Case Against 12-Year-Old Murder Suspect Proceeds

COBB COUNTY, GA --A judge has ruled there is enough evidence to proceed with the case against a 12-year-old boy charged with killing his 5-week-old cousin.

The boy appeared Wednesday afternoon in juvenile court in front of Judge A. Gregory Poole in what was described as an emergency hearing.

Because of the suspect's young age neither the media nor anyone from the general public was allowed to sit in the courtroom during the proceedings.

On Saturday, in the parking lot of a Cobb County store, the 12-year-old was left alone in a running car with his 5-week-old female cousin. The baby's mother told police she ran inside for just a moment. When she came out, she said the infant was not breathing.

Paramedics rushed the baby to the hospital, but she died a day later.

The coroner ruled the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head. The 12-year-old cousin, visiting from Tampa, was taken into custody and charged with felony murder and cruelty to children.

"The only thing that I can say, is that there was probable cause to proceed forward with the case and that the juvenile is being held," said Cobb County Assistant DA Eleanor Dixon. "So those were the decisions that were made today."

When the boy appears in court two days from now, he will have to decide whether to plead guilty or not-guilty.

Sources close to the investigation say the boy has expressed remorse for the death saying "he feels bad about what happened".