Southwood boy, 14, to be tried as adult

After being indicted Wednesday on a first-degree murder charge, a 14-year-old middle school student will be prosecuted as an adult in the throat-slashing death of a classmate.

Michael Hernandez would face a mandatory life sentence without parole if convicted of the premeditated murder of his friend Jaime Gough, 14, in a Southwood Middle School bathroom.

Hernandez is expected to make his first appearance before a Miami-Dade Circuit Court judge today. He has been held at a juvenile detention facility since his Feb. 3 arrest.

Hernandez was expected to be moved by this morning to an adult county jail with a special wing for teenagers. Most suspects charged with first-degree murder are not eligible to be released on bond while awaiting trial.

The 18 members of the grand jury filed into a courtroom with grim faces Wednesday afternoon after prosecutors told them during a closed hearing the details of Jaime's slaying at the Palmetto Bay middle school.

DEBATE REVIVED

In the weeks since the slaying, the case has renewed a debate about how Florida deals with juvenile offenders charged with first-degree murder.

Hernandez's case has been compared to that of Lionel Tate, a Broward teen convicted in 2001 of the first-degree murder of Tiffany Eunick, 6, while mimicking pro wrestling moves.

Tate was 14 when convicted and sentenced to life. That outraged some who are still calling for an overhaul of state laws that mandate an automatic life sentence without parole for anyone convicted of first-degree murder regardless of their age.

Tate's conviction was overturned by an appeals court, and he was released from prison in January after pleading guilty to second-degree murder and getting credit for three years served.

Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernández Rundle said after the Hernandez indictment was issued that she believed a trial jury could separate Tate's circumstances from Hernandez's when the time comes to deliberate.

''This case is a very serious case,'' Fernández Rundle said. ``Each case has to be looked at in its own light.''

Grand jury hearings are closed to the public, and the lawyers and jurors are bound by law not to reveal specifics of the discussion.

But based on a police report, prosecutors were expected to tell the jurors that Hernandez brought a serrated knife and a latex glove to school that day. Both were found covered in blood in Hernandez's backpack during a search, according to the report.

Investigators say Hernandez confessed, admitting he planned the ambush but refusing to say why he attacked his friend.

ENOUGH EVIDENCE

Prosecutors asked for a first-degree murder indictment because they believe at this early stage of the investigation that they already have enough evidence to convince a jury that Hernandez planned the killing -- the legal element that elevates it to first-degree murder.

An adult could face the death penalty for the same crime. But the state of Florida doesn't execute anyone for crimes they committed while younger than 17.

''What really establishes premeditation in this case -- if it's true -- is that Hernandez wore the latex glove,'' said Brian Tannebaum, a Miami defense attorney who is not involved in the case. ``You could argue to a jury that he brought the knife to school to defend himself for some reason. But it's hard to argue the glove.''

Tannebaum added that if the allegations in this case are true, a jury would have an easier time separating it from the Tate case and the bigger societal question of how to deal with teens convicted of murder.

''In the Tate case there still lingers an argument whether it was intentional, and there was no deadly weapon,'' he said.

Tannebaum's advice to Hernandez's parents:

``They better make sure they unturn every stone to find out the motivation for this, if he did it. If there's any indication that this child has any mental problems, that's something they need to explore fully, bring in experts and be able to establish during a trial.''

Hernandez had been represented by an attorney from the Miami-Dade public defender's juvenile division. His family has said they were searching to hire a defense attorney.