Judge finds 15-year-old boy guilty in Martinsville shooting

Michael Phelps admitted to shooting another teenager with the intent of killing him in Martinsville Middle School in a court hearing Monday. The hearing lasted less than 30 minutes.

The 15 year-old’s lawyer, Steven Litz, had up until this point claimed that Phelps did not intend to kill the victim, 15-year-old Chance Jackson. Jackson survived the incident but was seriously wounded.

The prosecution dropped all of the charges against Phelps except felony attempted murder. Before this, he had also faced charges of trespassing, aggravated battery and two school-related firearms charges. Phelps had been suspended from Martinsville Middle School but snuck back into the school March 25 and shot Jackson, a fellow classmate, reportedly related to a dispute about a girl.

Litz called his client’s admission “a de facto guilty plea” that would allow Phelps to appeal a judge’s decision to try him as an adult. When asked if Phelps planned to appeal this decision, Litz replied “absolutely.”

Morgan County Superior Court I Judge G. Thomas Gray found Phelps guilty of the class A felony. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for August 12.

Phelps faces between 20 and 50 years in prison if the decision to try him as an adult stands. If the decision is reversed, Phelps would be sent to a juvenile delinquent center until at most his 21st birthday, his lawyer said.

— Zach Ammerman