HOLLIDAYSBURG — The decision to move second-degree murder, robbery and related criminal charges from adult to juvenile court reflects a teenage defendant’s lesser role in a fatal shooting, his lack of danger to society and sufficient time for behaviorial treatment, a Blair County judge has concluded.

The supervision, rehabilitation and care that 16-year-old Damien Green of Altoona will receive in the juvenile court system “will promote responsibility and the ability for him to become a productive member of society,” President Judge Elizabeth Doyle wrote in a March 9 ruling.

While the judge’s decision was issued March 10, a 35-page document with her reasons remained sealed until Friday, a day after testimony concluded in co-defendant Logan Persing’s decertification hearing. Persing, 17, also wants his second-degree murder, robbery and related charges moved from adult to juvenile court.

Green and Persing were with fellow teenager Owen Southerland of Altoona on Feb. 25, 2020, when they lured 15-year-old Devon Pfirsching of Altoona to an alley on the 100 block of Fourth Avenue.

What started out as a ploy to rob Pfirsching of marijuana and cash turned deadly when Southerland, then 16, struck Pfirsching with a handgun, leading to a struggle, when the fatal shot was fired.

Southerland’s charges, including first-degree murder, remain in adult court. Second-degree murder and related charges against a fourth teenager, Omedro T. Davis Jr., who is accused of supplying the gun used in the shooting, are also being addressed in adult court.

Doyle’s announcement of her decision to transfer Green’s criminal charges to juvenile court prompted the district’s attorney’s office to file an immediate notice of appeal with the state Superior Court. That action has put the juvenile court proceedings on hold.

In a court document addressing Doyle’s delay in ruling, Weeks maintained that her failure to rule within the allotted 20-day period deemed the transfer petition to be denied.

He and First Assistant Nichole Smith also maintain that Doyle’s ruling to transfer ignores the totality of the evidence that favors addressing Green’s charges in adult court.

Defense attorney Dan Kiss, who argued in favor of the transfer, presented testimony from Dr. Alice Applegate of Pittsburgh, a forensic psychologist quoted extensively in Doyle’s 35-page decision in support of transferring Green’s charges.

Applegate, based on what she described as 70 hours of research, said she concluded that Green was not a principal participant in Pfirsching’s robbery or his murder. While Green had a role in planning the robbery, she found him to be peripheral to the group, psychologically naive and as someone who looks to his peers for guidance.

Those are things that can be addressed through juvenile rehabilitation treatment options, which can remain in place until he’s 21 years old, Applegate said. Since being housed in the juvenile section of the State Correctional Institution at Pine Grove, Indiana County, she said he has already shown behavioral improvements.

Dr. John O’Brien II, a Philadelphia psychiatrist, took a position against moving Green’s charges to juvenile court based on his evaluation of Green, in addition to Green’s school records secured from the Altoona Area School District.

The school district’s records show Green with 60 disciplinary actions in eighth and ninth grades that reflected rude, unruly, insubordinate and uncooperative behavior with fellow students, teachers and other authority figures. That behavior included a fight at Mansion Park, yelling at a teacher who touched his shoulder to get his attention and rolling his eyes and swearing under his breath.

“These incidents do not reveal Damien to be a pleasant or cooperative child or one who is pleasant to have in school,” the judge wrote. “But they do not reveal him to be a danger to society.”

The judge’s ruling also recognized that Applegate found Green to be remorseful about the fatal shooting, in contrast to testimony by one of Green’s fellow students who said Green showed no remorse when speaking of the incident at school.

“The court finds that it is possible that all of the testimony on the point of remorse is true,” the judge wrote. “However, this does not increase Damien’s culpability for the crime.”

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