Judge rules 17-year-old suspect in deadly Ohio school shooting is mentally competent for trial

5/2/2012

CHARDON, Ohio — A judge in northeast Ohio says a teenage boy charged in a school shooting is mentally competent to stand trial in the deaths of three students.

Judge Timothy Grendell in Geauga County Juvenile Court heard from the prosecution and a lawyer for 17-year-old T.J. Lane before making his decision Wednesday.

Lane is charged in the Feb. 27 Chardon High School rampage that also left two students seriously wounded.

Under a new state law, a child can be found competent only if he or she is able to grasp the seriousness of the charges and able to understand the proceedings.

The prosecutor has said that Lane is "not well."