Can a Juvenile Be Charged With Murder as an Adult in NYC?

Can a Juvenile Be Charged With Murder as an Adult in NYC?

Yes, a juvenile can be charged with murder as an adult in New York City, and it happens more often than most people realize. New York law creates multiple pathways through which a young person under the age of 18 can find themselves prosecuted in adult criminal court facing the same charges, the same procedures, and potentially the same sentences as an adult defendant. The specific pathway depends on the child’s age at the time of the alleged offense and the nature of the charge, but the consequences at every level are severe and life-altering. Our criminal defense attorneys at Konta Georges & Buza P.C. represent juveniles and their families facing murder charges in New York City, and we fight aggressively to protect young people from outcomes that can define the rest of their lives before those lives have barely begun.

New York’s approach to juvenile murder cases has evolved significantly over the past decade, particularly with the passage of the Raise the Age legislation in 2017, which raised the age of criminal responsibility in New York from 16 to 18 for most offenses. But Raise the Age did not eliminate adult prosecution of juveniles for serious violent crimes. It created a more nuanced system with multiple tracks, and understanding which track applies to a specific case, and how to fight for the most favorable outcome within that system, requires criminal defense attorneys who handle these cases regularly in New York City courts.

What Is the Age of Criminal Responsibility in New York?

New York’s age of criminal responsibility framework was fundamentally restructured by the Raise the Age legislation, which took full effect in 2019. Under current New York law, the general rule is that a person must be at least 18 years old to be prosecuted as an adult in criminal court. Children under 18 are typically handled in Family Court under the juvenile justice system, which prioritizes rehabilitation over punishment and keeps proceedings confidential.

However, the law carves out significant exceptions for serious violent offenses, including murder. Those exceptions create two distinct categories of young defendants who can be prosecuted in adult court regardless of their age: Juvenile Offenders and Adolescent Offenders. Understanding which category applies, and what rights and protections attach to each, is the first critical task in defending a young person charged with a serious violent crime in New York City.

What Is a Juvenile Offender in New York?

A Juvenile Offender, known as a JO, is a child who was 13, 14, or 15 years old at the time of the alleged offense and who is charged with one of a specific list of serious violent felonies enumerated in New York Criminal Procedure Law Section 1.20(42). Murder in the second degree is explicitly included on that list. A child charged as a Juvenile Offender is prosecuted directly in adult criminal court, specifically in the Supreme Court or County Court, rather than in Family Court. The case begins in adult court, and while there are mechanisms to remove it to Family Court under certain circumstances, the default starting point is adult prosecution.

The Juvenile Offender designation reflects a legislative determination that certain crimes are so serious that even very young children must be held accountable in the adult system. A 13-year-old charged with second-degree murder in New York City will be arraigned in adult court, have their case presented to a grand jury, and face the full procedural machinery of adult criminal prosecution. The sentence they face, however, is different from what an adult would face, and those differences are critically important to understand and to fight for.

What Is an Adolescent Offender in New York?

An Adolescent Offender, known as an AO, is a person who was 16 or 17 years old at the time of the alleged offense. Under Raise the Age, 16 and 17-year-olds are no longer automatically prosecuted as adults for most offenses. Instead, their cases begin in a specialized part of the court system called the Youth Part, which exists within the adult criminal court structure but applies special procedures and considers youth-specific factors at every stage.

For most offenses, the Youth Part has the authority to remove cases to Family Court, where outcomes are generally more focused on rehabilitation and less punitive. However, for serious violent felonies including murder, removal to Family Court is either restricted or unavailable, meaning that an Adolescent Offender charged with murder will typically remain in adult court for prosecution even though they entered the system through the Youth Part.

What Sentences Can a Juvenile Face for Murder in New York?

The sentences available for juvenile defendants convicted of murder in New York are different from those that apply to adult defendants, and fighting for those reduced sentencing provisions is one of the most important functions of a skilled criminal defense attorney in these cases. The law recognizes that children are categorically different from adults in their culpability, their capacity for change, and the appropriateness of long-term incarceration, and those differences are reflected in the sentencing framework.

For a Juvenile Offender convicted of murder in the second degree, the sentencing range is significantly lower than for an adult. A JO convicted of second-degree murder faces a minimum sentence of between five and nine years and a maximum of 15 years in a state facility, rather than the 15-to-25-years-to-life that an adult would face. Juvenile Offenders are also sentenced to the custody of the Office of Children and Family Services rather than the Department of Corrections, at least initially, which means they serve their sentences in juvenile facilities rather than adult prisons, subject to transfer as they age.

