As seen in the Washington Square News.
The four teenagers arrested over the weekend in connection with the death of CAS junior Broderick John “JB” Hehman were all arraigned in Manhattan criminal court by yesterday afternoon.
Three of the defendants — Denzel Fell, 13; Bobby Guzman, 13; and Andre Johnson, 15 — were brought before the court to face charges of attempted robbery and second-degree murder early yesterday, while Hassan Mayfield, 15, was charged late Sunday.
Hehman died last week from injuries he sustained after he was hit by a car on 125th Street and Park Avenue in Harlem. Prosecutors say that Hehman died trying to run away from the defendants, who were allegedly trying to rob him.
The teens will be tried as adults and face nine years to life in prison if convicted, a Manhattan district attorney’s office spokesman said.
Adam Freedman, Johnson’s lawyer, said the youths will be held without bail for the remainder of the week. Since they are under 16, the teenagers are being held in New York’s juvenile detention center.
Next week prosecutors and defense attorneys will present evidence before a grand jury, who will decide whether the boys will be indicted, said Osuna Lesser, Fell’s attorney.
According to media reports, the boys originally intended to rob another man but were discouraged after a police cruiser drove by. After seeing Hehman talking on his mobile phone, the youths attacked him. Hehman wrestled free, said an eyewitness, and ran from his assailants into traffic on 125th Street, where he was struck by a silver Mercedes-Benz, suffering fatal injuries. The car’s driver has not been charged, but police said they are still investigating a fifth suspect.
Police officials determined that Hehman’s death was the result of a failed robbery, though speculation has persisted in media reports and the same community members that the crime was racially motivated. Hehman was white and all four defendants are black. New York State’s hate-crimes law, passed in 2000, requires harsher penalties for those who single out victims based on race, religion or sexual orientation.
–with Kaveri Marathe