3 months ago
PLACERVILLE, CA - Fifteen-year-old Tylar Witt faces a much different future after an El Dorado County judge ruled she is fit to face the adult justice system for the murder of her mother.
Judge James Wagoner said the criminal sophistication and effort to cover up the crime partly led to his decision. "The court can think of no graver crime than matricide," Wagoner said.
Witt now faces the possibility of life in prison without parole, as opposed to a maximum 10-year stay at the Ventura Youth Correctional Facility.
"This was a very big day for her," explained Mark Reichel, a defense attorney who began his career as a juvenile system public defender. "If she had prevailed today, she would go to bed tonight knowing that at age 25, she would celebrate her birthday outside the prison system."
Witt and her boyfriend, Steven Colver, 19, have been accused of stabbing Joanne Witt to death in her El Dorado Hills home on the night of June 11. Tylar was 14 at the time and allegedly spiked her mother's drink with a narcotic to induce a deep sleep before the killing.
According to investigators, the two tried to cover their involvement by burning their clothes. They were later arrested hiding behind a dumpster at a Red Lobster restaurant in San Bruno.
Wagoner ordered no bail for Witt. She will remain in juvenile hall during a trial and will be arraigned in El Dorado County Superior Court Dec. 7, the same day Colver is scheduled to return to court. The two could eventually be tried as co-defendants before the same or separate juries.
Witt faces a minimum of 25 years to life in prison if found guilty, or life without parole if prosecutors seek a special circumstances finding. She is not eligible for the death penalty because of her age. El Dorado County Deputy District Attorney Lizette Suder said her office has not decided whether to seek the death penalty for Colver.
Witt would be sent to the Ventura Youth Correctional Facility, the state's only penal institution for girls and young women. California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation spokeswoman Michelle Kane said young offenders who are convicted as adults are generally transferred to state prison after they turn 18.
Kane said there are currently 79 girls and young women housed in Ventura, but only 12 will be moving to state prison to complete their sentences.
To read more about the prosecution's case for charging Witt as an adult, click here.
by Anne Makovec, AMakovec@news10.net
by George Warren, GWarren@news10.net