For Adolescent Offenders convicted of murder, the sentencing analysis is more complex and depends on the specific charge, the defendant’s individual history, and the arguments made by defense counsel. Youth Part judges have discretion to consider the defendant’s age and circumstances as mitigating factors, and the entire framework of adolescent brain development and reduced culpability that the United States Supreme Court has developed in cases like Roper v. Simmons, Graham v. Florida, and Miller v. Alabama is available to defense attorneys arguing for more lenient treatment.

Can a Juvenile Convicted of Murder in New York Receive a Life Sentence?

This is one of the most critical questions in juvenile murder defense, and the answer has been shaped significantly by United States Supreme Court decisions over the past two decades. In Miller v. Alabama, decided in 2012, the Supreme Court held that mandatory sentences of life without parole for juvenile homicide offenders violate the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. In Montgomery v. Louisiana, decided in 2016, the Court held that Miller applies retroactively, meaning that people who received mandatory life without parole sentences for crimes committed as juveniles are entitled to resentencing.

In New York, the practical effect of these decisions is that a juvenile convicted of murder cannot receive a mandatory life without parole sentence. A sentencing court must consider the defendant’s youth and its attendant characteristics before imposing any sentence, and our criminal defense attorneys present comprehensive mitigating evidence at sentencing specifically designed to address the factors the Supreme Court has identified as relevant to juvenile culpability, including the child’s home environment, trauma history, peer influence, and capacity for rehabilitation.

Can a Juvenile Murder Case Be Moved From Adult Court to Family Court in NYC?

The possibility of removing a case from adult court to Family Court is one of the most important procedural tools available in juvenile murder defense, and whether it is available depends entirely on the defendant’s age and the specific charge. For Adolescent Offenders charged with offenses below the most serious violent felony threshold, removal to Family Court is available and is something our criminal defense attorneys pursue aggressively. For defendants charged with murder, the analysis is more restrictive.

Under New York Criminal Procedure Law Section 722, a Youth Part judge has the authority to remove an Adolescent Offender’s case to Family Court if removal is in the interest of justice and consistent with public safety. For murder charges, this determination is extraordinarily fact-specific and requires a compelling presentation of the defendant’s individual circumstances, background, and prospects for rehabilitation. It is not a routine outcome in murder cases, but it is a genuine possibility in the right case with the right advocacy, and the difference between Family Court and adult criminal court can define the entire trajectory of a young person’s life.

What Factors Does a Court Consider When Deciding Whether to Remove a Case to Family Court?

When a court is weighing whether to remove an Adolescent Offender’s murder case to Family Court, it conducts an individualized analysis that our criminal defense attorneys shape through the evidence and arguments we present. The factors a court considers include the seriousness of the offense and the circumstances under which it was committed, the defendant’s prior history including any juvenile record, the defendant’s age, mental and physical condition, and character, the needs and best interests of the defendant, the need for protection of the community, and the likelihood that the defendant will benefit from treatment or supervision available in Family Court.

Building the record on these factors requires thorough investigation of the defendant’s background, engagement with mental health professionals and social workers, and the presentation of a compelling narrative about who this young person is beyond the worst moment of their life. Our criminal defense attorneys work with mitigation specialists, forensic psychologists, and other experts to develop that record and present it as powerfully as possible to the court.

What Defenses Are Available in a Juvenile Murder Case in NYC?

Every substantive defense available in an adult murder case is equally available in a juvenile murder case, and in addition to those defenses, juvenile defendants benefit from a distinct body of constitutional law recognizing that youth is a fundamentally mitigating circumstance. Our criminal defense attorneys pursue both dimensions of the defense simultaneously, because a case that cannot be won outright on the facts may still produce a dramatically better outcome through effective mitigation.

Defenses and strategies available in NYC juvenile murder cases include:

• Challenging the identification: Young people are disproportionately subject to misidentification by eyewitnesses, and the reliability of identification evidence in cases involving juvenile defendants deserves especially rigorous scrutiny.
• Challenging confessions: Juveniles are significantly more susceptible to coercive interrogation techniques than adults, and confessions obtained from young people without the presence of a parent or attorney are frequently the product of psychological pressure rather than genuine admission. Our criminal defense attorneys examine every confession carefully and move to suppress those that were obtained in violation of the defendant’s rights.
• Challenging accomplice liability: In cases where a juvenile is charged with murder under a felony murder or accomplice liability theory rather than as the direct perpetrator, our murder defense lawyers challenge the prosecution’s evidence of the defendant’s role and knowledge with particular attention to the youth-specific factors that affect a young person’s susceptibility to peer influence.
• Presenting comprehensive mitigation: Even where the facts do not support an outright acquittal, presenting a complete picture of the defendant’s life, including trauma history, family dysfunction, educational failure, mental health issues, and the neurological realities of adolescent brain development, can produce dramatically different sentencing outcomes.
• Pursuing diversion and alternative dispositions: In appropriate cases, our criminal defense attorneys negotiate with prosecutors for dispositions that prioritize treatment and rehabilitation over incarceration, particularly where the defendant’s history and circumstances support a credible argument that the adult criminal justice system is the wrong response.

