Teen Accused Of Murder Chooses Not To Face Judge
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) — A teen arrested for the shooting death of another teen waived his right to face a judge Thursday morning.
The day before, officers arrested 15-year-old Jorge Roberto Franco for the shooting death of 16-year-old Osmand Falls in Little Havana at the corner of NW 10th Ave. and NW 1st Street.
While Franco did not appear in court, his family was there. His attorney tried to see if he could be released on house arrest but that did not happen. Circuit Judge Orlando Prescott said that based on the charges and prior or open cases, Franco's risk assessment score is too high. Anything higher than 12 points requires secure detention.
"Anything over 12 points, the court can, by law, can keep your son in secure detention. Your son scored 17 points and because of the nature of the offense, the danger that the court believes that he poses to the community. He'll remain in secure detention while this determination is made," said Judge Prescott.
Franco's family members left without saying anything.
CBS4's Peter D'Oench attempted to speak with another member of Franco's family at their apartment but she also declined to say anything.
According to Franco's arrest report, Tuesday's shooting stemmed from a gang fight. One of the victim's brothers said the teen was shot and killed in what was a case of "sore losers" following a basketball game.
Miami Police said Falls was not armed when he was shot twice.
On the same day another teen was fatally shot in Miami Gardens. It's something that continues to cause concern among the community and its leaders.
"It is truly heartbreaking that as the community rallies together to find solutions to curb the carnage and the violence kids continue to die. Here we have a 16-year-old and 17-year-old youngsters who lost their lives within hours of each other through cowardly gun violence. These kids had promising futures. This should not happen in our community," said Miami-Dade Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho.
Carvalho said key strategic leaders in the community – including mayors, police chiefs and representatives of social service agencies – were coming together to look for solutions to the violence.
Miami Police Chief Rodolfo Llanes called for closer monitoring of teenagers' use of social media where threats are known to be made and violence predicted.
"We need a collaborative effort by the entire community in which we watch and supervise and look at the use of social media," said LLanes.
Meantime, Franco is facing a charge of second degree murder with a deadly weapon. He's being held in detention until another hearing on April 27th.
