TULSA--Defense lawyers and prosecutors debated whether a teenage girl facing charges of stabbing to death a schoolmate should be tried as an adult.Montoya Harris, then a 14 year-old student at Madison Middle School, is being held on charges that she stabbed Sydney Dailey, 13, numerous times with a knife.
During last week’s preliminary hearing, a police detective testified that Montoya Harris told officers she had gone “crazy on her,” referring to the dead girl, and stabbed the 13-year-old girl with a folding knife.
The hearing was held in the courtroom of Tulsa County Special Judge David Youll.
The preliminary hearing will continue on Aug. 18.
Detective Vic Regalado testified that Montoya Harris told officers she and Sydney Dailey had talked about the dead girl’s “stealing” the alleged assailant’s boyfriend and that the younger girl “got into her face.”
Sydney Dailey was stabbed 10 times on March 15 on the front porch of her home at 1316 N. Boston Ave., a prosecutor testified.
The victim was stabbed four times in the chest, four times in the back, once in the neck and once on the top of the head, Assistant District Attorney Julie Doss said at the hearing.
Montoya Harris, then 14, was charged March 26 with first-degree murder.
Her mother, Tykina Harris, said in March that she has learned her daughter is pregnant.
If the alleged assailant is found guilty, Assistant District Attorney Doss wants her to be sentenced as an adult.
On the other hand, Thomas Mortensen and Joseph Norwood, the two defense lawyers in the case, want Montoya Harris to be treated as a juvenile.
Mr. Norwood said a psychologist has recommended youthful offender status for the alleged assailant, and he said he believes a juvenile affairs report also will make that recommendation.
“Instead of warehousing,” the system should focus on rehabilitation in this case, Mr. Mortensen argued at the hearing.
Another psychologist acquired by prosecutors also will evaluate the alleged assailant and submit a report.
State law requires that 14-year-old charged with first-degree murder must be treated as an adult, but can apply to be treated as a youthful offender.
If Montoya Harris is declared a youthful offender, she would be under the supervision of juvenile authorities until her 20th birthday.
If the defendant is treated as an adult and is found guilty of first-degree murder, she could be sentenced to life in prison with or without the possibility of parole.
