MIAMI — A 13-year-old boy accused of raping a young girl in Miami’s Overtown neighborhood will stay locked up ahead of his trial, a judge ruled Monday. But he allowed the release of a 12-year-old boy accused of shoving rocks in the victim’s mouth to keep her quiet during the alleged half-hour assault.
A third boy, accused of helping to restrain the 12-year-old girl, has an upcoming court appearance. All are charged as adults.
Miami police said the assault happened on June 18 at The Green Haven Project community garden, located at 1160 NW Second Ave., near Frederick Douglass Elementary School.
Miami-Dade Judge Richard Hersch ordered that Nelson Nunez, the accused ringleader of the gang rape, stay locked up in jail. But he allowed Jusiah Jones to be released from jail ― albeit on total lockdown house arrest.
Fifteen-year-old Xavier Tyson, meanwhile, is out of custody but scheduled to appear in court soon. He was 14 at the time of the alleged crime.
Jones’ lawyer, Jean-Michel D’Escoubet, had argued that the victim made statements suggesting his client was remorseful and joined the two older boys under “duress.”
“My client received a substantially different outcome because he was in a substantially different position,” D’Escoubet said. “The position he was in was that he was forced to do the things that he did by the other two children as a threat of force and those were the words of the young victim herself.”
South Florida media outlets, including Local 10 News, also spoke to Nunez’s attorney, Bijan Sebastian Parwaresch, after the ruling.
“Now that doesn’t mean he’s going to stay in custody forever,” he said. “It just means, for now, as we are defending the case and resolving the case, he will remain in custody.”
During the joint hearing for Jones and Nunez, prosecutors had argued in favor of keeping both behind bars.
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