Boy spared life in prison

Judge: Young killer can be rehabilitated.

By DAVID GOODMAN

The Associated Press

PONTIAC, Mich. --- One of the youngest murderers in U.S. history - -- a boy who shot a stranger at age 11 --- was spared life in prison Thursday and sent away to a juvenile detention center until he turns 21.

Judge Eugene Moore said the tough 1997 Michigan law that allowed Nathaniel Abraham to be prosecuted as an adult is "fundamentally flawed," and the boy has a chance of being rehabilitated.

He called the case a wake-up call "that our youth are in trouble."

"I urge the Legislature to lean toward improving the resources and programs within the juvenile justice system rather than diverting more youth into an already failed adult system," Moore said.

Nathaniel, who turns 14 next week, didn't speak at the hearing. He turned around and looked at his mother and other relatives when he entered the courtroom but showed no emotion when the judge passed sentence.

A defense attorney said he had to explain to the boy what had happened.

Nathaniel was the first youth charged with first-degree murder under the 1997 law, which allows children of any age to be prosecuted as adults for serious offenses. The case stirred debate across the country over efforts to crack down on juvenile crime.

He was convicted in November of second-degree murder for shooting Ronnie Greene Jr., 18, outside a Pontiac convenience store in 1997 with a stolen rifle from about 70 yards away. The sixth-grader was arrested two days later, his face painted for Halloween, and has been held in a juvenile facility ever since.

Prosecutors said Nathaniel had told a friend he was going to shoot somebody, practiced his aim on stationary targets, shot Greene in the head and bragged about it the next day.

The defense said Nathaniel was shooting at trees, and Greene was struck by a bullet that ricocheted off a tree. The defense also said Nathaniel had the mind of a 6- to 8-year-old and couldn't form the intent to commit murder or understand the charges against him.

--- The Associated Press

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