Altoona teen to be tried as adult

Southerland’s petition for juvenile court denied by judge

HOLLIDAYSBURG -- A Blair County judge has ruled that first-degree murder and related criminal charges pending against a 17-year-old Altoonan will remain in adult court.

President Judge Elizabeth Doyle recently denied a request on behalf of Owen Scott Southerland, who petitioned the court to have the criminal charges filed against him addressed in juvenile court.

The judge, in making her ruling, said she considered "the totality of the factors" to be weighed in evaluating Southerland's petition, without greater or lesser weight to any specific factor.

"In conclusion, the defendant has not met his burden of proving, by a preponderance of the evidence, that transfer to the juvenile court system best serves the public interest and/or that he is amenable to treatment," the judge wrote.

During a court hearing in November, Doyle heard two mental health experts testify about evaluating Southerland. In addition to first-degree murder, Southerland is charged with second-degree murder, conspiracy to commit robbery, robbery, carrying a firearm without a license, criminal use of a communications device and possession of a firearm by a minor.

The charges developed from a police investigation into the Feb. 25 fatal shooting of 15-year-old Devon Pfirsching.

Southerland, then 16, along with Damien Green, 17, and Logan Persing, 17, both of Altoona, were accused of plotting to lure Pfirsching to the 100 block of Fourth Avenue Alley where they would rob him of marijuana.

A fourth teenager, Omedro T. Davis Jr., 17, faces second-degree murder and related charges. He is alleged to have provided the gun used in the fatal shooting.

In evaluating the petition to transfer Southerland's charges to juvenile court, Doyle said the law assigns a defendant the task of proving that such a transfer "best serves the public interest." Part of that task, she said, must address if the defendant is amenable to treatment and if he can be rehabilitated before the juvenile court's jurisdiction ends.

The judge's ruling references a position taken by psychologist Kirk Heilbrun of Drexel University, Philadelphia, who conceded that at age 17, Southerland could be amenable to treatment in the juvenile system during the remaining three years of its jurisdiction. Doyle's ruling also mentioned Heilbrun's acknowledgment that Southerland could need more than three years to be rehabilitated and that "it was possible that he would not be rehabilitated" through juvenile court.

The judge also indicated that her decision against the transfer also recognizes the impact of the offense on the victims, the community, the threat to public safety, the nature and circumstances of the offense and the degree of the child's culpability.

While Southerland remains innocent until proven guilty, the judge's ruling acknowledged police evidence in support of the criminal charges and testimony from a preliminary hearing indicating that "he was the one who had the gun when the fatal shot was fired."

She also acknowledged the impact of the crime on the community, including Altoona Area High School, where students and their parents were fearful in the days after the shooting, as well as sad over the loss of a classmate.

Defense attorney Matthew McGregor of Hollidaysburg, appointed to represent Southerland, declined comment on the judge's ruling.

District Attorney Pete Weeks, who has been on record in support of keeping the case in adult court, also offered no comment about the ruling.

Two similar petitions seeking to have criminal charges transferred to juvenile court -- one on behalf of Persing and one on behalf of Green -- are pending. Hearings are slated for Dec. 28 and 29, based on the court's current schedule.

Mirror Staff Writer Kay Stephens is at 814-946-7456.