LOS ANGELES — A teenager accused of gunning down his 16-year-old girlfriend and her sister before setting their Westchester apartment on fire in 2018 will not be tried as an adult, bringing an end to one of the most controversial cases of the early part of Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón's time in office.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge J. Christopher Smith ruled Wednesday that prosecutors failed to prove the teen — whose identity The Times is withholding since he has been remanded to juvenile court — could not be rehabilitated within the confines of L.A. County's juvenile justice system. Prosecutors sought to try the defendant — who was 17 years and 11 months old at the time of the killings — as an adult in the deaths of 16-year-old Sierra Brown and her sister Uniek Atkins.
Prosecutors initially sought to charge the defendant as an adult when he was arrested by Los Angeles police in 2018, but a transfer motion was not heard before then-District Attorney Jackie Lacey was ousted by Gascón in the 2020 election cycle.
