JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Lawyers for a 13-year-old boy charged with murdering his 2-year-old half-brother and sexual abusing another young half-sibling will ask a Florida judge to dismiss the case.
The case of Cristian Fernandez is scheduled to be heard before Judge Mallory Cooper on Sept. 28.
Fernandez has been held in a juvenile detention facility since March of 2011, when he was arrested.
Fernandez' mother pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter in the 2-year-old's death because she didn't take him to a hospital for two hours after finding him unconscious.
Legal experts say the teen's case is a difficult one; a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling banning sentences of life without parole for juveniles makes it impossible for them to advise Fernandez since the Florida Legislature has not changed state law. Prosecutors say they never said they would seek a mandatory life sentence.
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