried as an adult for his mother's alleged murder should come within a week, a Lorain County Juvenile Court judge said Tuesday. Judge Lisa Swenski said she would reserve her ruling in the case of the boy who is charged with aggravated murder, murder, felonious assault, tampering with evidence, possession of criminal tools, domestic violence and multiple firearms specifications in the death of his mother, 45-year-old Melinda Green. "I'm in the business of trying to save lives, but the law is clear" — charges in Juvenile Court mean juvenile consequences while charges in adult court mean adult consequences, Swenski said. The boy was 16 when he allegedly shot Green once in the face as she slept in her bed sometime around 6:30 a.m. Aug. 31, according to Lorain police and the Lorain County Prosecutor's Office. The Chronicle-Telegram is not naming the boy due to his age. The youth, who has turned 17 since his mother's death, sat quietly Tuesday in Swenski's courtroom, shackled, wearing an orange Lorain County Detention Home jumpsuit. He occasionally leaned to his left left to talk to his court-appointed attorney, Sean Boris, who said his client has "a lack of remembering what happened" the morning his mother died. Sitting to the boy's right was attorney Priscilla Berthold, appointed by the court to represent the boy's father's interests. Tuesday's hearing was on a legal process called a "bindover," in which juvenile charges are moved or bound over to an adult court. If Swenski rules that there is enough probable cause to believe that the teen killed his mother, his case will automatically be bound over to Common Pleas Court, where adults are prosecuted. Swenski could also order the case to remain in Juvenile Court, something both Boris and Berthold requested Tuesday. Assistant Prosecutor Cheryl Goodrum asked Swenski to move the case to the adult court. The teen decided to end his mother's life the night he shot her in the face, and he allegedly planned to flee to Kentucky, Goodrum said. He even told his mother's cousin and his own cousin that he did it with a "nose" or a "blower," both slang terms for guns. Prosecutors weren't putting on a case to prove the boy killed Green, but to establish probable cause that a murder did occur, Goodrum said in court, questioning two witnesses to try to make her case. Lorain police Detective Chris Kovach testified that he responded shortly after 7 a.m. Aug. 31 to a duplex at 1526 W. 24th St. where a witness reported finding Green dead in an upstairs bedroom. The duplex had video cameras outside, and footage was used to create a timeline of when the boy arrived home around 1:20 a.m. and when his mother's cousin arrived after the boy called her to say his mother wasn't breathing, Kovach testified. No one else was seen entering or leaving the duplex during that time, the detective testified. After finding Green's body, her cousin called 911. The boy had left the residence by the time officers arrived at the duplex, but police found him walking in the area of North Leavitt Road and Edith Street about a mile to the west. His backpack contained clothing, toiletries and a six-round speed loader device for a revolver. Officers also seized the boy's iPhone 15 and downloaded its data for investigation. No gun nor any spent shell casings were found at the crime scene. Kovach testified that the alleged murder weapon, which is believed to be a revolver, still hasn't been recovered. The duplex where Green was killed was "immaculate" except for her bedroom, which Kovach said looked like it had been ransacked. He said the boy's cellphone contained Google searches that led police to believe he had planned how to escape after the killing. The teen also allegedly sent messages to his female cousin on Instagram where he said he was going to do "some stupid thing," that he had "better options" but "I'm gonna go with the messier one," according to Kovach's testimony. Lorain County Coroner Dr. Frank Miller testified that Green died of a single gunshot wound to the head. He testified he had ruled her death a homicide. The gun was at least 18 inches to 2 feet away from Green when fired, Miller testified. Based on evidence at the scene, police investigation and medical records, he put her time of death at approximately 6:30 a.m. Witnesses told detectives the boy had been carrying a gun after he allegedly was robbed in Lorain, Kovach testified. The teen asked for an attorney following his arrest and refused to make any statements to police, the detective testified. The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation still is examining the fatal bullet, police are waiting on results of a gunshot residue test done on the boy's hands, and the Coroner's Office still hasn't issued a final autopsy report on Green, Kovach testified. Neither the defense nor the boy's father's attorney called any witnesses. Citing "a certain lack of evidence," Boris asked that the case remain in Juvenile Court. "We feel the state has not met their burden at this time," Berthold said. "There has been a murder but there's no evidence (the boy) committed that murder." Swenski also reserved a ruling on bond until a later date. Goodrum asked the teen be held on $2 million bond, while Boris asked for something "more reasonable" between $250,000 and $500,000 and Berthold requested bond closer to $100,000. Swenski said she had previously denied Boris' motion to enter a plea of "not guilty by reason of insanity." There is no such plea in Juvenile Court, she said, but an insanity defense may be filed if the case is bound over to Common Pleas Court. The boy said he wanted to be sent to the Lorain County Jail rather than go back to the Detention Home. If sent to the county jail, he would be kept separate from the adult inmates until he turns 18, Swenski said. Swenski said in court that the teen behaved when first locked up in the Detention Home, but later lashed out throwing bodily fluids or substances possibly in attempts to appear incompetent or insane, she said. His behavior has since improved, but Swenski warned the teen that if he creates "a security issue" at the detention home he will be sent immediately to the county jail. Before adjourning court for the day, Swenski also wished the boy luck, telling those in her courtroom that "people should not be judged by their worst day." "None of us should," she said. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.