Greensburg teen's attorney says armed robbery prosecution endangers community

The attorney for a Greensburg teenager charged in connection with what police called a violent armed robbery warned Tuesday that continuing the charges in adult court would only teach the juvenile to be a better criminal.

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

If the case remains in adult court, Essway could face a lengthy state prison sentence if convicted, Andrews said.

“Sending this 16-year-old to a state prison is not going to make the community safer and is not going to teach him what to do,” Andrews said. “It’s going to 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. Essway pointed the gun at the victim's head and struck her about a dozen times during an alleged theft of her clothes and shoes, according to court documents.

The gun was later found at Essway's home, investigators said.

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

Prosecutors said Essway had been involved in the juvenile justice system since he was 12, when he was charged in connection with a fight that left another juvenile with a broken arm. Other incidents followed over the past four years.

At the time of the alleged armed robbery, he was under house arrest, according to Assistant State 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 under (juvenile court) supervision. Because of his overall conduct and history, he is unfortunately the reason juvenile offenders are prosecuted in adult court,” Rice said. “In this case, it's almost a miracle that no one was killed.”

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