16-year-old to be tried as adult in Tulsa family killings
OKLAHOMA CITY — A 16-year-old Tulsa-area boy accused of working with his brother to murder their parents and three siblings will be tried as an adult on first-degree murder charges, a judge ruled on Monday.
Lawyers for the teen, Michael Bever, had asked the court that he be tried under provisions of the juvenile code, which the judge rejected.
Bever and his brother Robert, 18, have been charged with killing five family members at their Broken Arrow home outside of Tulsa in July.
Oklahoma State law requires the state to treat anyone 15 to 17 years old charged with first-degree murder as an adult, though Bever's attorneys argued that provision was unconstitutional.
The brothers are suspected of killing their parents, David and April Bever, two brothers and a sister with various weapons, including a hatchet, police said.
Police have not commented on a motive for the attack.
A 911 call led Broken Arrow officers to a suburban home where they discovered the blood-splattered crime scene. Robert and Michael Bever were tracked down by dogs in a wooded area near the house.
A 13-year-old sister survived the attack and a 2-year-old child was found unharmed.
