The 17-year-old youth charged with raping a 69-year-old man on the North Shore will be tried as an adult in Hamilton County Criminal Court.
On Thursday, Juvenile Court Judge Rob Philyaw decided to transfer suspect Diontae Smartt’s case.
Smartt is charged with aggravated rape in connection with a late-September attack on a man who was running on West Mississippi Avenue, a common route for runners on the North Shore.
“These cases [of aggravated rape] are among the most serious I hear,” Philyaw said. “This is a serious case, a tragic case.”
Thursday was the second phase of Smartt’s transfer hearing in Juvenile Court. In the previous hearing, the victim testified and the judge ordered Smartt be transferred to the Joe Johnson Mental Health Center for an evaluation.