A 16-year-old charged in the fatal shooting of MARTA bus driver Leroy Ramos will be tried in juvenile court. The incident, which occurred on January 3 after Ramos confronted three juveniles about not paying the $2.50 fare at Decatur MARTA station, ended in a tragic altercation where Ramos was shot and killed, FOX 5 Atlanta reported.
The decision to keep the case in juvenile court was made by DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston, who, after reviewing the evidence and meeting with the victim's family determined that the most appropriate course of action lay within the juvenile justice system. According to a statement from the District Attorney's office, obtained by 11Alive, "The District Attorney’s Office recognizes there has been significant public interest in this case, however by law, Juvenile Court proceedings are not public, and the records associated with this case, including the name of the defendant, cannot be released."
The initial altercation included two other teenagers, both also charged in the incident, but those charges were later dropped as it was determined they did not participate in the shooting. This leaves the single 16-year-old to face the consequences alone. The other two teens, ages 14 and 16, were initially implicated, but after investigation, the DA’s office found no evidence of their involvement in the shooting, as reported by FOX 5 Atlanta.
Under the Juvenile Justice Reform Act of 1994, underage defendants between the ages of 13 and 17, can technically be charged as adults for serious felony crimes — including murder. However, DA Boston wielded prosecutorial discretion in opting to keep this case within the bounds of juvenile court. A lawyer for the teens has previously challenged the narrative of events, suggesting that the bus payment machine was faulty and that Ramos was the one who escalated the incident, a claim that seems to cast a shadow over the case, and likely played a role in the DA's decision, though her office has made no such connection publicly.
The date of the next court appearance for the accused teen has yet to be announced. With juvenile court proceedings shrouded in confidentiality, details on the case's progression remain scant, as the law restricts the amount of information that can be disclosed to the public, including any further statements from the DA's office on the matter.
