Teen Should Be Tried As Adult In Bucks Co. Native's Murder: DA

A teenager accused of killing a young Philadelphia father and Bucks County native in front of his daughter in September will be tried as an adult if a motion filed Wednesday by Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner is supported by a judge.

NBC10 reports Krasner filed a motion Wednesday to charge Marvin Roberts, 17, as an adult in the Sept. 7 killing of Gerard Grandzol, 38, of Philadelphia's Spring Garden neighborhood.

Roberts and his brother, 21-year-old Maurice Roberts, allegedly shot and killed the well-known community activist as he was getting out of his car near his home. His 2-year-old daughter was in the backseat.

Marvin Roberts was 16 at the time of Grandzol's death. The pair face charges of murder, robbery, conspiracy, and firearm crimes.

"The defendant committed a brutal, premeditated murder without provocation. The defendant's actions both during and after the killing warrant prosecution as an adult," the DA's office wrote in the brief. "The limits of the juvenile justice system are wholly insufficient to adequately address the seriousness of this senseless killing."

Krasner's motion comes on the heels of Marvin Roberts' attorney's request to charge him as a juvenile.

Common Pleas Court Judge Kathryn Streeter Lewis will ultimately make the choice of whether or not Marvin Roberts will be charged as an adult. A date for her decision has yet to be set.

Grandzol is a 1997 graduate of Archbishop Wood Catholic High School in Warminster, where he played varsity ice hockey. He was a proud father who was active in community organizations and was fondly referred to as the "mayor" by neighbors. Grandzol and his wife had welcomed their second daughter in July, just weeks before his death.

On a Remembering Gerard Grandzol Facebook page created after his tragic death, dozens and dozens of photos, memories and tributes poured in, including a video of him wheeling children around the neighborhood in a wagon.

Hundreds of thousands of dollars were raised for the Grandzol family through a GoFundMe campaign.

Image via GoFundMe