LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) – A judge has ordered that a 15-year-old North Little Rock teenager stand trial as an adult after being accused of fatally shooting a cemetery worker last year.
Following an eight-hour court hearing on Friday, Pulaski County Circuit Judge Leon Johnson declined a request by Kelton McIntire’s attorneys to transfer his case to juvenile court, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported Sunday.
McIntire is facing a first-degree murder charge for the February 2020 death of 33-year-old Kristopher Dacus.
Authorities allege that McIntire and some friends were walking through a North Little Rock cemetery when Dacus told them they couldn’t be there and asked them to leave. Investigators said McIntire ignored Dacus’ instructions and the two got into a struggle in which McIntire shot and killed Dacus.
During Friday’s hearing, the newspaper reported that McIntire testified Dacus had grabbed his jacket collar and he only pulled out his gun to get the man to let go of him. McIntire said the gun somehow ended up firing.
The teenager testified he feels terrible about Dacus’ death and was only trying to protect himself.
“I didn’t want him to die,” McIntire said. “He didn’t deserve it.”
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