Juvenile status hearing, trial delayed in school stabbings
GREENSBURG (AP) – A hearing to determine whether a 17-year-old boy will be tried as a juvenile on charges he stabbed 20 fellow students and a security guard at his western Pennsylvania high school has been postponed.
Friday’s hearing for Alex Hribal of Murrysville has been postponed until June 22. As a result, his potential trial in Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court has also been pushed back from next week until at least July 6.
For now, Hribal remains charged as an adult with 21 counts each of attempted homicide and aggravated assault for the April 2014 rampage at Franklin Regional High School.
The defense acknowledges Hribal stabbed the victims, but wants the case moved to juvenile court where any punishment would end when he turns 21. Prosecutors want an “adult” trial that could bring decades in prison.