Joshua Scott Mooney: The 15-year-old suspect in the December shooting death of a woman at a Jenks residence is now facing a charge of robbery with a dangerous weapon, in addition to the first-degree murder count already against him. He is being treated as a youthful offender, a status that prosecutors are appealing. The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals set a hearing on that issue for Sept. 26.
A Jenks teenager who is accused of murdering a woman in December is now facing a charge of robbery with a dangerous weapon, giving prosecutors another option in their attempt to link him with the killing.
Tulsa County Special Judge Cliff Smith found probable cause Wednesday to support the armed robbery charge, following District Judge William Kellough's ruling earlier this week along the same lines.
After a combined preliminary hearing and certification hearing in June, Smith announced that 15-year-old Joshua Scott Mooney would be treated as a youthful offender - and not as an adult.
Mooney, who was 14 when Mary Escue, 47, of Reno, Nev., was fatally shot Dec. 17 after she interrupted a burglary at her parents' Jenks home, initially was charged as an adult with first-degree murder and second-degree burglary.
The state is appealing the youthful offender decision. The issue is set for a Sept. 26 oral argument before the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals.
On June 24, Smith denied the prosecution's request to add the robbery charge against Mooney.
Chief Public Defender Jack Zanerhaft had argued in a July 25 filing that the evidence presented during a preliminary hearing earlier this year showed that Escue was killed when she interrupted a second-degree burglary, not a robbery.
"There is no evidence that any property was taken from the alleged victim's immediate presence," Zanerhaft wrote, "nor is there any evidence that Mary Escue provided Joshua Mooney with the location of any stolen property as a result of her fear or his threats."
However, Assistant District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler argued in his July 25 filing that multiple items were taken from the home after Escue entered the residence and was confronted by the gun-wielding Mooney.
Kunzweiler pointed out that the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals has held that "as long as the evidence indicates that at least one of the reasons for rendering a person unconscious is to take property from that person, the evidence is sufficient to support a robbery conviction."
Wednesday's ruling by Smith, which bound Mooney over on the robbery charge, means that a first-degree felony murder charge soon will be filed against Mooney in addition to the first-degree murder count, Kunzweiler said.
The prosecutor said the alternative charging method means that even if a jury found that Mooney lacked the malice aforethought to commit first-degree murder, jurors still could hold him responsible for Escue's death because they could find that it resulted from the felony crime of robbery with a firearm.
He said other charges against Mooney, such as second-degree burglary and auto theft, would not have been sufficient to support a first-degree felony murder count.
Kunzweiler and Zanerhaft agreed Wednesday that several issues remain to be decided before a trial date is set.
Zanerhaft maintains that the first-degree murder charge against Mooney should be dismissed as unconstitutional when applied to a defendant of Mooney's age because the charge subjects him to a potential sentence of life in prison with no possibility of parole without the opportunity of presenting mitigating evidence.
David Harper 918-581-8359
david.harper@tulsaworld.com
Original Print Headline: Teen suspect in Jenks murder case is now facing robbery count
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