Greensburg teen's lawyer argues armed robbery prosecution endangers community

The attorney for a Greensburg teenager charged in connection with what police said was a violent armed robbery warned Tuesday that continued prosecution in adult court will only teach the juvenile to be a better criminal.

Defense attorney Tim Andrews argued that robbery and other related offenses filed against Cayden Essway, 16, should be prosecuted in juvenile court, where the teen can be rehabilitated through a series of programs designed for children charged with crimes.

Should the case remain in the jurisdiction of the adult courts, Essway could face a long state prison term if convicted, Andrews said.

“Sending this 16-year-old to state prison is not going to to make the community safer and teach him the right thing to do,” Andrews argued. “It will teach him how to be a different kind of criminal.”

Essway was charged in April in connection with an incident on Mt. Pleasant Road in Hempfield in which police said he and another teen disarmed their victim. According to court records, Essway pointed the weapon at the victim’s head and punched him about a dozen times during an alleged robbery of his clothes and shoes.

The weapon was later found in Essway’s home, investigators said.

Andrews said state law required Essway be prosecuted as an adult because a firearm was used in the alleged crime. The teen cannot be held in court custody beyond his 21st birthday should the case be transferred to juvenile court. He is currently being held at the Regional Youth Services Center’s juvenile detention program in Hempfield.

Prosecutors said Essway has been involved in the juvenile court system since age 12, when he was charged in connection with a fight in which another juvenile suffered a broken arm. Other incidents followed over the last four years.

At the time of the alleged armed robbery he was confined to house arrest, according to state Deputy Attorney General Kara Rice.

Rice argued that adult court was the proper jurisdiction for Essway.

“There have been numerous new offenses while he has been on supervision (of the juvenile courts). Because of the totality of his conduct and history, unfortunately, he is exactly the reason why juvenile offenders are prosecuted in adult court,” Rice said. “In this case it’s something short of a miracle that someone was not killed.”

Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court Judge Tim Krieger did not issue a ruling Tuesday.