TWO-DAY HEARING PLANNED FOR TEEN ACCUSED OF SHOOTING GRANDMOTHER

The 16-year-old boy suspected in the murder of his grandmother will have his certification hearing spread over two days later this month, a court official said.

Joshua Wolf will appear at the Jackson courthouse on June 23 and 26 before Circuit Judge Scott Thomsen. The hearings will decide whether he should be tried as an adult in the shooting death of Carolyn Lindley.

Lindley, 56, was found in the living room of her home at 175 Paiute Lane, off Route W north of Cape Girardeau, on May 8 with a gunshot wound to her head. The body was discovered by firefighters, who were responding to a house fire call.

It is not unusual to schedule a hearing over more than one day, said Abbie Crites-Leoni, attorney for the juvenile court of the 32nd Judicial District. If a hearing is expected to take up extra time, it is more expedient to set schedules in advance, she said.

"Otherwise, someone might not appear in court again for six weeks or so," Crites-Leoni said.

Since attorneys had requested a full day for the certification hearing, it had to be split into separate times in order to bring the case to court within a reasonable time, Judge Thomsen said.

"Juvenile cases generally move a little faster," he said.

If Wolf is certified to be tried as an adult, prosecutors plan to charge him with first degree murder, second degree arson and armed criminal action.

A conviction for first degree murder carries a maximum penalty of death, which Missouri law says may be received by a person 16 years or older. If a person under 16 is convicted, the maximum sentence is life imprisonment.