KARE 11 Investigates: Teenager charged with violent felonies was repeatedly released
A key lawmaker is vowing reform after KARE 11 identified another juvenile GAP case – a mentally ill teen accused of violent crimes, set free without needed help.
Craig never saw it coming.
He was walking out of a north Minneapolis convenience store when he was suddenly attacked by a group of kids.
“I believe I said ‘Hi’ to them,” said Craig, who asked that his last name not be used.
The first to hit him was a 14-year-old boy who already bore a tattoo reading “HEARTLESS” on his forearm.
“I got him off my back, and there were three more people who were trying to get to me,” Craig said.
When Craig tried to fight back and get away, the teens continued to attack him even when he got into his car.
The attempted robbery was four years ago.
Before he spoke to KARE 11, Craig says he never learned what happened in the case of the first teen who attacked him.
That boy – whom KARE 11 is referring to as “T.D.” – was found incompetent to stand trial in part because of an inability to understand the court proceedings, as well as mental illness.
Court records show he suffered through years of neglect and abuse.
And in the four years since the assault on Craig, T.D.’s alleged crimes only got worse.
“It’s terrible,” Craig said after seeing more than a dozen new felony charges against the boy since he was attacked. “Thank you, justice system.”
T.D. is another example of a juvenile justice system failure exposed by KARE 11. Instead of getting needed help, he was repeatedly found incompetent, turned loose, and continued a downward spiral – leaving new victims in his wake.
Increase in Cases
Ramsey County Attorney John Choi says in his county there’s been a huge increase in kids found incompetent to stand trial. And when that happens, there is no way under current Minnesota law for the criminal court to require kids to get mental health services.
“That’s the frustrating piece of this,” Choi said. “We often see that in these types of cases there’s a finding of incompetence to stand trial and then there isn’t necessarily an option to deal with this issue and get the behavior to stop.”
“If we could focus on that population, right, and focus on more serious and more intensive interventions, I think we could actually change all of this,” Choi said.
Repeatedly Released
Since the assault on Craig, T.D. has been accused of 19 more felony level crimes in three different counties, records show.
Those crimes include stealing cars, armed robbery, carjacking, and multiple alleged domestic assaults against the teenage mother of his child. The charges say T.D. punched and strangled the girl in attacks so violent she went to the hospital.
T.D. was in a revolving door. Charged with new crimes, found incompetent 11 times, he was let go back to the community.
And though for years he was supposed to get mental health treatment, records show he never did.
In one report, a social worker said he “refused to participate in Children’s Mental Health Services.”
Because of a gap in current Minnesota law – a judge could not force him to.
Vowing Reforms
“It’s a mess right now,” said State Sen. John Hoffman, DFL, who reviewed T.D.’s case as well as KARE 11’s findings on a broken juvenile incompetency system.
Hoffman, who is chair of the Senate Human Services Committee, vowed to hold hearings on the issue.
“I think it goes back to: how do you get that mandated? How do you get that service mandated?” Hoffman said.
Hoffman points to the consequences of not addressing juvenile incompetency for future victims and for kids in the system.
“What happens if we don’t do something when they’re young? When they become adults, now they’re in the prison system, right?” Hoffman said.
Currently, T.D. is in juvenile detention on a domestic assault charge – awaiting a ruling on whether he’ll be found incompetent and released again.
Since he’s turned 18, if there are any new charges they would be heard in adult court.
T.D.’s first alleged victim – Craig – can only shake his head at failure after failure while he was still young.
“If he honestly is ill, he needs the right direction. The right help,” he said. “But this isn’t the answer, is it?”
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