LAS VEGAS, N.M. (AP) — A New Mexico judge has ruled that a 16-year-old who fatally stabbed a man will be sentenced as a juvenile.
Judge Gerald Baca said Thursday that the teenager who stabbed his mother's 24-year-old boyfriend in the neck appears amenable to treatment and rehabilitation. The maximum sentence he can receive under the juvenile code is confinement until age 21.
According to testimony, the boy told evaluators that he had been smoking marijuana since he was 8 and used methamphetamine and crack cocaine with his mother. Baca said testimony made it clear the boy's home environment was a "total mess" and that the teen received no guidance or support.
The AP is not naming the teenager because it does not normally identify juvenile crime defendants.