Prosecutors seek US teens to be tried as adults in killing over Instagram use

Tan KW

Publish date: Thu, 15 Dec 2022, 05:12 PM

Prosecutors will seek adult trials for four South Carolina teens accused of murder in the shooting death of a Rock Hill man over discipline due to Instagram use, according to officials and court testimony.

Police have said in previous court hearings Larry Ingram Jr, 38, was “executed” Nov 14 in a plot by the four teens.

Instagram is a social media app.

Three of the suspects were age 14 and the fourth was 15 when arrested last month, police officials have said. All four are males charged with murder and conspiracy.

Sixteenth Circuit Assistant Solicitor Whitney Payne said in York County Family Court Tuesday that prosecutors have filed court documents seeking to try the four juveniles as adults.

In adult court, punishment could be a minimum of 30 years in prison if convicted of murder. A conviction and sentence in South Carolina Family Court ends at age 21 for any crime.

The suspects and their lawyers have the legal right to challenge prosecutors’ effort to try the teens as adults. None of the lawyers for the four suspects have made any statements in court about prosecutors’ efforts.

A Family Court judge would have to issue a court order to allow prosecutors to try the four teens as adults.

First appearance for 4th suspect

Three of the four suspects appeared in court in late November. The fourth suspect made his first York County Family Court appearance Tuesday.

The fourth suspect’s lawyer, Kyle Hobbs, said in court Tuesday that he waived a hearing to determine if there was probable cause to arrest the suspect and keep the suspect detained.

The fourth suspect also faces two weapons charges.

At the conclusion of Tuesday’s hearing, visiting Family Court Judge Debra Matthews of Fairfield County returned the fourth suspect to a S.C. Department of Juvenile Justice jail as the case continues.

The Herald is not naming the four suspects because of their ages and judges’ orders not to identify them. The Herald also is not describing the relationship between the victim and suspects.

The crime

Rock Hill police and York County prosecutors say Ingram had taken away laptop computers used by the teenagers earlier in the day on Nov 14. The suspects plotted to kill Ingram because they were unhappy with the discipline, police have testified.

Ingram was lured into a hallway at his apartment and fatally shot, police and prosecutors allege. The weapon allegedly used in the shooting was improperly taken by one of the suspects from an adult relative, police previously testified.

What happens next?

All four have been in the S.C. Department of Juvenile Justice custody since arrest shortly after Ingram was killed.

DJJ and court officials now have to do an assessment of each juvenile concerning the attempt by prosecutors to prosecute them as adults. The process can take months, officials have said.

No trial dates have been set.

- TNS

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