A 12-year-old US boy could be sentenced to life in prison after he was charged as an adult for his brother’s murder.
Cristian Fernandez is alleged to have beaten his two-year-old brother David to death at their family home in Jacksonville, Florida, in March.
Prosecutor Angela Corey decided to charge Fernandez as an adult in order to ‘protect the public’ from him.
“The fact that we indicted a 12-year-old in and of itself is a stunning event and a sad event in our prosecutorial lives that we had to do this, but it is the only legal mechanism that we can use to protect the community from this particular defendant at this point,” Corey said.
People under the age of 18 are usually tried as juveniles, leading to more lenient punishments. If Fernandez was convicted as a juvenile, he would be free by the time he was 21.
The decision to charge Fernandez as an adult will result in a mandatory life sentence if he is convicted.
Fernandez’s attorneys say the child has a history of physical and sexual abuse, and should be rehabilitated, not jailed for life.
“The whole system has failed him,” Assistant Public Defender Rob Mason said.
“This child clearly is a victim. We think he can be rehabilitated and, as his lawyers, we will fight for that.”
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