3 juveniles placed in state custody after Hickory Hills assault
Three former students at Hickory Hills Middle School adjudicated in juvenile court for their role in the physical assault of a classmate have been placed in state custody for an indefinite period of time.
The three female students, in juvenile custody since the Jan. 17 assault, have been remanded to the Division of Youth Services, which is part of the Missouri Department of Social Services.
It is the most serious consequence available, short of being certified to stand trial as an adult, in the Missouri juvenile justice system.
In a late January interview, parent Derick Moore said his 14-year-old daughter was leaving the Hickory Hills school gym — where students often gather after lunch until the bell rings — when she was attacked from behind.
Moore said his daughter was hit in the back of the head and knocked to the ground, where her head and neck were kicked and her face was bashed into the floor. He said while his daughter was being "stomped," her hair was pulled out by the "fist full."
She was initially rushed to the emergency room at Cox South for evaluation and treatment but in the days that followed, she repeatedly returned to the hospital because of a severe concussion, fractures in her orbital bone and hemorrhaging in her eye.
It was unclear what prompted the assault, which was allegedly recorded by one of the students involved in the assault and others who witnessed the incident.
The three students taken into custody at the scene were transferred to juvenile authorities. Two girls, both 14, were in the Greene County juvenile facility and the other girl, whose age was not released, was placed in the Christian County juvenile facility.
Bill Prince, chief juvenile officer in Greene County, said the students faced a judge in early March on the assault allegations and the "court found that those allegations were true."
It is similar but not the same as being found guilty in adult criminal court. It means a judge found that the juvenile committed a violation of the criminal law, which is a delinquent act.
Following adjudication, the court can place the juvenile on probation — with different levels of oversight — or commit the juvenile to DYS custody. He said there are facilities in Springfield and nearby communities.
Prince said unlike adults, juveniles are not "sentenced" to a specific period of time, like three years. Instead, they are committed for an "undetermined period" because they will be evaluated, offered services and treatment, and complete programs.
"Usually the kids will be put in there, they will work a program tailored for the needs of the youth," Prince said. "A lot of it is dependent upon the kiddo and how quickly they work through things and how they're doing."
He said they can be held up to age 19 — or even age 21 in severe cases — but once released, typically back to their families, they are placed on an "after care" or "community care" plan. During that period, DYS typically continues to provide a level of supervision.
Prince said DYS commitments are reserved for "cases where it's either a really, really serious offense" or when juvenile services have been "working with the kid for a long time and have tried to take them through an escalating series of responses and they continue to engage in problematic behavior."
"That is what DYS is reserved for," he said.
Asked if any of the three students committed to DYS had a past history with the juvenile system, Prince said he was not allowed to disclose that information.