YAKIMA, Wash.-- NBC Right Now continuing to follow the case against a 15-year-old boy, accused of shooting a man to death near a busy transit center earlier this week. Prosecutors filed paperwork in court Friday to try the boy as an adult.
It's the first step in prosecuting the 15-year-old in a Yakima County Superior courtroom.
Deputy Prosecuting Attorney, Quinten Bowman asked the judge to set a decline hearing where they will decide whether or not the boy will stand trial as an adult.
The 15-year-old is accused of shooting Octavio Rangel, 26, to death near the Yakima Transit Center, early Tuesday night.
If the boy was 16 or 17-years-old, the decision would be automatic, but because he's 15, there are several steps the court must go through in determining whether he'll be tried as a juvenile or adult.
"The Juvenile Probation Office typically drafts a report with its recommendations, either for or against him being tried as an adult. And if the defense thinks it's necessary, they will often get a second opinion," said Bowman.
Once that is done, the evidence will be given to the juvenile court judge who makes the final decision.
The 15-year-old was also formally charged with second degree murder and unlawful possession of a firearm.
Bowman would not say why the Prosecutor's Office decided on the lesser murder charge.
