Why some underage suspects in East Valley teen violence cases could be charged as adults

PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) — As arrests continue to come down in these teen violence cases, we keep seeing a split between some being charged as minors and others as adults.

So, could birthdays simply being a few months apart mean drastic differences in the consequences these teens could face if convicted? It depends on the age and the charge. Arizona law does give the Maricopa County attorney the ability to charge some kids as adults.

A former Maricopa County prosecutor said an underage teen who is charged as a minor in one assault could be charged as an adult in another, which makes the scope of these East Valley teen violence cases complicated with wildly different consequences on the line.

FULL COVERAGE: East Valley Teen Assaults

The names and mug shots of suspects 18 years old and older have been made public but several of these cases also have unnamed suspects because they’re 16 or 17. “Some of these 17-year-olds who have been charged right now but not named, they could be upgraded to adults for these charges?” asked True Crime correspondent Briana Whitney. “It’s possible. It’s absolutely possible,” said former Maricopa County prosecutor Andrew Pacheco.

Pacheco is familiar with how these charges break down behind the scenes. He said typically, if a child is arrested for a crime, a juvenile prosecutor with the county attorney’s office will review the case, interview witnesses, and decide whether the case should be escalated to adult charges based on the nature of the crime.

But if it isn’t, Pacheco said the reality is that the second you turn 18, you’re an adult in the eyes of the law, regardless of who else is involved in the same attack. “An 18-year-old and a 17-year-old might be engaging in the exact same behavior, but the punishments they face are drastically different,” said Pacheco. “The juvenile court only has jurisdiction until the kid turns 18 years old. So, if there are charges when the kid is 17 years old and 6 months, the services can only be provided to them and a punishment can only be meted against them for six months. So there are advantages to being charged as a juvenile.”

Arizona’s Family has now learned that 17-year-old Jack Woods is the first underage teen charged as an adult in these cases for aggravated assault charges in a Gilbert parking garage attack in 2022. He turns 18 in less than six months.

But when it comes to the ongoing Preston Lord death investigation, those charges could look different from the get-go. “There are some crimes that mandate that persons 15, 16, or 17 years old be charged as adults,” said Pacheco.

He said those crimes include murder. “So, it would be fair to say that if somebody is charged in the Preston Lord case with murder, and they are as old as, they will face those charges as an adult?” asked Whitney.

“I would expect that if there are murder charges in the Preston Lord matter, given the age range of the people that we’ve heard about, we will see adult charges,” Pacheco said.

Ultimately, it is up to the Maricopa County attorney whether or not these teens are prosecuted as adults. Her office can change existing juvenile charges if they find they warrant an adult charge. That’s exactly what happened to Jack Woods in the parking garage assault.

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