Suspect in Lucia Bremer murder may be tried as an adult

The teenage suspect who faces murder charges in connection with the March 26 shooting death of 13-year-old Lucia Bremer in Henrico’s West End could be tried as an adult, and the owner of the gun he allegedly used to commit the murder will face charges.

Henrico Commonwealth’s Attorney Shannon Taylor Tuesday said that her office is seeking to have the suspect’s case transferred from Henrico Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court to Henrico Circuit Court in order to try him as an adult. A hearing about the request will take place Nov. 22, and the judge’s decision can be appealed by Taylor’s office or the defense.

During a closed evidentiary hearing Monday, a juvenile court judge determined that there was probable cause for the suspect to be prosecuted in connection with the case.

The gun used by the suspect belonged to an adult in his household, Taylor alleged Monday. She didn’t say how he got access to it but said that charges against the adult who owned the gun were “forthcoming.”

The 14-year-old suspect also now faces an upgraded charge of first-degree murder (he’d previously been charged with second-degree murder); attempted murder (of another youngster who was with Bremer at the time she was shot); threatening a school shooting; and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, as well as misdemeanor charges of possession of a firearm by a minor and brandishing a firearm.

The charges related to the school-shooting threat, as well as the attempted murder and brandishing a firearm charges, were added in early August. Taylor said the teen had posted a video on social media before Bremer’s death depicting a school shooting.

Bremer, an eighth-grade student at Quioccasin Middle School, was shot as she walked along a path from Godwin High School into the Gayton Forest West subdivision during the late afternoon hours of March 26. The suspect was arrested at a nearby home the following day.

He also had attended Quioccasin Middle School, several sources confirmed to the Citizen, though it is unclear if he was a student there at the time of the shooting.

Shifting the case to Henrico Circuit Court means the suspect could face life in prison if convicted of first-degree murder. Conversely, the Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice would hold him only until his 21st birthday were he convicted in juvenile court.

Monday, Taylor indicated that one reason she was seeking to try him as an adult was that he could receive more appropriate services (if convicted) than he would in the juvenile system.