GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Jury selection is scheduled to start in the trial of a 13-year-old boy accused of fatally stabbing a 9-year-old boy at a western Michigan playground.
The boy, who was 12 at the time, is charged in the death of Michael Verkerke a year ago in Kentwood, near Grand Rapids. His trial starts Monday in Kent County court.
The teen is designated as an adult in the juvenile court system. That means he would be sentenced as a juvenile if convicted of murder, then resentenced as an adult at age 21.
The Associated Press isn't naming him because of his age.
Experts have told a judge that the boy is competent to stand trial, although his lawyer has challenged that conclusion.
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