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Psychologist recommends teen accused of Aurora carjacking be tried as adult

A Kane County Diagnostic Center psychologist is recommending the boy accused of shooting a woman during a carjacking in Aurora be tried as an adult.

Michael Oliverio said Thursday that the teen, now 16, needs attention or supervision past the age of 21 for the safety of the public.

The boy is charged with attempted first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm, armed violence and aggravated vehicular hijacking.

It is alleged that on Jan. 16, 2021, he shot a woman in the back while he and three others stole her car in the parking lot of a Wendy's restaurant on Orchard Road.

Oliverio said the boy expressed feeling bad for the woman, "but in general it seemed like he viewed himself as a victim in this situation."

In court-ordered testing done in August, the youth scored in a low range on a cognitive evaluation that measures school-based knowledge, verbal ability, vocabulary, reasoning skills and abstract problem-solving skills, Oliverio said.

But he scored in a high range for sophistication and maturity, compared with other youths involved in juvenile-justice systems, Oliverio said. The test examines skills such as weighing cost and benefit when making a decision, how much control the teen thinks they have over the outcomes of their decisions, and susceptibility to peer pressure - more of a "street smarts" kind of intelligence, Oliverio said.

Oliverio also said the boy had been diagnosed in 2019 with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. He also said the Kane County Juvenile Justice Center psychiatrist had recommended psychotropic medication for the boy, but his mother has not allowed it.

The boy scored above average on an evaluation for violent thoughts and in an elevated range for planned violence, said Oliveri, adding that the boy told him he belonged to a gang.

The hearing resumes Friday morning. Closing arguments are expected to take place next week.

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