WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Two 12-year-old boys charged in the shooting death of a teenage boy in Winston-Salem cannot be tried as adults.
The two 12-year-old boys turned themselves in on Monday in connection with the death of 15-year-old Jose Angel Chegue Mendoza.
Winston-Salem police said officers were called to a church at 432 Crews St. at 8:47 p.m. Friday.
Upon their arrival, the officers located Mendoza in an open area behind the church. Mendoza had been shot multiple times. He was taken to Baptist Medical Center where he died.
Prosecutors cannot try the boys as adults because state law requires that juveniles must be at least 13 years old at the time of their offenses, District Attorney Jim O'Neill told the Winston-Salem Journal Tuesday.
Investigative findings so far suggest that the accused knew the victim and it was not a random act.