Man charged as Charlestown teen's killer will have to face other charges as well, court rules

Alexander Soto of Charlestown, one of three men charged with murdering Ryan Morrissey outside of a Charlestown convenience store in 2014, will also have to face charges of armed assault with intent to murder, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon causing serious bodily injury, unlawful possession of a firearm and unlawful possession of a loaded firearm in connection with Morrissey's death, the Supreme Judicial Court ruled.

Soto's attorneys had argued that because Soto was underage at the time - 17 when Morrissey was killed - those charges should first be brought in juvenile court. His first-degree murder indictment was not in question because state law specifically allows for teens to be charged with first-degree murder in superior court.

But the state's highest court ruled today: Nope, in part because the intent of juvenile court is rehabilitation, not punishment, and that's sort of ruled out in the case of somebody facing a potential sentence of life in prison without possibility of parole, like Soto.

[J]uveniles charged with murder are not entitled to the benefit of a juvenile justice system that is "primarily rehabilitative, cognizant of the inherent differences between juvenile and adult offenders, and geared toward 'the correction and redemption to society of delinquent children.'"

Also, the legislature intended to ensure that

[A] juvenile charged with murder is treated as an adult for the totality of the conduct related to the murder charge, eliminating the possibility that the conduct that does not cause death would be adjudicated and punished differently from how related criminal conduct that does cause death is.