An Indiana teenager accused of killing and molesting a 6-year-old girl from New Carlisle is now set to stand trial in front of a judge, not a jury, the St. Joseph County Prosecutor’s Office announced Wednesday.
15-year-old Anthony Hutchens is charged with murder and child molestation in the March 2021 death of Grace Ross. In May, the boy’s attorneys filed a motion to have the outcome of his case determined by St. Joseph Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Sanford, who is assigned to the proceedings.
On Wednesday, prosecutors agreed to the request and if Sanford approves the waiver, the judge will decide the outcome of the case, should it go to trial.
Neither prosecutors nor Anthony’s lawyers have explained their reasoning for the request in court filings, though in an initial release, the prosecutor’s office said it consulted with Grace’s family before making its decision. Later Wednesday afternoon, the prosecutor’s office sent out a new release in which a spokesman wrote “An unfortunate miscommunication within our office led to the previous press release stating that we had already spoken to the family about the case being decided by a judge. I apologize for the error.”
Even with Wednesday’s news, the case has a while to go before reaching a trial. Proceedings against the teen began in juvenile court over a year ago when Grace was found dead in a wooded area behind the New Carlisle apartment complex where both she and Anthony lived, on March 12, 2021.
Earlier this year, St. Joseph Probate Court Magistrate Graham Polando ruled that Anthony should be tried as an adult due to the severity of the alleged crimes and the case has been proceeding in Sanford’s court since March.
Currently, the case is in limbo while Anthony undergoes psychological examinations to determine whether he is competent to stand trial. Sanford ordered the tests after Anthony’s attorneys filed a motion seeking to have the boy declared legally insane.
If the judge finds the boy is incompetent or legally insane, a wide range of outcomes are possible given Indiana’s laws about legal insanity as a criminal defense. Anthony could still stand trial and potentially be found guilty, but mentally ill, or the proceedings could shift toward considerations for psychiatric care.
Anthony is currently being held at the Robert J. Kinsey Youth Center in Kokomo and his next hearing is set for mid-August.
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