Teen charged with homicide wants case heard in juvenile court
After one psychologist declined to say that a 17-year-old should be transferred to juvenile court on homicide charges, the teen’s attorney asked for time on Wednesday to seek another opinion.
Attorneys for Ramal Chisler, who was 16 when he allegedly shot Tiffany Moody to death on Sept. 16, asked he be adjudicated as a juvenile instead of having the charges proceed in the adult court system, where they currently are.
Fayette County Assistant Public Defender Michael Garofalo said psychologist Adam Sedlock of Uniontown stated by telephone that he could not say Chisler should be transferred into the juvenile system.
“He (Sedlock) communicated that (Chisler) is not a good candidate and is not transferrable,” Garofalo said.
Garofalo said he wanted to seek a second opinion and Judge John F. Wagner Jr. scheduled a new hearing for June.
District Attorney Jack R. Heneks Jr. objected to sending the case to juvenile court, noting that Chisler has a juvenile record that includes possession of a firearm by a minor and an aggravated assault when Chisler used a board to beat another person.
“Obviously, the juvenile system has not been successful,” Heneks said.
The prosecutor noted that Chisler also has a pending case in an alleged gang-related assault that occurred in May. In that case, Chisler and several others who are allegedly members of a gang called “The Killa Squad” are charged with beating a man on Murray Avenue in Uniontown.
Garofalo asked Wagner to consider both cases be transferred to juvenile court.
The preliminary hearing in that case is scheduled for Tuesday. In the case, he faces charges of aggravated assault, simple assault, riot and reckless endangerment.
In the homicide, Uniontown police allege that Chisler shot Moody, his on-again, off-again girlfriend, in a Pershing Court apartment on Sept. 16.
Police said Chisler confessed to the shooting after he learned Moody had died, but told them that the shooting was accidental and occurred when he was trying to dismantle a handgun. Chisler reportedly admitted to hiding the .380-caliber gun in the attic of 56 Pershing Court before he carried Moody to another apartment. Moody was shot once in her abdomen and died.
Wagner indicated that the delay of the transfer hearing would not stop prosecutors from calling the case for trial. He also told Garofalo that if he had any additional motion to file in the matter, he should do so quickly.