Pasco teen’s hearing in murder case delayed until February
A hearing to decide if a teen murder suspect will be tried as a juvenile or an adult has been moved to February — one year after the crime occurred in the parking lot of a Pasco grocery store.
Abraham Barajas, now 16, is charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in the Feb. 4 shooting of Juan C. Melgoza.
A judge must determine if he should stay in Franklin County Juvenile Court or be bumped up to Superior Court.
The three-day hearing was scheduled to start next week, but on Wednesday attorneys asked to delay it until Feb. 9.
Franklin County Deputy Prosecutor Kim Kremer said there has been some usual negotiating with Barajas’ lawyer, Karyn Oldfield.
She also explained the defense has hired an expert to provide background information on Barajas to help the court consider if he can be rehabilitated as a juvenile.
“Decline hearings are fairly complex things for the defense to handle, and given the gravity of what we’re discussing, it’s something the defense needs time to prepare for,” Kremer told the Herald. “… The consequences down the road are pretty high. It’s not something we take lightly.”
Barajas remains in the Juvenile Detention Center in Kennewick on $250,000 bail. The teen and his co-defendant, Chris Pedroza-DeSantiago, both were charged in early May.
Pedroza-DeSantiago allegedly shot Melgoza after the two got into an argument outside Fiesta Foods.
Pedroza-DeSantiago left the store, enlisted the help of Barajas — who claimed he had to go along to avoid being kicked out of his gang — and returned to the 10th Avenue parking lot to fire several times at Melgoza, court documents said.
Pedroza-DeSantiago’s trial in Franklin County Superior Court is set for Nov. 30 on charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and first-degree unlawful gun possession.
Kristin M. Kraemer: 509-582-1531; kkraemer@tricityherald.com; Twitter: @KristinMKraemer
This story was originally published October 28, 2015 at 7:54 PM with the headline "Pasco teen’s hearing in murder case delayed until February."