What Should Families Do Immediately After a Juvenile Is Arrested for Murder in NYC?

The hours immediately following a juvenile’s arrest for murder in New York City are among the most consequential of the entire case. Law enforcement will attempt to question the child, often without fully and clearly advising them of their rights in terms they can understand, and statements made during those early hours can damage a defense in ways that are very difficult to repair. Knowing what to do and doing it quickly can make an enormous difference.

If your child has been arrested for murder in New York City, you should:

• Contact a criminal defense attorney immediately: Do not wait. The moment you learn of the arrest, call an attorney. The earlier our criminal defense attorneys are involved, the more we can do to protect your child’s rights from the very start of the process.
• Instruct your child not to speak to anyone: Your child has the absolute right to remain silent, and exercising that right is one of the most important things they can do. Law enforcement will tell them that cooperating will help them. It almost never does, and statements made in custody almost always hurt.
• Do not speak to law enforcement yourself without counsel: Parents are sometimes questioned by investigators separately from their child. You have the right to decline to answer questions, and you should exercise that right until you have spoken with an attorney.
• Do not discuss the case on the phone: Calls from Rikers Island and other detention facilities are recorded. Text messages, social media messages, and other communications can be subpoenaed. Say nothing about the facts of the case on any channel that could be monitored.
• Gather information about your child’s background: School records, mental health treatment records, documentation of trauma or abuse, and other materials that speak to your child’s life and circumstances will be important for mitigation and for any removal hearing. Begin gathering these materials as soon as possible.
• Trust the process but stay engaged: These cases move through the system at a pace that can feel agonizingly slow. Staying engaged with your child’s defense, asking questions, and understanding what is happening at each stage is both your right and your responsibility as a parent.

How Can Konta Georges & Buza P.C. Defend a Juvenile Charged With Murder in NYC?

Defending a young person charged with murder in New York City is one of the most demanding and most consequential assignments a criminal defense attorney can take on. The legal complexity is significant, the emotional stakes for families are overwhelming, and the difference between skilled and inadequate representation can literally be the difference between a young person rebuilding their life and spending the rest of it in prison. Our criminal defense attorneys at Konta Georges & Buza P.C. take these cases with the full seriousness they demand.

When you work with our criminal defense attorneys, we:

• Act immediately to protect your child’s rights: We intervene at the earliest possible stage to ensure that law enforcement respects your child’s constitutional rights and that no statements are taken without counsel present.
• Evaluate every avenue for removal to Family Court: We analyze the specific facts, charges, and your child’s individual circumstances to determine whether removal to Family Court is available and pursue it aggressively where it is.
• Build a comprehensive mitigation record: We work with mitigation specialists, forensic psychologists, trauma experts, and social workers to develop a complete picture of your child’s life and circumstances that humanizes them to the court and supports the most favorable possible outcome.
• Challenge the prosecution’s evidence: We scrutinize every piece of evidence the prosecution intends to use, from identifications to confessions to forensic evidence, and challenge everything that does not meet the constitutional and evidentiary standards required for admission.
• Fight for youth-appropriate sentencing: Where a conviction occurs, we present the full body of constitutional and scientific authority on juvenile culpability to argue for the most lenient sentence the law allows, keeping your child’s future as open as possible.
• Stand with your family throughout the process: We understand that a juvenile murder charge is a crisis for the entire family, not just the defendant, and we communicate clearly, consistently, and compassionately with parents and loved ones at every stage.

Our criminal defense attorneys represent juveniles and their families facing murder and serious violent felony charges across Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens, and Staten Island.

Contact Konta Georges & Buza P.C. If Your Child Is Facing Murder Charges in NYC

A murder charge against a young person in New York City is not the end of their story, but fighting for a better outcome requires skilled, experienced, and committed criminal defense attorneys who know this system and know how to challenge it. If your child has been charged with murder or any serious violent felony in New York City, contact Konta Georges & Buza P.C. today. Time matters, and we are ready to help.