Detroit Teen Found Competent For Trial In French Street Artist's Death
DETROIT (WWJ/AP) - A Detroit teenager accused of helping rob and kill a French street artist outside an abandoned Detroit housing project has been found competent to stand trial on first-degree murder and other charges.
The Wayne County prosecutor's office says the 14-year-old attended a competency hearing Wednesday in Juvenile Court. A Dec. 4 pretrial hearing was scheduled.
He could be sentenced as a juvenile or adult.
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy says the boy was 13 when he, 17-year-old Dionte Travis, 18-year-old Jasin Curtis and 20-year-old Drequone Rich killed 23-year-old Bilal Berreni, formerly of Paris, France.
WWJ isn't using the teen's name because of his age.
Travis, Curtis and Rich are due in court Friday.
The story made news nationwide when Berreni's body was found July 29, 2013, outside the dilapidated Frederick Douglass Homes — more commonly knows at the Brewster projects.
It was determined that Berreni had died from a gunshot wound to the head, but no I.D. was found on his body. It took Michigan State Police seven months to identify him through fingerprints.
According to family members, the young artist — who painted large pieces in black and white on buildings — had been living in Detroit at the time of his death, occasionally squatting in vacant buildings.
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