Judge to decide if juvenile will stand trial as adult in Chiefs rally shooting

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Dozens wounded and an innocent bystander killed.

Will an accused gunman at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl rally, a defendant who is underage, stand trial as an adult?

That was the question before a Jackson County judge on Tuesday, hearing evidence from both sides at the Family Justice Center in Kansas City.

The defendant is 16-years-old, and because he is a juvenile, his name is not public. In the courtroom he was referred to as the letters “AM.”

He’s charged with unlawful use of a weapon, shooting at a person as well as resisting arrest .

And in the courtroom there were many comparisons drawn between him and the adult defendants in the broader shootings.

On February 14, near Union Station, in the aftermath of the spray of gunfire, FOX4’s cameras captured video of an individual getting taken into custody by authorities.

Revealed during Tuesday’s hearing on the adult certification question, that person is a 16-year-old referred to as “AM,” described by a case assessment manager as coming to a family event with a 300 Blackout AR-style pistol in his backpack.

Three other adult defendants intersect with the juvenile. Lyndell mays is accused of pulling the first gun while Terry Young and Dominic Miller are accused of firing back .

Authorities describe 20-plus people shot, at least half of them children. Lisa Lopez-Galvan, a 43-year-old Johnson County mother of two, was killed.

As the crowd scrambled, security footage shown in court showed “AM” running away for four seconds before turning back with the weapon and firing in the direction of Lyndell Mays.

This is the crux of “AM’s” defense, that he should not be punished for the more severe and damaging actions of nearby adults.

The push-back, however, is that “AM” has not fared well so far in the juvenile system with a case assessment manager citing ten incidents since February including a described plan to escape custody by stealing keys and climbing out of a ceiling.

The case assessment manager’s recommendation: move “AM” to adult court because family court isn’t designed to handle violent behavior.

The judge in the certification hearing started by saying that she did not plan to issue a decision from the bench. In fact, the amount of testimony ran long so the hearing will continue at a later date three weeks from now.

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