Ohio school rampage victim mourned

CHARDON, Ohio (Reuters) - Hundreds of mourners packed a church and gathered outside on Tuesday for the funeral of one of three students killed in a shooting rampage at an Ohio high school, hours before a judge set an April hearing to determine if the teen suspect should be tried as an adult in the crimes.

The parking lot at the church in Chardon filled nearly an hour before the scheduled start of the funeral Tuesday morning for Demetrius Hewlin, killed in the deadliest U.S. high school shooting in six years.

Hours later and less than a mile from the church, Geauga County Juvenile Court Judge Timothy Grendell ordered a hearing for April 3 to determine whether the case against T.J. Lane, 17, should be transferred to adult court.

Lane is accused of opening fire in a high school cafeteria eight days ago in a violent outburst that stunned Chardon, a small community east of Cleveland.

Hewlin, 16, Daniel Parmertor, 16, and Russell King, 17, died from wounds and two other students were hospitalized. Hewlin would have turned 17 on Thursday. Parmertor's funeral Saturday also drew hundreds of mourners. King's funeral is Thursday.

Nick Walczak, 17, who was hospitalized in serious condition after the shooting, has been transferred to MetroHealth Medical Center for Intensive Rehabilitation. He is listed in good condition, a MetroHealth spokeswoman said.

A female student has been released from the hospital.

On Tuesday, a procession of fire trucks and motorcycle riders led a black hearse carrying Hewlin's casket to the church where mourners stood silently as it passed.

Mourners on Tuesday included students from Chardon and schools from nearby communities.

"We want to show the people here they are not alone," said Tyler Watt, 18, as he stood outside the church in support.

Watt, a high school student in nearby Mentor, Ohio, said he knew Parmertor and attended his funeral Saturday. He also plans to attend King's services on Thursday.

Prosecutors on Thursday formally charged Lane as a juvenile with three counts of aggravated murder, two counts of aggravated attempted murder and one count of felonious assault.

Under Ohio law, Lane faces a mandatory transfer to adult court for the killings if Geauga County Prosecutor David Joyce can show probable cause that he committed the crimes. Lane could face up to life in prison without parole.

Two additional attorneys have joined Bob Farinacci in representing Lane and the hearing was pushed into April by Judge Grendell to give them time to study the case.

Lane wore a dress shirt and trousers to Tuesday's hearing, responding quietly but firmly in the affirmative when Grendell asked him if he understood the charges against him and his rights as a defendant. The hearing lasted less than 15 minutes.

Lane confessed when he was taken into custody shortly after the shooting to firing 10 shots from a .22-caliber handgun at a table of students he told police he had selected at random, Joyce said during a court hearing a day after the shootings.

The toll in the February 27 attack was the worst in a high school shooting since a truck driver killed five schoolgirls and wounded six in October 2006 at an Amish school in Pennsylvania.

In the days after last week's shooting, students gathered in groups, put up ribbons around the town and laid a memorial on school grounds, where a flag flew at half-staff.

Students and parents marched through the Chardon streets on Thursday, and hugged Friday as classes resumed. A steady stream of people have been gathering at a gazebo in the town square.

"The whole thing is hard to understand," Rebecca LeMieux, 17, said outside the church where Hewlin's funeral was held.

"It is so close. They are 10 minutes away. We all know someone who goes to this school," said LeMieux, a Euclid High School student.

(Reporting by Kim Palmer; Editing by David Bailey and Paul Thomasch)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ohio-school-rampage-victim-mourned-suspect-faces-hearing-131759053.html

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