GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) -- A South Carolina teenager accused of raping and killing an 8-year-old neighbor will be tried as an adult.
Multiple media outlets reported Friday that 16-year-old Sam Young will face a possible life sentence in the June 2008 death of Dymia Janae Woody.
Young was 14 at the time.
Dymia was found in a closet of an abandoned mobile home, sexually assaulted and asphyxiated.
Family Court Judge Kinard Johnson Jr. said it was in the public's best interest to try Young as an adult for a such a violent attack. The judge said he didn't believe the teen, if convicted, could be rehabilitated in the five-year maximum stay Young would serve in the juvenile system.
Woody's attorney says the teen's statement to authorities shows he didn't intend to kill the girl.
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