Dallas County Juvenile Judge Andrea Martin Lane prefers to rehabilitate teens who come through her courtroom rather than put them through the adult system.

“I don’t usually certify,” Martin Lane said on Wednesday following the hearing. “If there is a chance, then I’m most likely going to give them a chance.”

But in 16-year-old Lenario Washington’s case last week, she made an exception because, she said, the “public was indeed in need of protection.”

The judge's ruling means Washington will stand trial as an adult after police say he raped several women and killed 23-year-old Maria Ezquerro in her Far North Dallas apartment.

Experts say such adult certifications are generally uncommon, especially as the juvenile courts system focuses on rehabilitating youth instead of incarcerating them.

According to statewide data, juvenile courts certified 151 minors as adults in 2017 — the most recent data available. That’s a slight decrease over time from the 212 the courts certified as adults in 2007. According to Kim Leach, a spokeswoman for the Dallas County district attorney’s office, Dallas County had 28 cases involving certified juveniles in 2018.

Dallas police homicide detective Scott Sayers shows evidence as he testifies during adult certification hearing at the Henry Wade Juvenile Center in Dallas on Tuesday, July 23, 2019. Lenario Washington, 16, has been linked to four sexual assaults in Dallas and Louisiana and the deadly attack of 23-year-old Maria Ezquerro in her apartment near the Galleria in November of 2018. (Shaban Athuman / Staff Photographer)

Rhonda Hunter, who worked on the juvenile justice standards task force with the American Bar Association, said the legal system's "trend is to focus on the individual child” and the issues the child faces.

Throwing a minor into the adult justice system is seen as a last resort.

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Even Ethan Couch — the “affluenza” teen who caused a massive deadly 2013 wreck outside of Burleson — famously received probation in the juvenile justice system for his intoxication manslaughter case.

Riley Shaw, a Tarrant County prosecutor, said he can’t think of any other juvenile case with as profound an influence.

“It impacted those families. It impacted our communities as a whole. It arguably impacted the nation,” Shaw said in an interview.

By law, experts say, when considering certification, the judge must evaluate four factors: whether the crime targeted a person or property; the sophistication and maturity of the child; his or her history; and public safety, coupled with the likelihood that the child can be rehabilitated. Crimes against people are treated more harshly.

Washington, a former Hillcrest High School student, is accused of killing Ezquerro after he asked her if she could order an Uber for him and then forcing his way into her apartment.

Police also said they've linked Washington to six rapes — two in Louisiana and four in Dallas. Most of the women attacked were in their 20s, police said. Witnesses who testified at the hearing said Washington was violent while in detention and detailed allegations about how he preyed on women after asking for help, money or work.

Michele Deitch — a lawyer and senior lecturer at the University of Texas at Austin who has studied the Texas juvenile system — said courts have moved away from adult certifications in recent years because judges and lawyers have come to understand that kids’ brains are still developing. In 2017, most juveniles in Texas were referred to probation or a diversion program, according to an annual report from the Texas Juvenile Justice Department.

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Deitch said punishment in the juvenile system does not mean “lighter” sentences, but allows a juvenile to come before a judge again at 19 when he or she ages out of the system.

But now that Washington is transferred to the adult system, the punishment may be greater. In the adult system, it’s possible he could get parole after 40 years, but it may not be granted. While he faces a capital murder charge, Washington is not eligible for the death penalty because the alleged crimes occurred when he was under 18.

“He could literally spend the rest of his life in prison,” Deitch said.

Trial

Because Washington is still 16 years old he will remain detained at the Henry Wade Juvenile Justice Center in West Dallas. State law requires that girls and boys 17 and under be kept separate from adult inmates, which can leave kids isolated for months or years until they can mix with the adult population, experts said.

Hunter, who also oversaw the juvenile division at the Dallas County District Attorney’s office, a case that gets transferred out of the juvenile system starts over like a new case in Dallas County felony court.

Defense attorneys sometimes have their work cut out for them in those cases, Deitch said. For instance, Deitch said, sometimes the child goes through puberty and looks more like an adult than a juvenile who made a mistake at a young age.

"You might've had a kid who looks like a little kid who committed a serious crime.