Teen charged with killing his grandmother will be tried as an adult

TAMPA, Fla - A 13-year-old Pinellas County boy will be tried as an adult. While investigators work to determine a motive, Javarick Henderson Jr. is being transferred from the juvenile detention facility to the regular Pinellas County jail.

A grand jury indicted him for murder in the first degree, saying he stabbed his grandmother, Gloria Davis, to death last month.

That day, Henderson's younger brother heard noise from the kitchen and found his brother with blood on his hands. Javarick allegedly said he had done something bad, and said he needed time to think before calling 911.

If he had not been indicted, he would have had to have been released in the coming days because there is a time limit on how long a juvenile can be held for.

Legal analysts say charging a juvenile as an adult is reserved for the most serious cases. But just because he is being charged as an adult now, doesn't mean he couldn't bargain to be sentenced as a juvenile.

Gloria Davis

"The defense of this child is mental health," said legal analyst Anthony Rickman. "This child has no prior criminal history, no incidents with law enforcement. Something happened."

Even though the teen is charged with capital murder, he will not face the death penalty due to a Supreme Court ruling.

While he faces life behind bars, the court is required to consider juvenile sanctions.