Adult Designated Juvenile Charged in Highland Park Fatal Shooting

Published on December 17, 2025

Prosecutor Kym Worthy has charged a 16-year-old juvenile male, of Highland Park, in connection with the fatal shooting of a 13-year-old boy, of Detroit. The juvenile respondent is not being charged as an adult defendant; he has been adult designated. This means that upon conviction an adult designation allows the judge to have the option of sentencing the respondent as a juvenile, or as an adult, or to fashion a blended juvenile sentence with the option of imposing an adult sentence if the juvenile is not rehabilitated.

On November 25, 2025, at approximately 3:43 p.m., Highland Park police officers were dispatched to a dollar store in the 14100 block of Woodward Avenue for a reported shooting. Upon their arrival, officers located the victim in the parking lot, suffering from a gunshot wound to the back. Medics arrived on the scene and transported the victim to a local hospital where he succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced deceased.

It is alleged that the juvenile produced and fired a handgun multiple times, fatally wounding the victim, before fleeing the scene. Investigation by the Highland Park Police Department with assistance by the Michigan State Police led to the arrest of the juvenile on December 7, 2025.

The juvenile respondent has been charged with First-Degree Murder.*

At the Preliminary Hearing on December 13, 2025, the juvenile was remanded to the Juvenile Detention Facility. His next court date is a Preliminary Examination on January 15, 2026, at 1:00 p.m., before Judge Sheila Gibson.

*The charges are allegations and defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

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