A Waldo County teen who is accused of killing a Brooks man two years ago will be tried as an adult, after Maine’s highest court on Tuesday denied his request to be tried as a juvenile.
Atilio Delgado was 16 at the time he was accused of intentional or knowing murder in the fatal shooting of 49-year-old James Cluney following an altercation on May 6, 2022.
Last spring, Delgado appealed to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court a lower court’s decision that he be tried as an adult, rather than a juvenile. His attorneys haven’t denied that he pulled the trigger, but they have argued that it was an “impulsive” act related to post-traumatic stress from abuse he suffered as a young child, the Portland Press Herald has reported. The altercation allegedly stemmed from a fight between Cluney and Delgado’s brother.
But in the decision handed down by the court Tuesday, the justices agreed with Waldo County Judge Charles Dow’s decision to move Delgado to the adult court system, given concerns surrounding public safety and the juvenile system’s ability to prevent him from reoffending after he turns 21.
Being charged as an adult means that Delgado, who was several days shy of his 17th birthday at the time of the killing, could face greater consequences for the crimes.
In its decision, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court noted the significance of Delgado being 18 at the time of the order he be tried as an adult, given that it’s the legal age of adulthood.
The “court’s findings do not compel a conclusion that Delgado proved the inappropriateness of prosecuting him as an adult,” the justices wrote in their decision.
If tried and convicted, Delgado could face 25 years to life in prison, the Press Herald has reported.
