Judge: 16-year-old Greensburg accused in violent armed robbery will be tried as an adult

A Westmoreland County judge ruled this week that a 16-year-old boy accused in what police described as a violent armed robbery will continue to be prosecuted in adult court.

Judge Timothy Krieger wrote in a memorandum that Cayden Essway, 16, of Greensburg, seemed to be disingenuous and self-serving during brief testimony at a decertification hearing last month.

“The defendant’s past behavior and the record reviewed by this court paint a picture of a young man who seemingly recognizes no legitmate authority to which he must submit,” Krieger wrote. “Given the apparent ineffectiveness of the treatment afforded the defendant to date the court finds that … he poses a continuing threat to the safety of the public.”

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 a man. According to court records, Essway pointed the weapon at the victim’s head and punched him about a dozen times and took his clothes and shoes.

The weapon was later found in Essway’s home, investigators said. He is charged with robbery and related offenses.

His attorney had sought to have the case moved to juvenile court where the juveniles cannot be held in court custody beyond their 21st birthday.

Prosecutors said during the decertification hearing that Essway has been involved in the juvenile court system since age 12. Over the next four years, he was adjudicated delinquent six times, Krieger wrote. He found that Essway is not amenable to the type of treatment provided through juvenile court, given the numerous school counselors, psychologists and psychiatrists he’s worked with over the past four years.

An Oct. 17 pretrial conference is scheduled.