OMAHA, Nebraska (WOWT) – Just before midnight Tuesday, 64-year-old Mursal Jama was shot and killed in front of his home.
Investigators believe six young people between the ages of 11 and 17 took his SUV and left town, allegedly to steal more weapons. So far, three of those arrested are being tried as adults for murder: the 14-, 16- and 17-year-olds.
It is the youngest of all, the eleven-year-old, who is reigniting the debate about how to deal with children who come into conflict with the law.
“It’s very sad, tragic and senseless. And you wonder, where is the family? Where are the parents?” said Douglas County Prosecutor Don Kleine.
The 11-year-old appeared in juvenile court just a few weeks ago for an unrelated weapons offense and car theft.
Because Nebraska law prohibits anyone age 12 or younger from being incarcerated, the judge sent him home.
On social media, the Omaha Police Officers Association criticized presiding judge Chad Brown, saying he could have imposed restrictions on the 11-year-old’s release, such as “GPS monitoring, out-of-home treatment or other measures.”
The president of the association is Pat Dempsey.
“It’s simple. Catch and release,” Dempsey said. “The judges let them go home.”
The social media post claims the prosecutor requested the above restrictions and the judge denied them, but 6 News reviewed the transcript of the hearing with Brown.
The prosecutor expressed concern about “community safety” and called for the HOME program, an alternative to incarceration that sends juveniles home with an electronic monitoring system.
According to the transcript, the prosecutor said: “I don’t think we have any other choice at this point.”
The judge responded that he had investigated and could not order the HOME program based on the defendant’s age.
6 News spoke with retired Sarpy County Juvenile Judge Larry Gendler to better understand the “legal dilemma” Brown faced.
Gendler made it clear that the alternative to detention is not the problem. Rather, the proposed electronic monitoring is in practice a form of detention. Because if children violate the rules of the program, they will be sent to detention, he said.
Last month, the public prosecutor’s office did not call for alternatives such as GPS monitoring.
Gendler said if it was felt the 11-year-old needed additional restrictions, a motion should have been made and evidence presented for the judge to review.
Gendler told 6 News, “The courts do what they do because often the law or the lack of evidence presented to them gives them too many options.”
He said it was likely that other judges would have sent the 11-year-old home that day.
The retired judge said he had no solution to the larger problem, which was that juveniles involved in the system were reoffending even though they were too young to be incarcerated.
“We live in a different world than we did a few years ago,” he said.
But he hopes lawmakers will begin having meaningful discussions about new laws.
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