Teen Should have Never Been Tried for Murder as an Adult

A Hillsboro teen who, as a 15-year-old became the youngest person in Oregon ever convicted of aggravated murder, should never have been tried as an adult.

That was the ruling this week of the Oregon Supreme Court in the case of Juan Carlos Negrete-Vasquez.

He was arrested as a 13-year-old for participating in the 2009 murder of 18-year-old Eduardo Andrade-Alcantar.

In 2011, a Judge ruled that Negrete-Vasquez could be tried as an adult on aggravated murder charges.

Based on that ruling, he was tried in a no-jury trial before a judge who found him guilty.

The supreme court's ruling said that a judge should have never agreed to a prosecution request to move the case from juvenile court.

The teen had appealed the decision, saying the judge was wrong in concluding he understood what he had done.

When the court of appeals upheld the decision, he appealed to the supreme court.

It's not yet known what the court's decision means for his conviction.