A white 15-year-old boy accused of beating an African-American man in Northside last month in a racially-charged group attack will be tried as an adult, a juvenile court judge decided Wednesday.

        “The nature of this crime ... outweighs every other issue,” said Hamilton County Juvenile Court Judge Sylvia Sieve Hendon.

        Joshua Yaden of Northside was ordered detained on a $25,000 bond. His case will head to a grand jury as soon as next month, officials said.

        The teen had been charged with felonious assault, possession of marijuana and ethnic intimidation for the Nov. 24 attack on Theodore Jenkins, 43.

        However, because of state law, the ethnic intimidation charge against the teen was dropped. The charge can be tacked on only if racial or ethnic hatred is encompassed in acts of criminal damaging, aggravated menacing, menacing, criminal mischief or telephone harassment.

        The judge expressed dismay at what she called the Ohio legislature's “failure” to include felonious assault in the ethnic-intimidation statute, but said she had no other option.

        The youth will head to adult court charged only with felonious assault, she said.

        Mr. Jenkins was walking home from his job in Camp Washington shortly before 2:30 a.m. when he was attacked by four men and one woman.

        Prosecutors said the group beat Mr. Jenkins over the head and stabbed him while shouting racial slurs. He suffered four stab wounds, a lacerated kidney and had 14 staples placed in his head.

        At Wednesday's proceedings, Mr. Jenkins urged the judge to send the teen to adult court.

        “Him and his group had decided they wanted to viciously attack me and leave me murdered. I seriously feel that if he wants to commit an adult crime, he should face adult punishment,” he said.

        Five days before the Jenkins beating, the teen was found guilty of a juvenile misdemeanor assault count in a separate incident, authorities said.

        The teen's mother, Shirley Yaden, told the judge Wednesday that she didn't believe her son was involved in the Jenkins attack.

        She also said her son had been “jumped” in the past by a group of black teens who tried to steal his bike. During that incident he was shot in the hand and had to be treated at Children's Hospital, she said.

        The teen's attorney, Michael O'Connor, told the judge that his client's actions were “stupid and extremely dangerous.”

        Mr. O'Connor urged the judge to “give the juvenile system a chance at rehabilitating” his client.

        Charges against one of the alleged attackers, another juvenile, were dismissed earlier. The three others — two adults and a third juvenile — are scheduled for court proceedings today.

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