Bail has been set at $2 million for a 16-year-old Aurora resident accused of killing an Aurora teen late last month.
Gabriel Barron, 300 block of Marion Avenue, is currently being held at the Juvenile Justice Detention Center, but he will be tried as an adult.
Aurora police said that about 1 p.m. Feb. 27 Gianni Aguirre, 17, was approached outside his home in the 100 block of Bluff Street by Barronand a 17-year-old companion.
Police said Aguirre and Barron exchanged words, and then allegedly Barron fatally shot Aguirre in the chest.
Barron was arrested a few blocks from the scene and charged with murder. His case was transferred to adult court. Kane County State’s Attorney Joe McMahon said the crime of first-degree murder is one of several crimes that result in mandatory transfer to adult court.
Other crimes, including criminal sexual assault and various firearms offenses, can also result in mandatory transfer to adult court, he said.
Current legislation now pending in the Illinois General Assembly seeks to abolish that part of the law and make the transfers discretionary. If the law is passed, a judge would decide on a case-by-case basis whether a juvenile is transferred to adult court.
McMahon vehemently disapproves of the proposal, he said.
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“This will result in guns being in the hands of younger and younger children,” he said.
When discussing the legislation on Tuesday, McMahon said he’s concerned gang members will solicit juveniles to commit these violent crimes, knowing they may only spend a limited number of years in prison if they are caught and convicted as juveniles.
“There’s a lot of interest in (this bill),” McMahon said. “I think the consensus is that state’s attorneys across this state are opposed to this legislation.”
Currently, McMahon said his office can chose to charge a crime in a different manner if prosecutors don’t think a mandatory transfer is appropriate. In that case, the suspect would be tried in juvenile court and released at the age of 21.
In matters concerning suspects over the age of 16, McMahon said the transfer to adult court should be mandatory when certain crimes are alleged to have been committed.
“The idea that a 17-year-old could face as little as four years in prison for a murder is unacceptable,” he said. “I don’t think (the law) represents the seriousness of the conduct. I think it’s inappropriate.”
“It’s rare (that these circumstances arise), but I think that the law ought to be there to be used in these rare situations,” McMahon said.
The last time a juvenile case was mandatorily transferred to adult court in Kane County was more than a decade ago when Tim Echols was charged with killing Illinois Youth Center employee Duranthony Evans. Echols was 14 when he fired the fatal shot in 2004. He is now in prison and will be almost 60 when he gets out if he serves his full sentence.
That shooting was part of a gang initiation, prosecutors said. They said Evans was an innocent bystander.
“We’re concerned about this legislation that would encourage the gangs to really push handguns to minors to carry out these crimes,” McMahon said. “It’s a dangerous incentive to create for gang members who unfortunately rely on intimidation, threats and violence…I think we’ll see an increase in crimes being committed by 16- and 17-year-olds.”
On Monday, at the county’s legislative breakfast, McMahon took time to speak with local representatives about the bill.
“I think there’s an agreement that when it comes to the idea of crimes like murder and sexual assault, that those ought to be heard in adult court,” he said. “I got no commitment from them, but I’m educating them about my position.”