A hearing scheduled for Friday morning in Prince George's County Juvenile Court was rescheduled to late November to determine whether a 14-year-old boy should be charged as an adult in the February slaying of a Cheltenham Youth Facility teacher.

The juvenile was arraigned July 28 on charges of murder and rape in the death of Hannah Wheeling, 65, of Bel Air, who was a general studies teacher at the juvenile detention facility. The county state's attorney's office requested the court waive the boy's juvenile status and try him as an adult.

Judge C. Philip Nichols was scheduled to hear arguments Aug. 27 on the boy's status, but the hearing was rescheduled at least twice due to scheduling conflicts or requests by attorneys arguing the case for more time, according to Ramon Korionoff, a spokesman for the Prince George's County state's attorney's office.

"This is a very complex case," Korionoff said, referring to the nature of the crime, the fact that it took place at a Maryland Department of Juvenile Services facility, and the boy's juvenile status.

The most recent postponement, on Friday morning, was due to scheduling conflicts. Nichols is in the midst of presiding over a murder trial in Prince George's County Circuit Court, and that trial is also being prosecuted by one of the attorneys in the juvenile's case, Assistant State's Attorney E. Wesley Adams.

During the rescheduled hearing Nov. 22, the judge will hear arguments as to whether the law allows for a 13-year-old to be charged as an adult — the juvenile was 13 years old when he was arrested — and during a subsequent hearing, scheduled for Dec. 10, the judge will decide whether the juvenile charged in this case should be charged as an adult.

Allen Wolf, a public defender representing the juvenile, said the difference between the two hearings is that the judge will consider general arguments about what the law allows as far as charging juveniles as adults during the Nov. 22 hearing, but consider information specific to the juvenile charged and his alleged actions during the Dec. 10 hearing.

The morning of Feb. 18, a Cheltenham Youth Facility staff member found Wheeling lying on the ground outside the building where she taught. The state medical examiner determined Wheeling died of multiple blunt-force trauma injuries. She was found partially clothed, but police previously had not confirmed she was raped.

Subsequent reports by both DJS and an outside watchdog group on conditions at Cheltenham indicated that the juvenile charged was a student of Wheeling's. One report by watchdog Juvenile Justice Monitoring Unit found that staff members' failure to follow certain safety protocols and a lack of security equipment created "a dangerous environment" at the time of Wheeling's death.

DJS fired and demoted several staff members following Wheeling's death.

ztillman@gazette.net