By Sharon Coolidge
The Cincinnati Enquirer

After listening to two men who witnessed the robbery and fatal shooting of a man in Over-the-Rhine last month, a Hamilton County Juvenile Court judge ruled Friday that there is enough evidence to believe a 14-year-old is the killer.

The decision came during the first half of a two-part hearing in which the judge will decide if the boy should be tried as an adult or remain in juvenile court in the May 13 death of David Hutchinson. The teen is charged with aggravated murder and aggravated robbery.

The boy is also accused of fatally shooting George Vance on May 17, but that case was not part of Friday's hearing.

"We heard from two witnesses, one who saw (the boy) with the gun and heard shots and the other who saw (the boy) fire," said Hamilton County Juvenile Court Judge Thomas Lipps. "That is more than enough."

The teen is the youngest person to be charged with homicide this year in Cincinnati.

And while recent headlines have indicated a spi6ke in youth crime, juvenile court statistics show that juvenile crimes have steadily decreased over the last five years.

During Friday's hearing, Gary Chalk and Kenneth Fairbanks detailed how Hutchinson died.

Chalk, who was hanging out with Hutchinson on Elder Street just before midnight, said the boy walked up to Hutchinson and pulled out a pistol.

There was no question, Chalk said, that it was a robbery. Both men put their hands up as the boy began rifling through Hutchinson's pockets, Chalk said.

Chalk heard the shots as he ran from the robbery, he said.

Fairbanks said he actually saw the boy fire the shots. "I took off running," Fairbanks said. "All I heard was ahh ..."

The ruling did not surprise the boy's attorney, Assistant Hamilton County Public Defender Terry Weber.

But Weber said, "Just because they found probable cause, that doesn't mean the boy is guilty. There is a much lower threshold for probable cause." The boy says that, although he was nearby when Hutchinson was killed, he did not pull the trigger.

A mental evaluation is next, as well as a probable cause hearing on whether the boy killed Vance. .

The boy's hearing follows a week when he was charged in the second of the two homicides he is accused of, and in which Cincinnati police arrested two 16-year-olds in connection with a June 8 homicide.

So far this year, Cincinnati police have named five teenagers as homicide suspects.

Also this week, a 14-year-old boy was convicted of killing his 13-month-old brother in Butler County and in a separate incident, an 8-year-old was hospitalized after a 9-year-old boy slammed his head into concrete during a fight.

Hamilton County Juvenile Court statistics show those crimes may be high profile, but it's not a reflection of juvenile crime.

Juvenile crime in Hamilton County is at a five-year low, with 7,809 charges filed against juveniles last year compared to 8,895 charges filed against juveniles in 1999.

Records show seven homicide charges were filed against juveniles last year, compared to 13 charges filed in 1999. Gun use and possession has held steady as well.

Weber, who oversees the Hamilton County Public Defender's Office juvenile division, said the statistics don't necessarily mean there is less crime - it's just being handled differently.

Some crimes that used to flow through Hamilton County Juvenile Court are now heard in delinquency court because the child's family life is the root cause of the problem. And, some cities and townships have created community courts, so juveniles who used to automatically be brought to the Hamilton County Juvenile Detention Center now are dealt with in their hometowns instead.

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E-mail Coolidge@enquirer.com