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Juvenile’s murder case was properly transferred to adult court
TRACEY BLAIR
Legal News Reporter
Published: January 30, 2017
A Summit County Juvenile Court did not abuse its discretion by transferring a 15-year-old’s murder case to adult court, the 9th District Court of Appeals recently ruled.
Ramous “Doobie” Lewis was found to be a delinquent child due to his alleged involvement in the gang-related assault, robbery and murder of Paris Wicks.
According to case summary, Wicks and Branson Price were shot while at a drive-thru convenience mart in Akron on Aug. 29, 2013. Price survived the incident.
Three adults who allegedly belonged to the KaiKa Klan Outlaw Gang were also charged in the case.
The juvenile court found Lewis was not amenable to rehabilitation in that justice system, and transferred the case to the county’s general division.
During trial, Lewis changed his plea to guilty to one count each of aggravated murder with gun and gang specifications, felonious assault and having a weapon under disability.
He was sentenced to life in prison in April 2015 with the possibility of parole after 30 years.
On appeal, Lewis argued the trial court did not adequately explain why he couldn’t be rehabilitated in the juvenile court system, and did not place more emphasis on certain factors in favor of retaining jurisdiction.
Thomas Webb, the juvenile court psychologist, testified at the amenability hearing that Lewis had an unstable background, had witnessed violence in the home and was easily susceptible to peer pressure.
After his beloved grandfather passed away, Lewis became depressed, began having hallucinations, and became suicidal. He was prescribed medication for psychosis.
Webb also testified that Lewis has a low IQ of 48 and could not read. In addition, the psychologist noted that Lewis was doing well in detention and was not on court-ordered supervision at the time of the offense.
The state argued that Lewis’ criminal behavior continued to get more severe over time.
Price testified that he and Wicks stopped to get a T-shirt at the drive-thru at Lovers Lane and Arlington Road the day of the incident on the way to the mall. Price believed the area to be unsafe, and had Wicks’ gun – which was obtained legally - on his lap.
While Wicks went inside, the suspects started talking to him through the passenger window. Lewis went to the driver’s side window with a gun, took the gun off his lap and pointed both guns at him.
Price said Lewis told him to give him everything he had or he would kill him. After a struggle, Lewis shot Price in the leg while Wicks was involved in a scuffle with several people.
The defense argued that there was ample time for rehabilitation and that Lewis was not physically or emotionally mature enough for transfer.
The state claimed community safety required Lewis to face adult sanctions.
“Based upon our review of the record, we cannot say that the juvenile court was unreasonable in ordering Mr. Lewis to be bound over to the trial court,” 9th District Judge Carla Moore wrote in her 3-0 opinion.
Appellate judges Donna Carr and Jennifer Hensal concurred that the juvenile court was not in violation of R.C. 2152.12(B).
The case is cited State v. Lewis, 2017-Ohio-167.