Young killers who stay in juvenile court take vastly different paths

In 2009, a 14-year-old boy shot and killed another teenager who was riding a bicycle down a suburban street. The boy told police he committed the crime on orders from a high-ranking gang member.

A few months later, police in Chicago's Brighton Park neighborhood arrested a 15-year-old for a murder that, while unrelated, was notably similar: He too said he shot another young person to prove his allegiance to his gang.

Both teens pleaded guilty. But because Andrew Lorek, the Chicago defendant, had turned 15 two weeks before his crime, he was automatically transferred to adult court, where he was sentenced to 28 years in prison. Now 20, he's due to be released when he's 43.

The other boy's case was handled in juvenile court. He's set to regain his freedom next year, after he turns 21.

The markedly different paths for two teenagers who were both charged with first-degree murder are in large part the result of a decades-old Illinois law that automatically transfers offenders 15 or older to adult court for offenses ranging from the use of a weapon on school grounds to murder.

But as the U.S. Supreme Court, lawmakers and criminal justice experts continue to recognize fundamental differences between adolescents and adults, the country has started to rethink the tough-on-crime policies once touted as vital in combating a surge of youthful "superpredators." That wave never came to pass, most experts agree, and new science mapping the brain development and rehabilitative potential of juveniles replaced those fears and buttressed calls for reform.

In Illinois, legislators voted in May to end automatic transfers for 15-year-olds and to limit the transfer of 16- and 17-year-olds to those accused of first-degree murder, aggravated criminal sexual assault and aggravated battery with a firearm. Both advocates and opponents applauded the measure as a reasonable compromise between juvenile rights and public safety, though some question whether the reforms go far enough.