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Adult Designated Juvenile Charged in Fatal Hit and Run Crash

On September 11, 2019, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy charged Jhanya Burton, a then 16-year-old juvenile female, (DOB: 09/23/2002), of Detroit, as an adult designated juvenile, in connection with the fatal hit and run of a 13-year-old girl. Upon conviction, the adult designation allows the judge to sentence the defendant as a juvenile, or an adult, or to fashion a blended juvenile and adult sentence.

On August 31, 2019 at approximately 11:17 p.m., Detroit police officers were dispatched to the area of Bradford Avenue and East McNichols Road in response to a call regarding a car crash. Upon arrival, the officers observed medics treating several people who were transported to a local hospital for treatment. It is alleged that the juvenile respondent was driving a vehicle with six passengers: a 16-year old girl from Detroit, a 20-year-old woman from Eastpointe, a 15-year-old girl from Detroit, a 20-year-old woman from Detroit, a 14-year-old girl from Detroit and a 13-year-old girl from Detroit. Burton was driving the vehicle at a high rate of speed when she struck a tree. It is alleged that the 13-year-old passenger was ejected from the vehicle and died at the scene. Burton left the scene on foot but later turned herself in to authorities at Detroit's Seventh Precinct

Burton has been charged as an adult designated juvenile with Second Degree Murder, Operating - License Suspended, Revoked, or Denied, Causing Death, and five counts of Operating - License Suspended, Revoked, or Denied, Causing Serious Injury.* She has been arraigned and will have her Preliminary Examination on October 24, 2019 at 11:00 a.m. before Judge Edward Joseph at the Lincoln Hall of Justice, 1025 East Forest Avenue in Detroit. The respondent is being held at the Juvenile Detention Center.

*The charges are allegations and defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

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