Westmoreland judge keeps Hribal's attempted murder case in adult court

Kate Lonegran's mother, Judy, never imagined that her daughter would leave school on April 9, 2014, with severe stab wounds to her face.

The family is slowly recovering from the day on which authorities say teenager Alex Hribal went on a stabbing rampage in Franklin Regional High School — wounding 20 students and a security guard — but Judy Lonegran wishes the wheels of justice would move faster.

“It's ridiculous. We were warned it would take a while, but I never thought it would be two years,” she said.

One of the delays was resolved Monday when Westmoreland County Judge Christopher Feliciani ruled that Hribal, who turned 18 in October, should be tried as an adult.

“Simply put, the court finds that the risk of the defendant … re-offending in a similar manner … and many unknown and unpredictable psychological and psychiatric factors, outweigh the likelihood that the defendant's re-entry into our community would be safe and of no concern to the community,” Feliciani wrote in his decision.

Hribal was 16 at the time of the attack. Defense attorney Pat Thomassey had argued that Hribal's age and mental condition warranted him being prosecuted as a juvenile.

That argument had little chance for success given the nature of the attack in a public school building, experts say.

“My general experience is when it is a high-profile case, the nature of it makes it less likely to go back to juvenile court,” said Duquesne University School of Law professor Tiffany Sizemore-Thompson, a juvenile defense expert. “That's not part of the statute, but the nature of a case is going to be taken into account.”

St. Vincent College law professor Bruce Antkowiak said the defendant's age is a critical factor judges use in determining whether a case is transferred to juvenile court.

“A judge has to consider the length of potential treatment. If the same defendant is 13 or 14, it is an entirely different situation than if a defendant is 16 or 17,” Antkowiak said.

Feliciani ruled in an 18-page opinion that Hribal's defense was unable to show that the teen could be sufficiently treated in the juvenile court system. If Hribal had been tried in the juvenile system, he could not have been held under court supervision past his 21st birthday.

Hribal has been in custody since his arrest and was sent to the Westmoreland County Prison on his 18th birthday. He is charged with 21 counts of attempted murder and aggravated assault and one weapons offense. A trial date has not been set.

District Attorney John Peck said he and Thomassey have held preliminary talks regarding a potential guilty plea, but there is not likely to be a resolution soon.

Thomassey did not return calls seeking comment.

“It would be beneficial for Mr. Hribal to begin that rehabilitation sooner rather than later,” Peck said. “It's been difficult for the victims, and I think they want this done as soon as possible. For it to continue to go on, it reopens the wounds they experienced more than two years ago.”

Peck said he could be ready for trial in short order because his case would replicate evidence the prosecution presented during testimony last year to determine where Hribal's case should be tried.

The defense argued then that Hribal suffered from a mental illness and depression at the time of the stabbings.

Psychologists testified that Hribal admired two teens accused in the 1999 Columbine, Colo., high school massacre.

After the Murrysville rampage, police reported finding a handwritten letter in which Hribal discussed his plan to attack his classmates and why he felt he needed to do so.

Hribal has received mental health treatment while in the county's juvenile detention facility and the jail.

If he is convicted of all the crimes for which he is charged, he could be sentenced to as long as 840 years in prison, Peck said.

Staff writer Debra Erdley contributed. Rich Cholodofsky is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-830-6293 or rcholodofsky@tribweb.com.