The 14-year-old boy charged with sexually assaulting and killing a teacher at a Prince George’s County youth detention center will be tried as an adult, a Prince George’s County judge has ruled. Brian L. Wonsom is accused of raping, beating and strangling 65-year-old Hannah Wheeling at the Cheltenham Youth Facility last February. The Washington Examiner does not generally name juveniles charged with crimes, but Wonsom is identified because of his case has moved to adult court and the seriousness of the charges. He is charged with first-degree murder, as well as weapons and sex offenses.
Wonsom was 13 at the time of the slaying, the youngest-ever age of a youth to be tried as an adult in Prince George’s County, said Ramon Korionoff, spokesman for the county state’s attorney’s office.
“We strive to hold defendants accountable,” Korionoff said. He said the “evidence and facts” of the case warrant a trial in adult court.
If Wonsom is found guilty, he could face life in prison. If he were tried in juvenile court and found “involved” — the juvenile system’s equivalent of guilty — he could have been released after turning 21.
Allen Wolf, the public defender representing Wonsom, has argued since Wonsom was arraigned in July that he should be tried in juvenile court.
“Brian is physically, emotionally, chronologically and neurologically a 14-year-old,” Wolf said. “A child of this age is not making adult decisions.”
Wolf said he can’t appeal Judge C. Philip Nichols’ decision to move the case to adult court until the case is fully resolved.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 9.
Cheltenham holds youths awaiting trial in Prince George’s, Anne Arundel, Calvert, Charles and St. Mary’s counties. Wonsom was originally placed there on burglary charges.
Wheeling was last seen administering a test to Wonsom at 4 p.m. the day before her partially clothed body was found outside her classroom.
Several reports from Maryland’s Juvenile Justice Monitoring Unit, the watchdog that oversees the state’s juvenile justice system, have criticized the facility over the past year.
The most recent, released earlier this month, said many of the conditions that contributed to Wheeling’s death — including overcrowding, overburdened staff and a lack of security cameras — still persist.
The facility has made security adjustments, including enhanced lighting, panic buttons, tighter entrance and exit protocols and radios for staff.
